Heavy Chemical Industry Research Articles

The Effect of Suppliers’ Green and Traditional Selection Criteria in Supply Chain Management on Purchasing Firms’ Performance

In recent years, procurement managers have introduced environmental considerations into supplier selection and evaluation as a response to strict environmental regulations implemented by governments. Although previous research investigated the selection of eco-friendly suppliers, little research has been conducted on the significance of the wide range of selection criteria used by industrial customers. The aim of this study was to address this gap and examine the difference in the perceived importance of the selection criteria versus the performance achieved using the selection criteria, in addition to the difference in the business performance and the total supply performance. By investigating the selection criteria of manufacturers in the market environment, this study aimed to demonstrate how their business performance was affected by the performance of suppliers in relation to such criteria. To accomplish this task, this study conducted an empirical analysis based on the questionnaire responses of 72 purchasing managers working in the electrical/electronic and heavy chemical industries. Based on previous research, the following six supplier selection factors were identified: eco-friendliness, quality, relationship, flexibility, delivery, and price/finance. By using statistical analyses, including sample t-tests and multiple regression analysis, this study identified a correlation between supplier and manufacturer performance. The findings show that some factors, such as eco-friendliness, flexibility, price, and delivery, were statistically relevant to the performance of manufacturers, which added value to the decision-making strategy employed in supplier selection.

Effects of Acid Rain on Forest Organisms and Countermeasures

Acid rain acidifies the surface water and affects the life on the surface. Acid rain seeps into the soil, forest soil is degraded, tree growth is seriously harmed, and forests will die in a large area. Acid rain can damage ecosystems by killing populations, eliminating food sources, and reducing biodiversity. At present, forests in many parts of the world are facing serious harm caused by acid rain, so the purpose of this paper is to let people know about acid rain and its harm, and raise the awareness of forest protection. This paper summarizes the effects of acid rain on forest organisms and the harm to the whole ecosystem. Firstly, the formation process and causes of acid rain are introduced. Secondly, the paper focuses on the effects of acid rain on forest organisms, including microorganisms, plants and animals, and then on the whole ecosystem. Finally, the paper puts forward some measures to solve the human causes of acid rain formation. The paper discusses three aspects: reducing pollution (reducing emissions from heavy chemical industry, etc.), using plants (planting trees) and technological input (developing utilizable clean energy and reducing emissions from automobile exhaust). This paper hopes to find better and more useful ways to solve the occurrence of acid rain and the related harm to forests, and hopes to raise the protection awareness of the government and people.

Research on Spatiotemporal Changes in Carbon Footprint and Vegetation Carbon Carrying Capacity in Shanxi Province

The climate and ecological problems caused by excessive carbon dioxide emissions are attracting more and more attention, and the need for carbon reduction has reached a consensus. Carbon peak and carbon neutrality is a solemn commitment made by China to the world and a strategic arrangement to achieve economic and social transformation. This study focused on Shanxi Province, a base of power source and heavy chemical industry in China. Based on energy consumption data, carbon emission data set at the county level, land use data and socioeconomic data, we built a carbon ecological pressure index in order to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the carbon footprint, carbon carrying capacity and carbon ecological security status of each county in Shanxi Province from 2000 to 2020. The results showed that: (1) the total carbon footprint of Shanxi Province increased, and the number of high carbon emission counties showed an increasing trend. The largest part of carbon footprint was coal. (2) The vegetation carbon-carrying capacity showed an increasing trend in general, and forest land was the main contributor to the carbon-carrying capacity. (3) The carbon deficit of Shanxi Province was greater than 0 and behaved as a carbon source. The carbon ecological security decreased from a relatively safe level to a general safe level. (4) The carbon ecological pressure index gradually increased. It was predicted that the carbon ecological security level of each county will remain basically unchanged by 2025 and some will still be at a carbon ecological insecurity level. In general, the carbon ecological pressure index of some counties was still large. It is necessary to strengthen the use of clean energy, optimize the industrial structure and increase the carbon sink of forest land in order to reduce carbon emissions and increase the carbon sink, so as to ensure carbon ecological security and realize the goal of a low-carbon economy.

