Joint Emission Reduction Research Articles

Grandfathering or benchmarking? The impact of carbon quota allocation rule on the joint emission reduction supply chain

The choice of carbon quota allocation rule (CQA rule) is crucial for the efficient operation of cap-and-trade policy. This paper analyses the impact of grandfathering (GF) rule and benchmarking (BM) rule on the joint emission reduction (JER) supply chain by using a differential game approach. In the proposed model, the upstream manufacturer achieves its emission reduction target through green technology and recycling, and the downstream retailer promotes these products. Our results show that compared with the benchmark case, both CQA rules do not always encourage the manufacturer to increase emission reduction investments. Moreover, the environmental and economic performance of different CQA rules is time-varying. For low-emission products, both CQA rules may yield higher total carbon emissions. For medium and high-emission products, the BM rule has a better short-term environmental performance, while the GF rule always has the best long-term environmental performance. As such, the government should prioritise the inclusion of medium and high-emission manufacturers in the carbon trading market and adopt the BM rule at the initial stage, and then transition to the GF rule. We also provide practical insights on the timing of transition, setting free carbon quotas, balancing economic and environmental performance, and dealing with uncertain market changes.

Towards a low-carbon and beautiful world: assessing the impact of digital technology on the common benefits of pollution reduction and carbon reduction.

When ecology thrives, civilization thrives, and when ecology declines, civilization declines. Based on panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2000 to 2021, this study used marginal abatement costs to estimate the co-benefits of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. Two-way fixed effect and two-stage intermediary effect models were used to evaluate the impact of digital technology on co-benefits and its indirect channels. The results indicated that China's total carbon emissions maintained a steady growth trend, while air pollution showed a fluctuating declining trend. Reaching peak carbon neutrality calls for more innovative solutions. Under joint emission reduction efforts, the study revealed marginal abatement cost savings of 535.8 million yuan/million tons and 6216.5 million yuan/μg/m3 for carbon reduction and pollution reduction, respectively. Most importantly, the study confirmed that joint emission reduction programs can reduce environmental governance costs more than individual emission reductions can, and the co-benefits increased from 37.983 to 44.757. The co-benefits generally showed a trend of fluctuation and increases and had the characteristics of phased transformation. Intragroup differences and cross-overlapping between regions made regional differences in co-benefits obvious. The subversive, permeable, and integrated features of digital technology have resulted in the all-around transformation of the economy and society, and the new technology-economy paradigm has significantly improved co-benefits. The conclusion remains valid after robustness testing and controlling for endogeneity problems. The results of the mechanism analysis suggest that digital technology can indirectly improve synergies through the intermediary channels of fostering green technology innovation, reducing energy consumption intensity and improving the energy structure.

Optimal coordination contracts for manufacturer and streamer joint emission reduction and low-carbon publicity in a live-streaming supply chain

Optimal coordination contracts for manufacturer and streamer joint emission reduction and low-carbon publicity in a live-streaming supply chain

Co-benefits and influencing factors exploration of air pollution and carbon reduction in China: Based on marginal abatement costs

This study addresses the pressing need for cost-effective emission reduction strategies that maximize co-benefits in terms of air pollution and carbon emissions. Our research contributes to the literature by accurately measuring these co-benefits, thereby facilitating their prompt realization in different regions. We employ an input-output framework that integrates carbon emissions and air pollution, allowing us to calculate marginal abatement costs using the shadow price of undesired output. Through this approach, we quantify the co-benefits and analyze the factors influencing them at both spatiotemporal and factor levels using spatial kernel density and geographical detectors. Our findings reveal several key insights: (1) under joint emission reduction efforts, we observe average annual reduction rates of 6.46% for marginal pollution and 6.10% for carbon reduction costs. Importantly, we document an increase in co-benefits from 0.50 to 0.86, characterized by an initial fluctuation followed by a linear increase. (2) the marginal cost difference for carbon emission and pollution reduction in western China was 179.45 and 155.08 respectively, compared to 321.51 and 124.70 in the Northeast, highlighting the crucial role of regional differences in shaping co-benefit outcomes. (3) we identify a negative spatial spillover effect between provinces, which diminishes over time, leading to heterogeneous effects when local provincial co-benefits exceed a threshold of 0.9. (4) during the adjustment period, we find that the industrial structure exerts significant single and interactive effects on co-benefits. Additionally, we highlight the critical role of environmental governance investment and government intervention as drivers of co-benefits in the current era. By offering the quantification of co-benefits under the marginal abatement costs, our study provides valuable scientific insights for planning and implementing effective synergy strategies.

