Investment Intensity Research Articles

Research on Industrial CO2 Emission Intensity and Its Driving Mechanism Under China’s Dual Carbon Target

As global climate change becomes increasingly severe, industrial CO2 emissions have received increasing attention, but the impact factors and driving mechanisms of industrial CO2 emission intensity remain unclear. Based on panel data from 2010 to 2021 in Shandong Province, a key economic region in eastern China, the industrial CO2 emission intensity under China’s dual carbon target was analyzed using multivariate ordination methods. The results showed that (1) total CO2 emissions from industry are increasing annually, with an average growth rate of 3.74%, and electricity, coal, and coke are the primary sources of CO2 emissions. (2) Total CO2 emissions originated primarily from the heavy manufacturing, energy production, and high energy intensity industry categories, and the CO2 emission intensity of different types of energy increased by 21.24% from 2010 to 2021. (3) CO2 emission intensity is significantly positively correlated with the proportion of high energy intensive industry, energy consumption intensity, and investment intensity and significantly negatively correlated with gross industrial output. In addition, the effects of different types of energy on industrial CO2 emission intensity varied, and coal, coke, electricity, and diesel oil were significantly positively correlated with CO2 emission intensity. Therefore, to reduce the CO2 emission intensity of the industrial sector in the future and to achieve China’s dual carbon target, it is necessary to adjust and optimize the industrial and energy structure, strengthen technological progress and innovation, improve energy utilization efficiency, improve and implement relevant policies for industrial carbon reduction, and then ensure the sustainable development of the economy, society, and environment.

The Impact of Imported Timber Price Fluctuations on the Margins of Wood Forest Product Exports: Empirical Evidence from Provincial-Level Data in China

This paper adopts a comprehensive approach to integrating the wood forest product trade of China's provinces with the global market, utilizing over four million records of trade data from the Chinese Customs database and the United Nations Trade and Commerce database, creating a three-dimensional panel dataset structured by year—province—importing country. The paper decomposes the export trade share into extensive margin, quantity margin, and price margin, collectively referred to as the ternary margins of export, to analyze the impact of imported timber price fluctuations on these export margins of wood forest products. The findings indicate that fluctuations in imported timber prices increase uncertainty, thereby suppressing the growth of China's wood forest product export share, extensive margin, and quantity margin while increasing the price margin. Heterogeneity tests further reveal that the impact of imported timber price fluctuations is more pronounced for southern forest regions, labor-intensive wood products, and countries without a free trade agreement. Mechanism tests suggest that increasing forestry fixed asset investment intensity and enhancing timber supply capacity can help mitigate the uncertainty effects associated with imported timber price fluctuations. The paper proposes policy implications, including enhancing local timber supply resilience, strengthening government support for forestry, and reinforcing the supply chain.

The Expansion of Monetary Policy Collateral Promotes Green Innovation of Heavily Polluting Enterprises

Since the reform and opening up, China's economy has developed rapidly, and behind the high growth is the problem of inefficient energy consumption and environmental pollution. China's economy has entered a stage of high-quality development, focusing on innovation-driven and green development, and the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee proposed to promote green development and develop green credit. In this paper, we use a difference-in- difference model to verify the impact of green credit assets on the green innovation of heavily polluting A-share listed enterprises in accordance with the quasi-natural experiment of the inclusion of green credit assets in the MLF qualified collateral framework in June 2018. Results: (1) The expansion policy improved the level of green technology innovation of heavily polluting enterprises; (2) R&D investment intensity plays a strong intermediary role and can promote the green transformation of enterprises; (3) The nature of property rights affects the micro effect of the policy, and the expansion policy has a greater impact on the state-owned heavy polluting enterprises.