Do External Impacts Cause Differences between Regional and National Business Cycles?: Focusing on the Dongnam Metropolitan Area

Purpose – This study analyzes large differences and similarities through comparison with national level business fluctuations, including differences between regions within the Dongnam metropolitan area, focusing on the impact of major domestic and international economic shocks. Design/Methodology/Approach – This study conducted econometric analysis using the Markov switching model with the monthly manufacturing production indexes of each region from 2000 to 2020 as data. Findings – The characteristics of Dongnam metropolitan area, distinguished from other regions nationwide, are as follows. First, the regions’s manufacturing focuses on the heavy chemical industry and did not shrink, even during the 7th cyclical recession caused by the global IT bubble bursting. Second, the manufacturing sector in the Dongnam metropolitan area continued a downward trend, even during the 11th cyclical expansion. However, economic impact was found to have varied in size by region. Our analysis results show that Busan was more affected by internal and external impacts than Ulsan and Gyeongnam, showing slower recovery. Ulsan was shown to have much higher manufacturing resilience than other regions, despite several internal and external economic impacts. Finally, Gyeongnam showed several recession phases in 2008 and after 2016, but the duration was found to have been much shorter than in Busan. Research Implications – The impact and characteristics of business cycles caused by external shocks were found to have varied by region. The results imply that regionally specialized industrial support measures are required together with economic stabilization policies at the national level. It was also found that separate measures at the regional level need to be implemented in connection with governmental support measures for regional manufacturing industries.

Embodied carbon transfers and employment-economic spillover effects in China’s inter-provincial trade

Understanding the embodied carbon transfer in inter-provincial trade and its employment-economic spillover effects is of crucial value in achieving carbon equity management. Surprisingly, few studies have focused on the intrinsic relationship between embodied carbon, embodied GDP, and embodied employment in iinter-provincial trade and its equity implications. Based on the 2012 and 2017 multi-regional input-output tables, our study of inter-provincial trade in 30 Chinese provinces shows that: 1) net outflows of embodied carbon were concentrated in the Beijing-Tianjin region and the eastern and southern coastal regions, while net inflows were in the central and northwestern regions; 2) embodied carbon, GDP, and employment were characterized by nearby transfer, complementary energy economy, and asymmetric transfers in and out; and 3) western provinces, which relied heavily on traditional energy and heavy chemical industries, gained a competitive disadvantage implying by the internal relationship between net transfers of embodied carbon, GDP, and employment. To mitigate the inequity of inter-provincial carbon trade, top-down climate goals must be aligned with bottom-up socio-economic incentives to achieve balanced regional development and improved public welfare.

Research on carbon emission factors of heavy chemical industry park based on generalized Divisia index method

Based on the energy consumption and economic data of a heavy chemical industrial park in northwest China from 2013 to 2020, the carbon emissions of the park were calculated. The generalized Divisia index method (GDIM) was employed to analyze the effects of eight absolute and ten relative indicators of carbon emission changes in the heavy chemical industrial park. The results show that optimizing the electricity structure, reducing the energy output and carbon output intensities, and improving investment efficiency have a significant effect on inhibiting carbon emission. The inhibitory effect from reducing investment carbon intensity, fossil energy, and the total energy consumption scale was clearly evident. The deterioration of fossil fuel energy structure, and the increase in investment, output, and total electricity consumption scales are the main factors affecting carbon emission growth. Carbon emissions from industrial processes have a limited impact on carbon emissions. Finally, pertinent suggestions are provided.