Stochastic differential game of joint emission reduction in the supply chain based on CSR and carbon cap-and-trade mechanism

This paper considers both carbon emission reduction and corporate social responsibility (CSR) goodwill as endogenous variables in the joint emission reduction process of the supply chain system. The joint emission reduction strategy of the three-tier supply chain system is examined from a long-term perspective utilizing stochastic differential game models. Three models, namely the cooperative game, the Nash non-cooperative game, and the Stackelberg master–slave game, are developed to analyse and compare the equilibrium strategies under each model. The results indicate that the manufacturer-led Stackelberg master–slave game can achieve the Pareto improvement in the profits of the supplier, manufacturer, retailer, and the entire supply chain system.

Industrial Carbon Emission Distribution and Regional Joint Emission Reduction: A Case Study of Cities in the Pearl River Basin, China

Industrial Carbon Emission Distribution and Regional Joint Emission Reduction: A Case Study of Cities in the Pearl River Basin, China

Does Digital Transformation Promote Green and Low-Carbon Synergistic Development in Enterprises? A Dynamic Analysis Based on the Perspective of Chinese Listed Enterprises in the Heavy Pollution Industry

Digital transformation has become essential in promoting and upgrading enterprise elements and reshaping the market’s competitive landscape. However, whether digital transformation can further promote green and low-carbon synergistic development is still being determined. Using data from 2008 to 2014 matched between A-share listed enterprises in China’s heavily polluting industries and China’s industrial enterprise pollution emission database (robustness tests were used city panel data from 2013 to 2019 to overcome the timeliness of enterprise-level data), we measured the green total factor productivity, carbon emission efficiency, and joint emission reduction efficiency of heavily polluting listed companies. We examined the dynamic impact of corporate digital transformation on corporate pollution and carbon emission reduction. The empirical results show that (1) digital transformation inhibits the enterprise’s all-green factor productivity, carbon emission efficiency, and joint emission reduction efficiency in the short term but promotes them in the long term. Digital transformation can improve these three efficiencies by enhancing the enterprise’s green technology innovation ability and optimizing factor allocation efficiency. (2) A heterogeneity analysis found that, in the external environment, the increase in environmental regulation enhances the impact of digital transformation on these three efficiencies; in the internal environment, the improvement of the competitiveness of the enterprise’s products strengthens the promotion of digital transformation on the three efficiencies of pollution emission reduction and carbon emission reduction. (3) Further research shows that, in the long run, digital transformation can improve the synergistic effect of the pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction of enterprises. This is instructive for Chinese enterprises to achieve the synergistic development of digital transformation and green, low-carbon production.

Can firms achieve the collaborative governance of airborne pollution and greenhouse gases? Evidence from the Chinese industrial sector

The rapid global industrialization and urbanization processes, especially in developing countries, have caused serious environmental pollution and climate warming. The industrial sector, in which high energy consumption is its main feature, is an important source of airborne pollution and greenhouse gases. The effective realization of collaborative emission reduction in the industrial sector has become an important path worldwide to reduce pollution and carbon in the future. Based on matched data on industrial firms, this study uses a fixed effects model, the two-stage least squares method, quantile regression and an interaction regression model to explore the co-benefits of airborne pollution and greenhouse gas emission reduction from a microscale perspective. Benchmark analysis demonstrates that for every 1% decrease in the airborne pollution emissions of firms, the greenhouse gas emissions of firms decrease by approximately 0.014%. According to heterogeneity analysis, the electric power, heat production and supply industry; the coal mining and washing industry; the leather, fur, feather and related products industry; the ferrous metal ore mining and dressing industry; and the petroleum, coal and other fuel processing industry are ripe for reduction at lower costs. Furthermore, feasibility analysis reveals that firms' sulfur reduction behavior and the government's sulfur reduction legislation may result in collaborative greenhouse gas emission reductions while regulating airborne pollution. This research can help countries meet multiple emission reduction goals by facilitating the optimization of joint emission reduction methods that target numerous pollutants.

