Heterogeneous Endowments Research Articles

Regional digital infrastructure and carbon neutrality: A technology–structure–efficiency perspective

The synergistic development of digital transformation and carbon neutrality is a key path to global sustainable development. This study utilized the Broadband China pilot policy and a multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) design to comprehensively evaluate the impact of digital infrastructure on carbon neutrality using panel data from 291 prefecture-level cities in China from 2008 to 2021. The results indicate that regional digital infrastructure contributed to carbon neutralization innovation, carbon-intensive industry innovation, and carbon-emission efficiency in the pilot areas. This held true after analyzing the results with propensity score matching, coarsened exact matching, robust estimators, and instrumental variable regression. Specifically, the results of the mediation effect model indicate that digital infrastructure promotes the process of carbon neutrality through several mechanisms, including promoting the rationalization of industrial structure, promoting digital economic development, and inducing innovation in digital technology. In addition, cities with better economic development, lower resource dependence, and weaker environmental constraints have a greater carbon neutrality dividend effect from regional digital infrastructure. These findings indicate a need to optimize policies to unleash the dividends of digital infrastructure in carbon neutrality, which can drive technological, structural, and efficiency changes through digital empowerment. In addition, cities with heterogeneous endowments need to develop targeted measures.

China's economic growth and low-carbon development under the background of resource curse: A new perspective based on digital finance

Does digital finance (DIF) in the digital age mitigate the economic challenges stemming from the resource curse and facilitate low-carbon development? This paper extends the theoretical framework of endogenous economic growth to investigate the interactive relationship among economic growth, low-carbon development, and the resource curse. Furthermore, it explores the pivotal role of DIF within this context. Subsequently, this paper employs Chinese provincial data from 2011 to 2020 to empirically examine the theoretical assumptions through econometric methods. The findings are as follows. First, DIF has the potential to stimulate economic growth, whereas resource endowment can impede it. Second, DIF significantly reduces carbon emission intensity (CEI); however, a high degree of resource endowment does not foster low-carbon development. Third, in the mechanism by which resource endowment influences economic growth, DIF exhibits a single threshold effect. When the DIF level surpasses 361.46, the negative relationship between resource endowment and economic growth shifts to a significant positive correlation. Regarding the mechanisms by which resource endowment impacts CEI, DIF shows a double-threshold effect. When DIF surpasses the second threshold, the significant positive impact of resource endowment on CEI becomes significantly negative. Fourth, DIF and resource endowment indirectly influence CEI through economic development. Fifth, the impact of DIF on CEI and the influence of resource endowment on economic growth are marked by resource endowment heterogeneity. DIF exhibits a double-threshold effect on the influence of resource endowment on economic growth in non-resource endowment regions. In resource-rich areas, as the DIF level rises, the significant positive effect of resource endowment on CEI intensifies. Conversely, in non-resource endowment regions, as the DIF level increases, the significant positive effect of resource endowment on CEI transforms into a significant negative effect.

How green investment significantly relieves resource curse? A new perspective from fiscal decentralization

Harsh weather, climate change, and pandemics have wreaked havoc on global economies. Evidently, green investment has become an imperative tool for realizing sustainable economic development in response to these calamities. This article adopts the regression discontinuity design (RDD) as well as stage heterogeneity influential mechanism analysis to study the nonlinear form and potential mechanisms of green investment in mitigating the ecological resource curse, based on provincial panel data of China from 2006 to 2020. The study findings indicate an inverted U-shaped curve in the linkage between green investment and pollution emission, with a turning point at 4.98. Moreover, the analysis of heterogeneity mechanisms reflects that local fiscal decentralization and resource dependence initially impede the effect of green investment on mitigating the ecological resource curse. Nonetheless, as green investment matures, the curse is primarily alleviated through substantive innovation in eco-friendly practices. By investigating the regional and resource endowment heterogeneity, it is obvious that inland and non-resource-based regions are more inclined to benefit from green investment in alleviating the environmental resource curse. Thus, this paper proposes certain policy recommendations tailored to regional characteristics, such as fostering a greener consumption mindset and minimizing industry reliance in resource-based zones.