Regional ecological risk assessment of chemical industry stress under China's coastal development strategy

Governments and scholars are taking a closer look at risk assessment of areas developing chemical industries because of the repeated occurrence of chemical explosion accidents along coastal regions. The paper constructs an indicator system for Jiangsu Province based on three dimensions: risk source strength, receptor vulnerability, and risk prevention capability. It comprehensively evaluates the risks under stress from the chemical industry since the implementation of the coastland development strategy. The results show that a first rise in and then a decline in comprehensive risk along the coast of Jiangsu Province could be observed from 2007 to 2017. As a whole, the risk of contamination was dispersed, while locally, it accumulated and gradually shifted to areas along the river and adjacent coastal areas. High-risk areas are mainly distributed in chemical industry clusters. Risk sources continue to intensify with the increase in heavy chemical industry clusters. Generally, receptor vulnerability was high in the west, low in the east, high in the north and south, and low in the middle. The Tongyu River, Sheyang River, coastal wetlands, and canals in Nantong are among the most vulnerable areas. There is still a weak overall situation, with a pattern of ‘high-low-high’ staggered distribution from south to north, even though the risk prevention capacity is growing steadily.

Does Optimization of Industrial Structure Improve Green Efficiency of Industrial Land Use in China?

Improving the green efficiency of industrial land use (GEILU) is essential to promoting low-pollution and highly efficient development, and industrial structure is a key factor in this dynamic. This paper aims to reveal how the optimization of industrial structure (OIS) affects GEILU in China. First, an analytical framework was proposed to understand the effect mechanisms from the perspective of rationalization, upgrading, and ecologization of industrial structure. Second, the panel data of 31 provincial units collected from 2006 to 2020 were taken as cases for empirical study. The super-SBM model was adopted to measure GEILU, and some variables were used to evaluate OIS. Finally, the spatial effects of OIS on GEILU were analyzed based on the spatial Durbin model. The results show that the GEILU presented a wave change and kept increasing after 2016. From a global perspective, the rationalization of industrial structure helped improve GEILU; however, the upgrading and ecologization of industrial structure generated inhibiting effects. When integrating the three perspectives, optimization of industrial structure was considered to have negative effects on GEILU. The negative effects stemmed from an inefficient expansion of industrial land and pollution from heavy chemical industries. From a phased perspective, in the early period of this study, the outdated technology in traditional industries brought about the negative effects; however, with high-knowledge and high-tech industries forming a market scale, optimization of industrial structure gradually became conducive to the improvement of GEILU. This study suggests that eliminating the market segmentation between provinces and accelerating the development of high-knowledge and high-tech industries can help promote low-pollution and highly efficient industrial land use in China.

Analysis on the Way and Potential of Economic Low-Carbon Development of China Based on Genetic Algorithm

How a developing China can meet the challenges of the post-Kyoto era in the process of rapid industrialization is a hot issue in current academic research. Facing the pressure of the international community to reduce emissions and the energy and resource constraints under the development trend of the heavy chemical industry, China can only turn the pressure into a driving force and seek a low-carbon development path. This paper proposes a prediction model for China’s low-carbon economic development based on the combined model of genetic algorithm (GA) and long short-term memory neural network (LSTM). The data are encoded with one-hot, embedding is used to reduce the dimension, and the genetic algorithm is used to obtain the optimal hyperparameters of the LSTM model to improve the accuracy of the model. The results show that the model accuracy remains above 90%.

Electrocardiographic Findings and Anomaly Frequency in Turkish Workers Groups: A Cross-sectional and Observational Study.

Although electrocardiography scanning is routinely performed during the employ ment of employees in business sectors and during periodic controls, there is no large-scale study in our country that scans these electrocardiography data. The purpose of this study was to analyze the resting electrocardiography properties and basal clinical characteristics of the worker groups in a wide age range working in different business lines in the heavy industry sector. Between April 2016 and January 2020, 9102 consecutive electrocardiographs were obtained during health examinations of working in İstanbul. In this study, 8607 electrocardio graphs suitable for interpretation were included. Electrocardiographs were classified by 2 dif ferent cardiologists as major, minor anomaly, and normal according to the Minnesota code criteria. Average age of the population was 30.47 ± 9.4 and 97% were males. A completely normal ECG was detected in 67.6%. Major electrocardiograph changes were detected in 4.6%, and minor anomalies were detected in 28.3%. Being 50 years older (P < .001) and working in a heavy chemical industry (P=,014) was found to be associated with major anomaly on elec trocardiograph. In the multiple logistic regression analysis, the business line and electrocardio graph were found to be independently associated with major and minor anomalies (P=,022) Conclusion: This study shows the electrocardiography findings of a large sample of Turkish workers from high-risk employment sectors. Electrocardiograph abnormalities were observed more frequently in heavy chemical industry and those who were 50 years and older. This is the first study conducted in Turkey on this subject.