Multi-source data assessment and multi-factor analysis of urban carbon emissions: A case study of the Pearl River Basin, China

The Pearl River Basin (PRB) is of strategic importance to China's economic development and ecological sustainability, while carbon emissions (CES) are currently exerting immense pressure on the region. This study attempts to study the spatial-temporal evolution and driving factors of CES to achieve regional joint emission reduction. Through the integration of multi-source data, this study has developed a coupled model for calculating CES from both carbon sources and sinks. The space-time patterns and clustering characteristics of CES in the PRB were analyzed at multiple scales. And the main driving factors of CES were revealed from two scales of urban and basin, respectively. The results show that CES exhibited an increasing trend, with cities with high CES mainly located in the downstream of the PRB. The CES between neighboring cities exhibited strong spatial dynamics and dependence, resulting in a collaborative development trend of CES with adjacent cities. The social consumption level, land use degree, and fiscal expenditure were significant drivers of CES. Additionally, the interaction impact between influencing factors on CES exerted more significantly than any single factor. This study improved the methods of calculating CES with multi-source data and provided support for different-type cities to formulate targeted CES reduction policies.

Structural attribution of emissions along the global supply chain and implications for climate policy

AbstractTo develop and implement effective policies to mitigate climate change, it is important to understand the emission profile of sectors that comprise the network of global supply chains. Focusing on the relationship between sectors’ positions in the global supply chain, this study develops a structural position analysis framework based on input–output analysis. Our framework reveals the highest‐priority sectors and transactions, and the best strategies for CO2 emission reduction in the global supply chain. The strategies identified focus on cross‐border transactions and highlight the need for inter‐sectoral and international collaboration. The results indicate that the United States and China have different priorities and characteristics (even vis‐à‐vis the same industry), and that joint emission reduction policies should be coordinated to take advantage of each country's emission reduction potential. Our findings suggest that, in the United States and Europe, policies to promote the reduction of direct emissions from production of goods for exports through carbon taxes are important. Contrarily, in Asian countries, carbon emissions originate mainly from intermediate goods trades, suggesting the need for mandatory life cycle assessment reporting and emissions disclosure. Our analytical framework thus proposes specific policies that could effectively reduce specific sectors' and transactions’ carbon footprints.

Design of a low carbon economy model by carbon cycle optimization in supply chain

IntroductionConcerning economic globalization, enterprises must work with the cooperative partner to obtain more profits and overall planning of the supply chain has become a new focus for enterprise development. This paper studies the joint emission reduction of the supply chain in green low-carbon economy development and achieve joint emission and economic cost reduction through the optimization of carbon emission and economic dispatch.MethodsThe paper firstly uses the multi-agent model to complete the fullcycle modeling of carbon emission and economic cost; Secondly, the simulated annealing-adaptive chaos-particle swarm optimization (SAACPSO) method is used to optimize various parameters in the model to achieve emission and cost reductionResultsThe results show that after the optimization, the economic cost is reduced by 0.07 and the carbon emission is also reduced by 0.16; Finally, the practical test of the model is conducted with the collected data from the local company. The results show that the multi-objective optimization model of a joint enterprise supply chain is significantly better than single optimization in terms of emission reduction.DiscussionIt provides new ideas for a green economy and technical support for the global planning of supply chain integration.

Extended Vidale-Wolfe model on joint emission reduction and low-carbon advertising strategy design in a secondary supply chain.