The Temporal and Spatial Evolution and Influencing Factors of the Coupling Coordination Degree Between the Promotion of the “Dual Carbon” Targets and Stable Economic Growth in China

Coordinating the relationship between “dual carbon” targets and stable economic growth is crucial for promoting high-quality development in China. This study utilizes the coupling coordination model, kernel density estimation, and spatial econometric models to explore the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics and influencing factors of the coupling coordination degree between the promotion of the “dual carbon” targets and stable economic growth in 287 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2021. The results indicate that, in terms of temporal evolution, the promotion of China’s “dual carbon” targets increases yearly, while stable economic growth follows a “year-on-year increase—short-term decline—sustained recovery” pattern with the coupling coordination degree fluctuating upward. Regarding spatial evolution, the coupling coordination degree between the promotion of the “dual carbon” targets and stable economic growth in China presents a “higher in the east, lower in the west” spatial pattern, with varying gradient effects and polarization across the country and its regions. Influencing factors include government intervention, environmental regulations, energy efficiency, financial development, and R&D investment intensity. These findings provide scientific insights for addressing the mutual constraints between “dual carbon” targets and stable economic growth.

EXPLORING THE NEXUS BETWEEN ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN ROMANIA’S MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

The recent geopolitical upheavals have significantly impacted manufacturing, with volatile energy prices disrupting firms' cost structures and competitiveness. In this context, assessing the readiness of Romania's manufacturing sector structure to face these geopolitical challenges is crucial. The present paper explores the nexus between energy efficiency and structural changes in Romania’s manufacturing industry over the past two and a half decades, analyzing the dynamics of energy consumption and efficiency. The analysis shows that structural changes were crucial in decreasing energy consumption, as the manufacturing activities with the lowest energy efficiencies underwent the most significant output reductions. Moreover, the evolution of investment intensities in the manufacturing industry activities reflects both the sectors that have undergone successful restructuring and those that have proven attractive to investors. In terms of structural breaks, the results of the Bai-Perron (2003) test conducted on the output of the manufacturing activities revealed that the activities identified as the most energy-efficient, such as the Manufacture of furniture; other manufacturing, and the Manufacture of machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified (n.e.c.) also exhibit a considerable number of structural breaks.

Performance Shortfall, Top Management Team Faultlines, and R&D Investment: Evidence from China

With the increasing uncertainty of the world economic situation, enterprises are facing the pressure of downward performance, and R&D has been an important strategic choice to solve the performance fall problem of high-tech enterprises. The article tries to explore the changes in the R&D investment intensity of enterprises under different performance lag levels and investigate the influence of the combination of characteristics of top management team(TMT) members on the strategic decision-making process. It is found that the relationship between the degree of performance disparity and R&D investment intensity is inverted U-shaped; the strength of the fracture faultline of the top management team negatively regulates the relationship between the degree of performance disparity and R&D investment and makes the inverted U-shaped curve flat. A further study of specific characteristic fracture bands revealed that team fracture bands based on tenure characteristics had a significant negative moderating effect, while professional and functional background fracture bands had a significant positive moderating effect. This study not only theoretically expands the understanding of the performance shortall and TMT disconnection on the deep-seated motivation of enterprise R&D investment, but also provides practical references for solving the problem of performance gap, optimizing the allocation of TMT human resources, and rationally promoting enterprise R&D investment to achieve transformation.

Decomposition analysis of renewable energy demand and coupling effect between renewable energy and energy demand: Evidence from China

Driving up demand for renewable energy is key to China's response to the energy crisis and to controlling carbon emissions. Several studies have been conducted to explore the factors affecting renewable energy demand. However, the literature on the importance of technological innovation in fossil energy production in affecting renewable energy demand is scant. Therefore, it is essential to explore the impact of technological innovations in fossil energy production on renewable energy demand, as well as to reveal the dynamic penetration mechanism of renewable energy in the field of energy demand, to provide policy guidelines for China to promote its energy revolution. This study decomposes renewable energy demand into 10 drivers with the extended IDA-PDA (Index Decomposition Analysis and Production-theory Decomposition Analysis) model. Then the dynamic penetration mechanism of renewable energy on the energy demand side is revealed by combining the coupled model and the decomposition results. The results show that the investment intensity effects and energy restructuring contributed the most to renewable energy demand growth, contributing 60.73 % and 79.97 % respectively. Conversely, technological advances in fossil energy combustion made the largest negative cumulative contribution to renewable energy demand growth, with a cumulative negative contribution of −39.57 %. The drivers of renewable energy demand vary considerably across types, regions and resource endowment levels, which means that regions should develop differentiated development strategies based on their own characteristics. In addition, the coupling effect between renewable energy demand and total energy demand is weakening, with market and policy effects becoming the drivers for augmenting the response of renewable energy to total energy demand. The findings of this study provide clear pathways for expanding renewable energy demand, offering important insights for the government to balance between promoting capital-driven interests and policy-driven development.