Research on the green transition of heavy chemical enterprises in Jiangsu Province

By carrying out the green transition and upgrading of heavy chemical industry in Jiangsu, it is conducive to improving the industrial competitiveness and the level of clean production of key industries; it is conducive to establishing the system and mechanism of ecological priority and green development of the Yangtze River economic belt, and promoting high-quality development. Based on the development practice of heavy chemical industry in Jiangsu Province, this study analyzes its negative effects on the high-quality development of the Yangtze River economic belt. This paper puts forward the index of green transition of industry, establishes the measurement and evaluation model of green transition of heavy chemical industry in Jiangsu Province. Based on the empirical research results, this paper puts forward the green transition path of Jiangsu heavy chemical industry.

A study on liability for environmental pollution in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan cluster has inevitably brought many problems along with its vigorous economic development, one of which is environmental pollution. Based on our previous research, we clarified the mechanisms and characteristics of environmental pollution transfer in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding regions, and this paper refered to the further correct delineation of the responsibility for environmental pollution control in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the surrounding provinces. This study measureed the full cost of environmental pollution control and economic benefits in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding provinces in terms of the economic costs required for governance, and constructed an inequity index (CG index) to characterise the inequity in the share of costs borne and benefits by the aforementioned provinces. The results of the study showed that there is significant environmental inequity and inequality of responsibility in the process of regional trade among the provinces in and around Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and the surrounding region. The developed provinces (Beijing and Tianjin) benefited more and bore less responsibility for pollution control due to their optimised industrial structure, producing more capital-intensive and high value-added industries, while provinces with heavy chemical, high pollution and labour-intensive industries, such as Hebei and Shanxi, developed their economies more in the primary and secondary sectors due to their irrational industrial structure, and therefore benefited less and bore more when trading goods with the developed provinces (Beijing and Tianjin) benefited less and took more responsibility for pollution control. Based on the above findings, policy recommendations are then put forward to provide suggestions and references for the collaborative management of environmental pollution in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

Evaluation analysis on industrial green total factor productivity and energy transition policy in resource-based region

Based on the input-output panel data of industrial sectors of Shanxi Province, which is the only province-wide resource-based region in China, this paper uses the non-parametric DEA model and the Malmquist productivity index to construct the DEA-Malmquist model for evaluation analysis of the green total factor productivity (GTFP) and its decomposition value of the sub-sector, and then through fixed effect panel regression model studies the ways of energy transition of the SDG’s. The results show that the technological progress index has the greatest contribution to the growth of GTFP, while the scale efficiency index has the lowest contribution. And the amount of investment in environmental pollution control has a significant positive relationship with the GTFP of the three major polluting industries in Shanxi. Among them, investment in environmental pollution control has the greatest positive effect on the GTFP of light polluting industries characterized by high technology, high added value and low emissions; investment in environmental pollution control has the largest positive effect on the GTFP of heavy polluting industries with heavy chemical industry and pollution-intensive industries; investment in environmental pollution control has the weakest positive effect on the GTFP of the medium polluting industries that manufacture life service products and some heavy industrial products. Based on these results, the paper puts forward effective policy for the energy transition of resource-based regions.