Under the low-carbon economy environment, downstream retailer advertises upstream manufacturer's reduction to achieve better market performance, which is a common form of cooperation in low-carbon supply chain management. This paper assumes that the market share is dynamically influenced by product emission reduction and the retailer's low-carbon advertising. First, the Vidale-Wolfe model is extended. Second, from the perspective of centralization and decentralization, four differential game models of manufacturer and retailer in the two-level supply chain are constructed, while the optimal equilibrium strategies in various situations are compared. Finally, using Rubinstein bargaining model, the profit obtained by the secondary supply chain system is distributed. The main results are as follows: (1) The unit emission reduction and market share of manufacturer are rising with time. (2) The profit of each member of the secondary supply chain and the whole supply chain is always optimal under the centralized strategy. Although the advertising cost allocation strategy achieves the Pareto optimal under the decentralized situation, it still cannot reach the profit of the centralized strategy. (3) The manufacturer's low-carbon strategy and the retailer's advertising strategy have played a positive role in the secondary supply chain. The profits of the secondary supply chain members and the whole are on the rise. (4) As the leader of the secondary supply chain, it is more dominant in profit distribution. The results can provide theoretical basis for the joint emission strategy of supply chain members in low-carbon environment.

How to achieve emission reduction without hindering economic growth? The role of judicial quality

Existing literature has carried out fruitful research on the effects of environmental regulation policies. Due to differences in policies, regions, and data analysis methods, however, the previous studies have not reached a consensus on the effects of environmental regulation policies, especially on the effects of environmental regulation policies of developing countries from the perspective of environmental justice. This paper takes the establishment of the environmental court in China's intermediate people's court as a quasi-natural experiment and uses the multi-period difference-in-differences method to examine the effect of the establishment of the environmental court on environmental governance and economic performance, based on the panel data of 284 cities in China from 2003 to 2019. The results show that the establishment of the environmental court can significantly reduce the emission intensity of industrial SO2 in the short term. This reduction effect is resulted from the joint emission reduction effect of the establishment of the environmental court on local cities and adjacent cities. The mechanism analysis shows that the establishment of the environmental court has the dual effect of emission reduction without hindering economic growth. This effect is mainly achieved by improving energy efficiency, stimulating green technology innovation, increasing environmental investment, and improving the green finance level. Furthermore, the emission reduction effect of the establishment of the environmental court shows differential effects under the constraints of regional rule-of-law level, environmental awareness, fiscal pressure, and level of innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition, the establishment of the environmental court can facilitate the achievement of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.

The optimal carbon emission reduction and advertising strategy with dynamic market share in the supply chain

PurposeAs the quality of the environment decreases, enterprises and consumers' awareness of environmental protection is constantly improving. More and more enterprises begin to increase their investment in carbon emission reduction and attract environmentally friendly consumers to buy low-carbon products through advertising. The purpose of this paper is to utilize a realistic differential game model to provide dynamic carbon emission reduction strategies, advertising strategies and cooperation methods for complex supply chain members from a long-term perspective.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses the extend Vidale-Wolfe model (V-W model) to discuss the dynamic joint emission reduction strategy in the supply chain.Findings(1) When consumers' awareness of environmental protection increases, on the whole, carbon emission reduction and profit of products show an upward trend. (2) From a long-term perspective, the manufacturer's advertising subsidy to one of the retailers is the best choice. If the strength of the two retailers is unbalanced, the manufacturer will choose to cooperate with the dominant retailer. (3) Advertising, as a marketing means for retailers to promote low-carbon products, can alleviate the adverse effects of prisoner's dilemma in a semi-cooperative state, but it cannot achieve the Pareto optimization result.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper focuses on the analysis of the situation that when the manufacturer is the leader and thinks that consumers are active advocates of low-carbon products.Originality/valueThe results of this paper can provide theoretical basis for the joint emission strategy of supply chain members in low-carbon environment.