Green Finance Advancement and Its Impact on Urban Haze Pollution in China: Evidence from 283 Cities

This study selects the entropy method to measure the comprehensive index of green finance and 2011–2020 panel data covering 283 cities in China; describes spatial and temporal evolution, the migration of the centre of gravity, and discrete trends in green finance and urban haze pollution; and empirically examines the effect of green finance on urban haze pollution using static and dynamic spatial Durbin models. The study revealed that Chinese urban haze pollution significantly decreased during the sample period and that the hotspot emission area shifted to the northeast. Green finance experienced significant advancement, transitioning from a lower stage to a higher stage and becoming more geographically focused. Green finance mainly suppresses urban haze pollution through spatial spillover effects, and such spatial spillover effects change from positive to negative over time. Regarding regional heterogeneity, the effect on the western region is positive, the effects on the central and eastern regions are negative, and there is a spatial spillover effect “from promotion to inhibition” in the eastern region. Due to the heterogeneity in resource endowments, green finance in nonresource-based cities has a greater impact on haze pollution than does green finance in other cities, and in the long term, it has a significant inhibitory effect on haze pollution. This study reveals the effect of green finance on urban haze pollution from a dynamic perspective and, in doing so, it not only provides a new path for joint governance of haze pollution between cities but also provides more accurate guidance for the government to formulate policies for different regions and regions with different resource endowments.

Framework of land use planning for an energy producing city of Northwest China based on water-energy-food nexus

The development of cities and their industries is constrained by the water-energy-food nexus (WEF nexus) formed under certain biophysical conditions. Urban-scale WEF nexus research is very different from macroscale (global or national) research. There is a need for quantitative optimization of several economic sectors, as well as spatial heterogeneity of resource endowments, to develop policies that are distinctive for different levels of endowments. Currently, China is implementing Territorial Spatial Planning (TSP) at all administrative levels throughout the country. Its theoretical basis is to realize the overall management of urban ecological protection land, urban expansion, and industrial growth by measuring the resource carrying capacity and land development suitability of each plot. This provides an opportunity to explore the interconnections between WEF nexus at urban scale by examining the wide range of urban resource availability. Here, we propose the WEF-TSP framework, which helps to realize the multi-objective development needs of regional ecological protection, urban expansion, agricultural development, and energy production in a certain city and provides a decision-making basis for future urban land spatial planning. Ordos, a city in China recognized for its significant energy reserves, has been selected as the subject of a case study. Combined with the spatial heterogeneity of Ordos's resource endowment and focusing on the strong constraints of water resources and ecological protection, this study explores the urban land spatial layout scheme of Ordos in 2030 under different energy development scenarios. It can also provide a reference for other cities in China and even the world to study the spatial layout of urban land use and industrial development based on the WEF nexus.

Conformity poses a double-edged sword effect on the evolution of cooperation within heterogeneous endowment populations

Understanding the emergence and maintenance of cooperation is crucial for social development, particularly in the context of contemporary wealth inequality. However, the prevalent phenomenon of individual conformity in humans and social animals is often overlooked in the presence of heterogeneous endowments. Motivated by these considerations, we investigate the impact of conformists on cooperation within the population characterized by binary heterogeneous endowments. Our results reveal that the presence of conformists in a population can influence payoff-driven individuals. These conformists can catalyze the establishment of cooperation across rich and poor individuals, enhancing network reciprocity when the multiplication factor is high (i.e., the degree of cooperation synergy is high), but act as Trojan horses eroding cooperation clusters centered around rich cooperators under a low multiplication factor, thus exhibiting a double-edged sword impact on cooperation. Furthermore, consistent results are observed when accounting for individual conformity biases and multiplayer public goods game. Our research findings reveal the impact of conformity-driven behavior on cooperation in the context of heterogeneous endowments, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of cooperative evolution amidst inequality.