Corporate governance in Japan in the 1930s and its impact on financial reporting practice

ABSTRACT Japan’s financial reporting system during the 1930s is an essential analytical subject as it provides an indispensable opportunity for scholars to identify the determinants of financial reporting practice adopted in an unregulated disclosure setting. This study examines the claim that the number of items disclosed in the income statement produced by Japanese heavy chemical companies during this period was materially affected by the period’s national economic policy put in place to rationalise the sector through business combinations. To test this proposition, we conduct an ordered logit analysis using 1651 panel data sets consisting of income statements issued by 104 industrial companies available from the Integrated Database of Corporate Historical Materials provided by the Japan Digital Archives Center (J-DAC). Our evidence suggests the possibility that an inherent motivation existed on the part of the owner-managers in the heavy chemical industry to withhold performance information from the public as a consequence of the business combination movement promoted by the National Industrial Rationalization initiative. One possible explanation is the desire of the corporate managers to protect their dominant position from hostile takeovers by providing less-transparent information and thus amplifying the uncertainty associated with acquisitions.

북한의 장기 경제성장률 추정: 1956~1989년 (Estimating Long-term Economic Growth in North Korea: 1956 - 1989)

Korean Abstract: 본고는 1956~89년중 북한의 장기 경제성장률을 추정한 것이다. 곡물, 석탄, 철강, 전력, 시멘트 등 주요 품목의 생산량 정보를 역사적으로 재구성하여 농림어업, 광업, 경공업, 중화학공업, 전력가스수도업, 건설업, 정부서비스업 등 7개 산업의 성장률을 추정한 다음, 연쇄라스파이레스 지수공식에 의거하여 전체 경제성장률을 산출하였다. 그 결과, 1956~89년중 북한의 경제성장률은 연간 4.7%로 추정되었다. 이는 기존의 대표적 연구인 Kim et al. (2007)의 추정치 4.2%와 대체로 비슷한 수준이었다. 시기별로 보면 1950년대 후반에는 연간 13.7%의 고성장을 달성한 반면, 1960년대 들어 4%대로 낮아진 데 이어 1970~80년대에는 2%대의 저성장이 지속되었다. 즉, 1990년 이전 북한의 경제성장은 ‘일회성 고성장(one big jump)’으로 해석할 수 있다. 산업별로 보면, 1956~89년에 걸쳐 광공업이 연간 7.3%의 높은 성장률을 보인 반면, 농림어업과 서비스업은 각각 2.5% 및 4.6%로 낮은 성장률을 보였는데, 이러한 광공업 중심의 성장으로 인해 북한경제는 공업부문에 대한 과잉 투자와 산업간 불균형이 초래되었다. 한편, 미달러화 기준 1인당 실질GNI를 추정하여 남북한 소득을 비교한 결과, 남한의 1인당 소득은 1960년대 중후반 북한을 앞지른 것으로 평가되었다. 아울러 북한의 1인당 실질GDP 성장률을 사회주의국가와 비교해 보았을 때, 북한의 성장실적은 상대적으로 더욱 부진했다. 이와 함께 북한당국이 발표한 산업별 비중 정보를 사용하여 북한의 경제성장률을 재추정해 보았으나 그에 따라 산출된 성장률은 본고의 추정치와 그다지 다르지 않음을 확인하였다. 본고의 시도에도 불구하고 현 추정치는 주요 품목의 생산량 정보의 부정확성, 산업별 가격의 변화와 북한원화 환율 변동의 미반영 등의 한계가 있다. 앞으로 이에 대한 개선 노력과 추가적인 연구가 이어진다면 북한경제의 성장에 대해 보다 엄밀하고 현실적인 평가가 가능해질 것이다. English Abstract: This study estimates North Korea’s long-term economic growth rate from 1956 to 1989. After reconstructing production data series for major products such as grain, fabrics, coal, steel, electrical power, cement, etc., each industry’s GDP growth rate is estimated by linking relevant production data to that specific industry’s added value. Seven industries are considered: agriculture, forestry & fishing; mining; light industry; heavy chemical industry; electricity, gas & water supply; construction; and, government services. Based on industry-specific growth rates, the growth rate for the total economy is computed using the chained Laspeyres index number formula. As a result, the North Korean economy is estimated to have grown on average at 4.7% annually from 1956 to 1989. This is roughly similar to the 4.2% for the same period suggested by Kim et al. (2007), a representative study in the field. By period, the economy achieved a high annual growth rate of 13.7% in the late 1950s, while it fell to the 4-5% range in the 1960s and further diminished to grow at a rate of 2-3% in the 1970s and 1980s. In other words, the economic growth of North Korea before 1990 can be interpreted as one big jump. By industry, mining and manufacturing grew at 7.3% annually over the whole period, while agriculture, forestry & fishing and services grew at 2.5% and 4.6%, respectively. The mining and manufacturing-centered growth in the economy resulted in excessive investment in the same industries and an imbalance in growth among all the industries. Meanwhile, this paper shows that South Korea's per capita income, in terms of real GNI denominated in U.S. dollars, is estimated to have surpassed that of North Korea in the mid- to late 1960s. In addition, North Korea's real GDP per capita grew relatively sluggishly compared to other socialist country cases. At the same time, the estimates of North Korea’s economic growth in this paper are confirmed to be robust, regardless of changes in the share of industrial composition for the year 1990 that depend on the data source. Despite the attempts of this study, the current estimate has limitations in that information about the output of major products may not be accurate, and changes in prices by industry and changes in the exchange rate of the North Korean won were not considered. Further research and improvement efforts will enable a more rigorous and realistic assessment of North Korean economic growth before 1990.