Research on Supply Chain Decision Making of Cold Chain Logistics Service Under Different Government Subsidy Policies

In the context of prioritizing environmental protection gradually becoming a general trend, how to achieve a balance between paying carbon tax and seeking government subsidies for cold chain logistics service supply chain members to further reduce carbon dioxide emissions of products will be an important decision faced by CCLSP. Based on the influence of the government's carbon tax on the cold chain logistics service supply chain, this paper analyzes the influence of different government subsidy policies on the carbon emission reduction decisions of cold chain logistics service providers (CCLSP), logistics information integrators (LSI) and the supply chain as a whole under the two scenarios of joint emission reduction and independent emission reduction. The effects of different subsidy methods and subsidy rates on carbon emission reduction, wholesale price, retail price and profit of CCLSP and LSI were explored, and the results were analyzed by numerical simulation. The results show that: in the case of joint emission reduction, emission reduction subsidy has a more positive impact on supply chain emission reduction and profit. In the case of independent emission reduction, both subsidy methods have a positive impact on the wholesale price, retail price and the profit of CCLSP and LSI. Which method is more effective needs to be selected according to the size of subsidy rate. To a certain extent, this paper provides opinions for the government to formulate a scientific and reasonable subsidy policy, which can provide a basis for CCLSP to reduce carbon emissions for inquiries.

Impact of three emission reduction decisions on authorized remanufacturing under carbon trading

Under carbon trading, our aim is to investigate how emission reduction decisions made by manufacturers influence authorized remanufacturing. In particular, based on three emission reduction modes, i.e., independent emission reduction by the original equipment manufacturer (N mode), independent emission reduction by the authorized remanufacturer (R mode), and joint emission reduction by both of them (NR mode), we build a supply chain game model, consisting of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and an authorized remanufacturer (AR). Further, in the process of solving manufacturers’ optimal decisions in three emission reduction modes, we probe the effects of emission reduction levels on per unit retail price, sales, authorized fees, revenues, and the environment, etc. Besides, we not only compare the consequences of different emission reduction strategies in the authorized remanufacturing mode, but also investigate the influence of carbon trading prices on manufacturers’ emission reduction decisions. Four major conclusions emerge as follows. 1) All these three emission reduction modes facilitate the increase of supply chain total sales. Amongst them, the total sales reach maximum in the joint emission reduction mode (NR mode), while only the sales of each manufacturer could be enhanced by the independent emission reduction mode (N mode or R mode). More crucially, emission reduction investments are beneficial to reducing retail prices of per unit product, further achieving small profits but quick turnover. 2) In the process of emission reduction, once an AR participated, the authorized fees of the OEM would increase, and such licensing fees are positively associated with the emission reduction level of the AR. 3) Manufacturers’ emission reduction investments do not always facilitate carbon emission mitigation, and their environmental impact is related to own output. 4) Carbon trading prices and consumer preferences are also the antecedents of emission reduction decisions made by manufacturers. To be specific, there is an optimal carbon trading price that makes the OEM’s emission reduction reach maximum, while the AR’s emission reduction is positively associated with carbon trading prices.

Research on carbon emission reduction and blockchain investment under different dual-channel supply chains.

Based on the consideration that consumers have low-carbon sensitivity and channel preference, a Stackelberg game model dominated by the manufacturer was constructed to study the joint strategies of low-carbon emission reduction and blockchain investment of supply chain members under three models: traditional retailer dual channel, manufacturer's online direct sales dual channel, and third-party e-commerce distribution dual channel. The interaction of different levels of emission reduction and blockchain investment in different dual-channel models was verified through the calculation and simulation analysis of the optimal decision of the supply chain members. The research results showed that the optimal emission reduction of manufacturers and the blockchain investment level of retailers under different dual-channel models are distinguishing, and manufacturers have the highest emission reduction under the dual-channel model of direct online sales; when manufacturers invest the same amount of emission reduction, the traditional retailer dual-channel model can obtain the highest profit. In the process of emission reduction decision-making, there are technology investors and beneficiaries, and the investment level is affected by the dual benefit effect of low-carbon emission reduction and trust and the combined effect of cost input. And the profit of the dual channel of third-party e-commerce distribution is the lowest; the ratio of technology gain to cost investment in the supply chain determines the initiative of low-carbon investment. Meanwhile, there are specific blockchain investment thresholds in different dual-channel modes, and the increase of the threshold value will improve the emission reduction. Besides, emission reduction investment is driven by the manufacturer's profit, and the more the manufacturer's channel accounts for, the higher the emission reduction tends to be. And further from the perspective of profit and emission reduction, it provides a reference for the channel selection and joint emission reduction strategies of the supply chain.