Guided by the goal of “double carbon”, what is the carbon emission reduction effect of the promotion and application of green technology in China?

“Carbon peaking and carbon neutralization” is an important measure to promote China’s ecological and environmental protection and high-quality economic development, and the innovation and application of green technology are critical factors in achieving the “double carbon” goal. Based on the number of citations of green patents of listed enterprises in 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020, this paper uses GGDP to replace traditional GDP and calculate carbon emission intensity. Based on the relevant panel data at the provincial level, this paper constructs a spatial Durbin model to analyze the impact mechanism of whether the promotion and application of green technologies promote regional carbon emission reduction. The specific research results are as follows: (1) Through regression of the core explanatory variables with a one-stage lag, it is verified that the promotion and application of green technology has a significant positive promoting effect on regional carbon emission reduction, and there are significant spatial spillover effects and “learning by doing” effects. (2) In the part of heterogeneity test, the impact of green technology promotion and application on carbon emission reduction presents apparent regional heterogeneity and factor endowment heterogeneity. (3) The mediating effect test verifies the mediating effect of energy structure and industrial structure on the influence of green technology promotion and application on regional carbon emission reduction. (4) In the part moderating effect test, it is verified that marketization level and new infrastructure construction have a positive moderating effect in their influencing process, financial development, and government support will weaken the influence of green technology promotion and application on carbon emission reduction effect, and human capital level has a nonlinear regulating effect. The research conclusions of this paper provide necessary enlightenment for the coordination and unification of China’s economic transition to innovation-driven and green and low-carbon development.

The effect of heterogeneous national technological capabilities on a Net-zero energy system

Numerous studies have linked the heterogeneous nature of national technological capabilities to the disparities in country-level low-carbon investment patterns. This study investigates how differences in national and regional technological capabilities can impact the pathway to a global net-zero energy system using an integrated assessment modeling approach. The study begins by developing a novel metric that captures the heterogeneity of national low-carbon technological endowments. The metric is then modeled to explore the regional and global low-carbon investment and CO2 abatement trends. Modeling results reveal that the heterogeneity of low-carbon technological competencies induces an asymmetry in low-carbon investments across countries and regions. This asymmetry is driven by a low-carbon investment gap created by developing economies with inferior technological capabilities. Conversely, frontier low-carbon technology regions increase their technology deployment efforts to compensate for the investment deficits. The resultant impact of the asymmetry leads to a moderate but non-trivial increase (i.e., 5.1 to 9.3 %) in the policy cost for achieving the net-zero energy target. Insights gleaned from this computational thought experiment reassert the importance of supporting local technological capabilities in the context of global climate mitigation.

Cooperation in collective risk dilemmas with endogenous heterogeneity: Nash equilibrium and evolutionary dynamics

This paper presents a novel method for analyzing the economic and collaborative interactions among nations in the context of climate change. Specifically, a two-stage game-theoretic model is proposed, where players’ initial resources (heterogeneous endowments) are determined by a public goods game (first-stage) and a collective risk dilemma is subsequently played (second-stage). We establish the Nash equilibria for the proposed game model and provide numerical analysis results accordingly. We then explore the dynamics of the game in an evolutionary process, dividing the population into groups of fixed size. Our findings indicate that the scenario with high collective risk and low required donation is most conducive to cooperation, while smaller groups and populations are more likely to exhibit cooperative behavior. Moreover, both numerical analysis and simulation results demonstrate that a higher first-stage profit rate enhances cooperation. Overall, our study sheds light on the factors that facilitate cooperation among multiple heterogeneously endowed participants facing collective risk. We hope that our proposed model and results can contribute to the development of solutions for addressing the challenges posed by global issues such as climate change.