산업단지개발사업의 개발이익 적정성분석에 관한 연구

The development charge system, which seeks to redeem the unearned development gains from the property development, has been settled through such changes, due mainly to political and economic reasons, as temporary exemptions, deferment, reduction, adjustment of the charge rate, et cetera. Currently, development charges are imposed at a certain rate on the development gains that are incurred from development projects on both planned and individual locations. The industrial complex as a planned location has constructed mainly in a large-scaled complex for heavy chemical industries as the nation’s economy grows. However, there have been some problems as the accumulation of unsold sites and deterioration continues. Also, the industrial paradigm was changed to fostering new businesses, activation of localization, and construction of innovative bases. As a result, there are more demands for smaller-sized state-of-the-art industrial complex near city areas which easily enables to establish new businesses and recruit necessary personnel. Considering the unique characteristics of industrial complex development projects, the government separately regulates planned and systematic development, stabilization of property prices and guidelines to decide a sale price. In particular, an institutionalized limit should be applied in profit margin at an appropriate level when developers decide a sale price. As a consequence, there exist differences in time and profit level between the appropriate profits, which come out when developers decide sale price, and development gains, which are finalized after the approval date of construction to calculate development charges. Thus, a study on this matter seems necessary. The development charges have a nature of tax basically and are imposed on unrealized profits which come from a rise of property price after development. Therefore, specification in the calculation of development gains and the objective standard must be clearly defined for both imposers and payers. Meanwhile, by the ordinance of the central government or municipal entities, the sale price of industrial complex units should be determined, applying an appropriate profit margin rate on construction cost after deduction of capital costs. In other words, appropriate profits from the sale are realized profits after considering actual sale price and construction costs. The conclusion of this study is to find a way to partially redeem the development profits from industrial complex development projects based on the actually realized profits, which come out after the application of an appropriate profit margin rate.

Cause Analysis for a Corroded 220kV Transmission Tower Legs

In this paper, the corrosion cause of a 220 kV iron tower was analyzed by macroscopic examination, chemical composition analysis, micrustructure observation and finite element analysis. The results showed that the tower was located in a heavy chemical industry park, the sulfur dioxides and other waste gases discharging from the nearby factories resulted in a high content of sulfate in the foundation of the iron tower. Besides, the drainage of the iron tower was very poor, causing the tower legs immersed in highly corrosive sewage. In addition, the thickness of the galvanized layer on the surface of the tower materials was uneven and the thickness and local zinc content did not meet the standard requirements, finally resulting in poor resistance and accelerating the corrosion of the tower materials. At last, it was advised to replace a new tower with zinc aluminum alloy layer for the better sulfur corrosion resistance and connected by high-strength bolts.