Joint emission reduction strategy considering channel inconvenience under different recycling structures

The need for carbon emission reduction has worldwide consensus, so many countries have implemented cap-and-trade regulation, and many firms are looking for ways to achieve emission reduction targets. Emission abatement through technological means and recycling has significant academic and practical value since manufacturing with green technology and remanufacturing to recycle products both reduce emissions. Focusing on a closed-loop supply chain with competitive recycling, we establish models for multiple recycling structures considering customers’ perception of inconvenience in recycling channels to identify the optimal emission reduction strategy of manufacturers. The results show that looser regulation stimulates manufacturers to boost the recycling intensity and dominate the collection of used products. In addition, when the carbon quotas are greater than a threshold, manufacturers will improve the investment in green technology while deciding to recycle. As the carbon price and recycling savings grow, manufacturers should increase total investments. However, if the recycling savings are low or manufacturer’s recycling channel is unattractive to consumers, manufacturers should invest even more in recycling than green technology under certain regulation intensities. Our numerical results show that manufacturer-led and recycling competition structures eliminate conflicts among supply chain members. Manufacturer-led and recycling competition structures also maximize both economic and environmental benefits as long as the unit price of carbon is not low. Our study contributes to the growing body of research on low-carbon operations and provides new insights into firms’ decision-making and government policy for emission reduction.

The development of highway infrastructure and CO2 emissions: The mediating role of agglomeration

The development of China's highway infrastructure has led to a rapid increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions while facilitating social and economic development. This paper introduces highway mileage and CO2 emissions into the traditional production density model, using agglomeration as a mediating variable, to theoretically discuss the path through which highway infrastructure influences CO2 emissions. We then use the spatial Durbin model (SDM) to verify the explanatory power of the expanded production density model based on panel data of China's 278 cities from 2003 to 2016. Empirical results indicate that (1) there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between highway infrastructure and CO2 emissions in both local and peripheral cities; (2) highway infrastructure affects local CO2 emissions through the agglomeration pathway but impacts CO2 emissions in peripheral cities mainly through the spatial spillover effect of highway infrastructure; and (3) the U-shaped impact of highway infrastructure on CO2 emissions in western China is diametrically opposed to the results for the east, the central region and the total sample. Therefore, China needs to fully consider the environmental effects of agglomeration to formulate a global emission reduction strategy when building highway infrastructure. Moreover, strategies based on the different stages of highway infrastructure development should be enacted and should be part of a spatially synergistic joint emission reduction mechanism while considering the characteristics of regional development.

Research on the Risk Aversion Strategy of Manufacturers Share Holding Energy Service Company

Considering the constraints of carbon trading policy, manufacturers have strengthened joint emission reduction with energy service company (ESCO). In view of the capital constraint of ESCO and the demand risk of the manufacturer, in order to promote better cooperation between the manufacturer and ESCO, the influence of manufacturer's risk aversion on supply chain performance is studied. In this paper, we use the mean-variance (MV) model to construct the two-echelon supply chain models of manufacturer's non-shareholding ESCO, manufacturer's shareholding ESCO and manufacturer's shareholding ESCO under risk aversion, respectively. This paper studies the risk aversion strategy of manufacturer's shareholding ESCO, discusses the influence of relevant parameters on decision variables, and analyses the influence of different shareholding proportion and risk aversion coefficient on profit through numerical analysis. The results show that the emission reduction of ESCO and the selling price of the manufacturer are increased when the manufacturer chooses the appropriate shareholding proportion, and interestingly, the manufacturer's shareholding in ESCO will also increase its emission reduction price. However, in order to avoid the risk of equity investment, manufacturers adopt the strategy of reducing the price of emission reduction and sales price, but this behavior will not only reduce their own profits, but also make the emission reduction lower.