Research and development investment of Chinese chemical pharmaceutical companies under the national pooled procurement: a retrospective panel data analysis, 2013–2022

ObjectiveTo generate evidence about changes in the research and development (R&D) investment of Chinese chemical pharmaceutical companies before and after the implementation of the national pooled procurement, to respond to...

Research on the Configuration Path of Innovation Performance of Strategic Emerging Enterprises

As vehicles for implementing innovation-driven strategies, the strategic emerging industries are crucial for enhancing national competitiveness and sustainable development. Improving innovation performance in these industries has been a central focus of academic research. Notably, existing studies have primarily analyzed the net effects from a single perspective. This study examined 261 strategic emerging Chinese enterprises listed on the A-share market. Utilizing the Technology–Organization–Environment framework and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, this study explores the impact paths and mechanisms of the coupling configurations of technology, organization, and environment to enhance enterprises’ innovation performance from a configuration perspective. We discovered that, first, no single antecedent condition is necessary to achieve high enterprise innovation performance. However, increasing the level of digital transformation and intensity of innovation investments universally results in high innovation performance. Second, the technological, organizational, and environmental conditions exhibit “multiple concurrency”, forming diverse configurations that drive enterprise innovation performance; hence, the driving paths of enterprise innovation performance are varied. Third, four schemes exist for achieving high innovation performance in strategic emerging enterprises: environment-driven under technological dominance, technology–organization driven type, organization-driven under technological–environmental dominance, and technology–organization–environment co-driven type. Exploring the synergistic paths driving innovation performance from a configuration perspective enhances our understanding of the complex interactions among multiple factors in improving such performance. This provides significant theoretical and practical implications for enterprises aiming to improve their innovation performance.

Impact of Data Breach on IT Investment: Embracing Both Failure Learning and Threat Rigidity

The extant literature has provided valuable insights into the post-failure behavior of organizations, highlighting two distinct tendencies: failure learning and threat rigidity. While failure learning involves organizations embracing change and seeking improvements after experiencing failures, threat rigidity leads to a more conservative and resistant approach to change during such times. In our study, we used a pioneering approach by integrating these seemingly competing perspectives within the context of data breaches. Employing a propensity score matching (PSM)-combined-difference-in-differences (DiD) approach, we uncovered a dual impact of data breaches on firms’ information technology (IT) investment—after data breaches, firms tend to increase their IT investment intensity (a promoting effect) while simultaneously reducing their new IT investments (an inhibiting effect). Furthermore, we found that a firm with a strong quality culture exhibits a stronger tendency to increase its IT investment intensity following a data breach, while a firm highly valuing innovation demonstrates a weaker trend in reducing new IT investments after a breach. In post hoc analyses, we found that the impact of data breaches on IT investments is contingent on a series of factors related to the nature of the breach and the specific type of IT investments considered. Overall, our study provides valuable insights into the complex and diverse relationship between data breaches and IT investments in firms.

Does a business education make for better innovative managers? An empirical examination of CEOs’ business education, CEO duality and R&D investment intensity

This study aims to explore how chief executive officers (CEOs) business education influences their company's investment in Research and Development (R&D) taking into account the moderating impact of CEO duality. Risks related to investment in research and development might have an impact on CEOs who are responsible for improving management effectiveness and company value. Insufficient education among executives can hinder effective oversight. Findings from analyzing data from 1632 firm-year observations from 2015 to 2020 of companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges reveal that CEOs with dual roles tend to prioritize R&D investments and innovation. Additionally, CEOs without a Master of Business Administration (MBA) or executive MBA education (EMBA) exhibit a greater willingness to take risks leading to more innovation and spending on R&D. This research emphasizes the need to consider CEOs' demographics, board structures and governance mechanisms to promote innovation in companies.