Effectiveness of Information Acquisition via the Internet in Standardizing the Use of Antimicrobials by Hog Farmers: Insights from China

Antimicrobial residues and resistance caused by farmers’ overuse of veterinary antimicrobials have seriously threatened food safety, the ecological environment, and public health. With the popularization of the Internet in rural areas, especially in developing countries, the constraints of obtaining agricultural technical information provided by governments or organizations are greatly eased, farmers’ knowledge and skills are significantly improved, and the agricultural standardized production system is effectively constructed. However, there is still a research gap on whether information acquisition via the Internet (IAI) can induce farmers to standardize the use of antimicrobials. Using the data of 675 hog farmers in the Hebei, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei provinces, China, the IV-Heckman and mediating effect models were used to analyze the phenomenon empirically. The main findings revealed that the IAI had exerted a significant influence on the standardized use of veterinary antimicrobials by hog farmers, i.e., the IAI not only helped farmers to decide to standardize the use of antimicrobials but also reduced the amount of investment in the standardized use of antibiotics. Moreover, information-sharing and feedback mechanisms partially mediated the relationship between the IAI and farmers’ standardized use of antimicrobials. Finally, considering the heterogeneity of individual endowments, the study further revealed that the IAI significantly impacted the standardized use of antimicrobials for farmers below the age of 36 years. However, the IAI was found to positively and significantly promote farmers’ standardized-use decisions only if they had less than five years of breeding time.

The impact of industrial collaborative agglomeration on total factor carbon emission efficiency in China

Improving total factor carbon emission efficiency (TCE) is the key to achieving carbon emission reduction targets while ensuring economic growth. In this paper, the global Malmquist index based on the SBM model is used to measure TCE of 283 cities in China from 2011 to 2019. On this basis, this paper uses the spatial econometric model and intermediary effect model to empirically analyze the impact of industrial co-agglomeration on TCE and its transmission mechanism. Furthermore, considering the differences in geographical location and resource endowment among regions, this paper analyzes the heterogeneous effect of industrial collaboration agglomeration on TCE in different regions and cities. The results show that: (1) Industrial co-agglomeration can improve TCE, and its main transmission channel is technological innovation. (2) Industrial co-agglomeration has a positive spatial spillover effect. Industrial co-agglomeration in one region can improve the TCE in the surrounding regions. (3) Industrial co-agglomeration of cities with different geographic locations and resource endowments has a heterogeneous effect on TCE. Regarding geographical heterogeneity, the industrial co-agglomeration in the eastern region has the greatest promoting effect on TCE, followed by the central region. However, the impact of industrial co-agglomeration in the western region on TCE is not significant. Regarding resource endowment heterogeneity, the industrial co-agglomeration in non-resource-based cities has a greater promoting effect on TCE than that in resource-based cities.

Cooperation dynamics in collective risk games with endogenous endowments

The dilemma of global public issues is a grave challenge, characterized by conflicts between rich and poor nations, and a lack of national consensus on future benefits. The impact of initial wealth heterogeneity on the emergence of cooperation in collective risk dilemmas has been a topic of intense debate. In this study, we examine the impact of endogenous endowment heterogeneity on cooperation in collective risk dilemmas. Using a two-stage game model with endogenous endowments, we investigate the dynamics of cooperation and the potential stable-state composition of the population under various parameters. Simulation results show that a higher risk probability leads to greater investment. Besides, cooperative behavior thrives when individuals are encouraged to achieve higher targets by setting small contribution ratios in multiple stages. Moreover, the promotion of cooperation by the benefit coefficient of the first-stage public goods game is influenced by the second-stage contribution ratio. Generally, a higher enhancement factor increases the likelihood of averting risk. However, when the contribution ratio is in the middle range, a moderate level of the enhancement factor yields the best performance in terms of risk aversion. Our findings have offered some information for real-life collective risk games that involve economic game relations between countries.

Can new energy demonstration city policy reduce carbon emissions? A quasi-natural experiment from China.