Spatial characteristics of CO2 emissions and PM2.5 concentrations in China based on gridded data

Owing to global climate change and increased environmental pollution, China faces the dual responsibility of reducing CO2 emissions and controlling PM2.5 pollution. This study compares the spatial characteristics of PM2.5 concentrations and CO2 emissions using 10 km × 10 km grid data. The increase and decrease of CO2 emissions and PM2.5 concentrations are divided into four quadrants, which indicates four different conditions. Then, spatial autocorrelation method is conducted to analysis the spatial relationships. The empirical results show that (1) In the four quadrants, the increase of CO2 emissions and the decrease of PM2.5 concentrations accounted for the highest proportion (25.9%). (2) The spatial differences in CO2 emissions are large, but the PM2.5 concentrations show strong spatial aggregation. (3) China’s three major urban agglomerations contain more than half of the areas in which both CO2 emissions and PM2.5 concentrations increased, and the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration exhibits the best synergistic reduction effect. By contrast, the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration has the worst synergistic reduction of CO2 emissions and PM2.5 concentrations. (4) At the urban level, as a typical city in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration, Tianjin's overreliance on heavy chemical industries has led to co-increases in its CO2 emissions and PM2.5 concentrations. Shaoxing and Jiangmen, in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration, are among the few cities where CO2 emissions and PM2.5 concentrations have both been reduced. Finally, this paper suggests some policy implications of these findings.

Korean Industrialization, Skill Demand, and Wage Premium

This paper aims to observe the evolution of skilled labor demand and relative wages during the rapid industrialization period. Although this historic episode has attracted the researchers’ attention, the evolution of skill demand and its impact on inequality remained as a black box. To provide first-hand evidence, I construct a 3-digit industry-level dataset that covers 1955-1980 from the Mining and Manufacturing survey. Then I measure skill demand and relative wages following the skill-biased technological change literature. Analysis results show that Korea experiences drastic skill upgrading during its rapid industrialization. The nonproduction workers’ share in wage bill increased throughout the 25 years of 1955-1980. Relative demand rose much faster in industries that were initially less skill-intensive but accumulated capital through investment faster. This implies that there was a strong skill-capital complementarity. Increasing skill demand and skill-capital complementarity are a force of increasing skill premium in wages and wage inequality. It was so until 1973. However, since then relative wages fell while skill demand kept rising. This is unique to the Korean experience, It also implies that the supply of skilled labor expanded even faster than the skill demand. Although it is possible to connect this to the heavy-chemical industrialization, falling skill premium and inequality was most driven by the “within” or common effect. Furthermore, emerging heavy-chemical industries had greater skill demand, therefore a positive effect on relative wage.

Driving determinants and prospective prediction simulations on carbon emissions peak for China’s heavy chemical industry

Abstract Unprecedented huge mitigation task should be associated with profound efforts in facilitating emission reduction process over the globe. As the largest CO2 emitting country, China has been strenuously promoting the mitigation resilient development pathways in conjunction with the 2030 carbon emission peak commitment from Nationally Determined Contribution document which submitted under the Paris Agreement. Based on the peaking objective, carbon emission in heavy chemical industry should be received most attentions in terms of its large proportion with respect to the emission sources from other sectors. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm optimized back propagation neural network (BP) model is employed to predict future carbon emission for heavy chemical industry with the timeframe of 2017–2035 on the basis of the previous data. The significant magnitude of each carbon emission driving force is acquired in terms of the absolute influence coefficient method. The results indicated that, carbon emission in heavy chemical industry and its corresponding sub-sectors could be achieved peak under the implementation of the predetermined mitigation scenarios. The proportion of carbon emission in energy processing industry, steel industry, and building material industry is accounted for a larger fraction over the cumulative carbon emission in heavy chemical industry during the simulation period upon 2035.