O ostracismo científico nas escolas angolanas: Uma abordagem à luz da cultura

Angolan schools have served as a stage for scientific bias in their teaching content, as the insufficient proliferation of the Afro-scientific legacy has been noted. Despite this, the main objective of this article is to analyze the exclusion and non-inclusion of African scientific references in the Angolan school system. Seeking to understand, through a deductive approach, the occurrence of this ostracist process in our educational system, since Angola, its educational model does not differ much from those that share the same global sphere, if not only in the intensity of monetary investment. Therefore, with this article, science in Angola, combined with culture, will be deeply analyzed, supported by renowned authors such as Marimba Ani, George James, Maria Eva Lakatos, Filipe Zau among others.

Artificial intelligence innovation and corporate environmental investment: A contingent view

Existing research has begun to focus on the negative impacts caused by artificial intelligence (AI), but few studies have examined the influence of AI on corporate environmental activities. This study, using 15,779 observations from 3,097 Chinese listed firms from 2008 to 2022, finds that corporate AI innovation has a significant negative impact on CEI. Additionally, we discover that firm size strengthens the negative relationship between AI innovation and CEI, while foreign direct investment (FDI) intensity weakens this negative relationship. This study extends the research on AI in the field of corporate environmentally friendly behavior.

Storm clouds over innovation: Typhoon shocks and corporate R&D activities

This study investigates the economic impact of typhoon disasters on corporate innovation activities, a critical driver of economic growth and resilience. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset of Chinese public companies from 2010 to 2022 and employing a wind field model to construct a city-level typhoon destruction index, we apply difference-in-differences and instrumental variable methods to analyze the effects on corporate innovation. Our findings reveal that typhoon disasters significantly reduce both patent filings and R&D investment intensity, particularly in coastal areas and technology-intensive industries. The adverse effects are transmitted through financial constraints, human capital loss, and infrastructure damage. This research contributes to understanding the microeconomic implications of extreme weather events on innovation-driven economic growth, offering insights for disaster resilience policies in vulnerable regions.

Potential and Investment Attractiveness of Implementing Climate Projects on Disturbed Lands

Forest restoration projects can be categorized as climate projects, investments in the implementation of which exceed the investment costs of forest-climate projects, which reduces their attractiveness to investors. An algorithm for assessing investment costs of climate reforestation projects on disturbed lands has been developed. The potential of territories for the implementation of such project initiatives is available in all regions of Russia and amounts to more than 381 thousand hectares. For five studied polygons of disturbed lands (Kuzbass basin, Moscow basin, Western Siberia basin, as well as basins of Chelyabinsk and Belgorod Regions), the aggregated costs for the implementation of measures to create carbon-depositing plantations and ground cover were calculated. Investment costs for restoration of 1 hectare of disturbed land under the climate project vary from 82.6 thousand rubles to 116.9 thousand rubles. Cost analysis shows that the carbon intensity of investment in such projects on disturbed lands is quite high (Ccii > 1.0). The highest investment potential is observed in the Kuzbass basin, where Ccii is 2.01. To organize and implement the afforestation project on disturbed lands of the Kemerovo Region, investments in the amount of 66.7 thousand rubles/ha for capital expenditures and 24.7 thousand rubles/ha for current expenses will be required. The payback period of such an investment project, taking into account the discount rate, is 13.1 years, and during the study period (20 years) the income from the project will cover 228% of the spent funds. These data confirm that the investment potential of forest-climatic projects on disturbed lands is quite high.

What drives urban low-carbon transition? Findings from China

This paper assesses the city-level performance of low-carbon transition and the contributions of individual attributes to the percentage change of urban low-carbon transition performance. We developed a composite index to evaluate the status quo of low-carbon development and constructed an adjacent Malmquist index to measure the low-carbon transition performance. Then we grafted attribution analysis approach onto the Malmquist index to quantify attributions and applied convergence analysis to reveal characteristics of urban low-carbon transition. We applied the models to the case of 114 Chinese cities over time and found that the performance of urban low-carbon transition had progressed over time. Interestingly, we observed that the top performers were mainly non-pilot cities, even though pilot cities had performed better on average. Attribution analysis showed high heterogeneity over time for both types of cities, but in general, the intensity of technological innovation investment, the level of low-carbon policy system perfection and green space carbon sink were the main drivers. Convergence analysis showed that most cities had moved closer to the frontier of best practice over time and fewer cities were lagging behind their peers.