Against achieving carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 context in China, the new energy demonstration city policy (NEDCP) has a crucial function to perform in promoting resource utilization efficiency, building the green development policy system, and facilitating carbon emission reduction. However, existing research has rarely investigated the contribution of NEDCP on carbon reduction. To investigate the policy effect of NEDCP, the differences-in-differences (DID) model is introduced to quantify the influence of NEDCP on carbon reduction, taking a statistical sample of 285 Chinese cities over the period 2005-2017 on the basis of exploring the intrinsic mechanism of NEDCP on carbon emissions. The statistical results reveal that NEDCP significantly inhibits carbon emissions. NEDCP's dampening impact on carbon reduction is more pronounced in the eastern area but not in other areas. City size and resource endowment heterogeneity results suggest that NEDCP significantly inhibits the output of carbon emissions in non-resource-based and large cities but insignificantly in resource-based and small- and medium-sized cities. Finally, we conclude that policy-makers should not only broaden the scope of NEDCP implementation continuously but also design relevant policy combination tools following the basic characteristics of each city to provide institutional guarantees for achieving carbon emission reduction.

How does International Transport Corridor affect regional green development: evidence from the China-Europe Railway Express

The operation of the China Railway Express (CRE) provides a quasi-natural experiment to test the impact of the new International Transport Corridor on regional green development. Based on the panel data for 265 prefecture-level cities in China and the China Patent Full-Text Database from 2003 to 2018, this study uses the SBM-DEA model to measure urban green economic efficiency (GEE). Then, we adopt the spatial Difference-in-Difference model to examine the effect of operating the CRE on the regional GEE. Moreover, the impact mechanism of the CRE on GEE is investigated from innovation and energy conservation perspectives. Finally, we consider the impact of the heterogeneity of factor endowments in different cities on green development. We found that operating CRE can improve regional GEE as a new overland trade channel between Europe and Asia. The impact mechanism test shows that promoting regional innovation and reducing urban energy intensity are two effective ways for CRE to improve regional GEE. In addition, in resource-intensive areas and areas with inadequate infrastructure, the marginal effect of CRE on promoting green development is more obvious. The conclusions can provide policy inspiration for countries along the CRE to achieve green economic development by operating CRE.

Inequality and fairness with heterogeneous endowments.

People differ in intelligence, cognitive ability, personality traits, motivation, and similar valued and, to a large degree, inherited characteristics that determine success and achievements. When does individual heterogeneity lead to a fair distribution of rewards and outcomes? Here, we develop this question theoretically and then test it experimentally for a set of structural conditions in a specific interaction situation. We first catalogue the functional relationship between individual endowments and outcomes to distinguish between fairness concepts such as meritocracy, equality of opportunity, equality of outcomes, and Rawl's theory of justice. We then use an online experiment to study which of these fairness patterns emerge when differently endowed individuals can share their resources with others, depending on whether information about others' endowments and outcomes is available. We find that while visible outcomes lessen inequality by decreasing the statistical dispersion of outcomes across the group, endowments need to be visible for better equality of opportunity for the most disadvantaged.

The role of digitalization on green economic growth: Does industrial structure optimization and green innovation matter?

The digital economy has demonstrated strong resilience and great potential, under the interwoven influence of the global pandemic and severe environmental concerns across the world. Therefore, there is a need to focus on the value of green economic growth in the digital economy. This paper constructs an evaluation index system and adopts the SEEA (System of Environmental and Economic Accounting) method to measure the digitalization level (Digi) and green economy growth level (GEG) of China. The internal mechanism and linear relationship between digitalization and green economy growth are examined based on the panel data from 2013 to 2019. Moreover, this study explores the spatial spillover effect. The major study findings are as follows: (1) Digitalization and green economy growth represent a steady growth trend, and the former as a whole significantly promotes the latter, with a marginal effect of 1.648. (2) The mechanism analysis indicates the intermediary effects’ size of three crucial intermediaries: green technology innovation > advanced industrial structure > the rationalization of industrial structure. (3) Both the “local effect” (0.556; 0.574) and “neighboring effect” (1.382; 1.415) of digitalization on green economy growth are positive under the two weight matrices and display “simultaneous resonance” characteristics based on the spatial perspective. (4) There exists obvious regional spatial heterogeneity and resource endowment heterogeneity. Finally, this study put forward corresponding policy implications, such as construction of new digital infrastructures and guiding green-energy consumption.

Environmental regulation, foreign investment, and green innovation: a case study from China.

Green innovation (GI) has the dual attributes of green development and being innovation driven, and it has become an inevitable choice for solving the prisoner's dilemma of environmental protection and economic development under the action of the concept of sustainable development in the new era. This paper aims to clarify how environmental regulation (ER) can achieve a win‒win situation of GI and environmental protection by using data from prefecture-level cities in China and creating a dynamic panel model, quantile model, spatial econometric model, and panel threshold model to empirically analyze the dynamic effect and spatial effect of ER on GI as well as the nonlinear characteristics of the relationship between them and to examine the moderating effect of foreign direct investment (FDI). The results show that ER significantly promotes the development of the GI level and that FDI can play a positive moderating role. The impact has regional heterogeneity, time period heterogeneity, and resource endowment heterogeneity. After several robustness tests, the empirical conclusions are still credible. Based on the empirical conclusions, this paper makes policy suggestions on ER, foreign investment introduction, and the coordinated development of regional GI.

Learning about German farmers’ willingness to cooperate from public goods games and expert predictions

AbstractThere is a growing interest in collective contracts to address agri-environmental policy goals at landscape scales. Yet, little is known about farmers’ general willingness to cooperate. We developed four treatments of a linear public goods game to investigate farmers’ willingness to cooperate: (1) heterogeneous endowments, (2) leading-by-example, (3) social norms, and (4) pinpointing the socially optimal solution. Based on a sample of 358 German farmers, we find that contributions reach more than two-thirds of the initial endowment across different treatments on average. Nudging the socially optimal solution is the most effective treatment. In addition to the experiment, we elicited incentivized predictions on experimental outcomes from 212 experts. Expert beliefs on treatment effects appear to be calibrated on laboratory studies, highlighting the need to conduct, communicate, and discuss experimental studies outside the laboratory. Young female academics with an Economics background most accurately predict farmers’ behaviour in the experiment.

Conflict or Collaboration-The Impact of Knowledge Endowment Heterogeneity on Remix in Open Collaborative Communities.

With the emergence of online open platforms and communities, remix has drawn much attention as an essential source of innovation whereby the knowledge endowment of online community users plays a crucial role. This study constructs a structural equation model to explore the impact of user knowledge endowment heterogeneity on remix through the mediating effect of their collaborative psychology. In this empirical study, we collected 25,032 pieces of data from Thingiverse (a 3D printing community) users and their published designs. The findings are as follows. Explicit knowledge endowment heterogeneity has a positive impact on the quantity of remix but a negative impact on its quality. Likewise, the implicit knowledge endowment heterogeneity positively affects the quantity of remix but has no significant effect on its quality. Users’ conflicting psychology plays a mediating role between knowledge endowment heterogeneity and remix, while their collaborative psychology negatively mediates merely between explicit knowledge endowment heterogeneity and remix quality. By unraveling the relationship between user knowledge endowment heterogeneity, collaborative psychology, and remix, this study is significant in understanding users’ remix process in open collaborative communities and illuminating their psychological mechanism in this process.

Empirical evidence based effectiveness assessment of policy regimes for wind power development in China

As a renewable energy, wind power has been improving energy structures and assisting in the maintenance of strategic energy security. Based on provincial level panel data from 2000 to 2018, this paper developed models to evaluate the effects of different policies on newly installed wind power capacity and investigated the market reform influences on wind development in eight spot market pilots. It was found that on a national level, while the pricing and government guideline policies significantly promoted wind power growth, present market reforms were having an opposite effect. The results also suggested that from a resource endowment heterogeneity perspective, there was a significant difference in the wind capacity promotion policy performances. Additionally, of the eight spot market pilots, market designs had led to a significant reduction in new wind power installations in Gansu and Inner Mongolia, and no significant wind power development effects were found in the other pilots. Based on the research results, a discussion on policy use and suggestions on policy improvements are given.