Twisted industrial structure, land financing mode and social security

This paper explains the disparities in the level of social security across different regions in China from the perspective of industrial structure distortions and discusses the moderating effect of land financing models. The results show that industrial structure distortions have a significant negative impact on social security expenditures; the lower the intensity of land investment, and the higher the intensity of land finance and land-based finance, the stronger the negative impact of industrial structure distortions on social security expenditures. The research conclusion of this paper has the reference significance for the government's sound and sustainable multi-level social security system.

Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Influencing Factors of the Synergistic Effect of Pollution Reduction and Carbon Reduction in China

Based on the use of the coupling coordination model to calculate the coupling coordination degree of carbon emission and pollutant control, the national, regional, and provincial spatiotemporal characteristics of the synergistic effect of pollution control and carbon emissions reduction in China were further analyzed, facilitating the crucial to identification of key areas. The fixed effects regression models and provincial panel data from 2006 to 2020 were used to explore factors contributing to better synergizing the reduction of pollution and carbon emissions in China. On this basis, the adjustment variable of R&D investment intensity was introduced, and the regulation effect model was constructed to further explore the influence mechanism of the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. The results showed that： synergy exists between carbon emission reduction and the air pollution control system, the evolution of the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction in China presented an inverted "U"-shaped trend from 2006 to 2020, and there was spatial aggregation and a spatial spillover effect in pollution reduction and carbon reduction. The synergistic governance of carbon emission and pollutant control was still at a relatively low level. The carbon emission and air pollutant emission systems were still in an unstable and uncoordinated state. The results showed that： The degree of coordination of eastern China, central China, and western China decreased in turn. At the national level, energy consumption structure, per capita GDP, and the proportion of green investment were the main factors affecting the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon. The heterogeneity of the influencing factors existed in the central, eastern, and western regions on industrial structure, energy consumption structure, energy utilization efficiency, per capita GDP, urbanization rate, the proportion of green investment, and transportation structure. The intensity of R&D played a significant moderating effect in the whole country, eastern, and central regions. However, no significant moderating effect was identified in the western region. In the eastern region, the urbanization rate, the proportion of green investment, and the transportation structure could not have a significant effect on the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction alone, and it must be coordinated with the intensity of R&D.

Decoupling economic development from carbon emissions: Insights from Chinese provinces

Decoupling economic development from carbon emissions is crucial for achieving sustainable development, particularly at the regional level. It also guides coordinated socio-economic development between regions. However, fewer studies analyze the long-term and short-term factors affecting decoupling from a dynamic perspective. Using annual data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2021, this study assesses the level of decoupling in each province at both temporal and spatial levels and explores the factors influencing decoupling in the long and short term. The empirical results show that in the long run, the growth of industrial structure, R&D investment intensity, urban-rural income gap, and foreign trade promote the decoupling of economic development from carbon emissions. Conversely, the growth of energy consumption structure and energy prices inhibit decoupling. Short-term factors affecting decoupling vary significantly from province to province. To ensure the accuracy of the empirical results, this study conducted multidimensional heterogeneity and robustness analyses. Combined with the impulse response and variance decomposition results, it provides rational suggestions for effective decoupling strategies. This study offers a scientific basis for formulating sustainable development policies in various regions and serves as a valuable reference for other developing countries aiming to achieve harmonious economic and environmental development.

Study examining the significant role of intellectual property protection in driving radical technological innovation among national research project teams, employing PLS-SEM and ANN modeling.

This study examines the role of intellectual property protection (IPP) in enhancing radical technological innovation (RTI) within national research project teams, using an innovation-driven theory and an ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) perspective. This study utilizes a sample of 336 national research project team members from various Chinese universities, research institutes, and corporations to analyze the theoretical model. Additionally, a two-stage hybrid partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach, combined with artificial neural network techniques (ANN), is employed to evaluate the hypotheses. The empirical findings of this study reveal a positive association between the intensity of IPP and RTI within national research project teams. Research and development investment intensity (R&DII) is identified as the primary predictor, while integrated leadership (IL) and group potential (GP) play crucial moderating roles. These groundbreaking findings extend the scope of innovation-driven and AMO theories, providing a proactive model for national research project teams to propose improvements to the IPP system, ultimately enhancing the realization of RTI.