Natural Resource Constraints Research Articles

Selecting Endogenous Promoters for Improving Biosynthesis of Squalene in Schizochytrium sp.

Squalene (C30H50) is an acyclic triterpenoid compound renowned for its myriad physiological functions, such as anticancer and antioxidative properties, rendering it invaluable in both the food and pharmaceutical sectors. Due to the natural resource constraints, microbial fermentation has emerged as a prominent trend. Schizochytrium sp., known to harbor the intact mevalonate acid (MVA) pathway, possesses the inherent capability to biosynthesize squalene. However, there is a dearth of reported key genes in both the MVA and the squalene synthesis pathways, along with the associated promoter elements for their modification. This study commenced by cloning and characterizing 13 endogenous promoters derived from transcriptome sequencing data. Subsequently, five promoters exhibiting varying expression intensities were chosen from the aforementioned pool to facilitate the overexpression of the squalene synthase gene squalene synthetase (SQS), pivotal in the MVA pathway. Ultimately, a transformed strain designated as SQS-3626, exhibiting squalene production 2.8 times greater than that of the wild-type strain, was identified. Finally, the optimization of nitrogen source concentrations and trace element contents in the fermentation medium was conducted. Following 120 h of fed-batch fermentation, the accumulated final squalene yield in the transformed strain SQS-3626 reached 2.2g/L.

Investigating the impact of the internet on managing green financial innovation and improving agricultural conditions in water-scarce Asian regions using ANN modeling

This research focuses on the importance of management strategies, green innovation, and sustainable practices in the agricultural sector. These factors are crucial for job creation, food security, and environmental conservation. Particularly in water-scarce regions, effective management is necessary to overcome natural resource constraints and encourage a shift towards digital agriculture (AGRI). The study aims to identify and analyze the challenges and issues related to agricultural research and technology in Asian countries. The collected data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis in the SPSS software. The analysis revealed a range of issues and challenges for agricultural development, including those related to the structure and policy framework, the availability and quality of resources and infrastructures, and the provision of effective support services, all of which encompassed factors such as research and technology investment, research management, productivity, research culture, networking, and the integration of higher education and agricultural research. To estimate the efficiency of technology development, agricultural development, and support services for AGRI, an artificial neural network (ANN) was utilized. The ANN was trained by incorporating changes in management strategies, green innovation, and sustainability across a broader range of experimental scenarios. The evaluation of the ANN's predictions showed that improvements in management strategies and the adoption of green innovation and sustainability significantly impacted the productivity of technology development, agricultural development, and support services for AGRI. The accuracy of the ANN's predictions was further assessed using linear regression. The results indicated an acceptable level of error when compared to the target results obtained from experimental tests. Overall, this study emphasizes the importance of effective management, green innovation, and sustainable practices in driving advancements in technology and agricultural development.

Does fintech influence sustainable development under natural resource constraints: insights from 270 Chinese cities

FinTech emerges as an instrument in a rapidly evolving world, offering innovative solutions to mitigate natural resource constraints, and thus achieve sustainable development. However, its influence remains unclear. To clarify this effect, this study aims to explore the sustainable development effect of FinTech In the context of natural resource constraints. Firstly, this paper empirically examines the sustainable development effect of FinTech using a two-way fixed effects model based on data from 270 Chinese cities from 2006 to 2021. Secondly, this paper delves into the moderating mechanism behind the sustainable development effect of FinTech by assessing the level of marketization and the progress of green technology. It reports three key findings: (1) FinTech significantly impacts sustainable development, following a distinctive U-shaped pattern, thus contributing to alleviating resource constraints. (2) Heterogeneity analyses show that this U-shaped relationship is more pronounced in the central and western regions, as well as in regions with a higher degree of development in the level of fintech. (3) Marketization and green technology influence the U-shaped relationship between FinTech and sustainable development, shifting it upward and to the left. These findings recommend practical policy suggestions for local government.

Digital finance, natural resource constraints and firms' low-carbon behavior: Evidence from listed companies

Digital finance is pivotal in a company's environmentally responsible practices. Given this, we examine the impact of digital finance on firm's carbon emissions using a fixed-effect model using A-share listed companies data from 2011 to 2020. The results report that digital finance significantly dampens a firm's carbon emissions, and a similar effect is observed in the breadth of coverage and digital finance depth of use. Distinguishing the characteristics of firms' samples reveals that the carbon abatement effect resulting from digital finance is more evident in non-state-owned enterprises, remains significant in capital-intensive, technology-intensive industries as well as in manufacturing, yet is insignificant in labour-intensive and non-manufacturing industries. Promoting environmental, social and governance, facilitating digital transformation and incentivizing green innovation are significant digital finance-driven carbon abatement mechanisms. Digital finance's carbon-cutting effect is amplified further by financial regulation constraints and natural resource constraints.

Green finance and economic resilience: Investigating the nexus with natural resources through econometric analysis

The relationship between financial practices, ecological well-being, and economic resilience has received a lot of attention at a time when environmental sustainability and economic stability are significant issues. Exploring the nexus among green finance, economic resilience, and natural resources within the BRICS economies during the period 2000–2021, this study employs Quantile regression. This study unveils nuanced insights into the varying impacts of green finance on economic resilience across different quantiles of natural resource availability. The results highlight the pivotal role of green finance in fostering economic resilience, particularly in instances of resource scarcity or abundance. Moreover, the study sheds light on the importance of targeted policy interventions to maximize the positive impact of green finance on economic systems, especially in the context of natural resource constraints. This analysis contributes to both academic discourse and policy formulation, offering guidance for sustainable development strategies within the BRICS nations.

The SEC's September spike: Regulatory inconsistency within the fiscal year

We examine whether performance reporting leads to inconsistent enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In a sample of over 13,000 SEC enforcement actions, we show that SEC staff respond to performance-reporting pressures and file more enforcement actions in September, the final month of the SEC's fiscal year, than in any other month. The increase in case volume in September is not fully explained by staff filing more procedural cases or accelerating case filings. Instead, SEC staff pursue less complex cases and agree to more lenient financial and non-financial sanctions to increase case volume in September. We attempt to rule out alternative explanations for our results, including natural SEC workflow and resource constraints. Overall, our findings suggest that performance reporting creates agency conflicts that lead to regulatory inconsistency within the fiscal year.

Artificial Intelligence and Green Total Factor Productivity: The Moderating Effect of Slack Resources

With the emergence of the digital economy, digital technologies—such as artificial intelligence (AI)—have provided new possibilities for the green development of enterprises. Green total factor productivity is a key indicator of green sustainable development. While traditional total factor productivity does not consider the constraints of natural resources and the environment, green total factor productivity remedies this deficiency by incorporating environmental protection indicators, such as pollutant emissions, into the accounting system. To further clarify the relationship between AI technology and corporate green total factor productivity, this study uses a two-way fixed effects model to examine the impact of AI technology on the corporate green total factor productivity of A-share listed companies in China from 2013 to 2020 while examining how corporate slack resources affect the relationship between the two. The results show that the AI application positively contributes to the green total factor productivity of enterprises. Meanwhile, firms’ absorbed, unabsorbed, and potential slack resources all positively moderate the positive impact of AI technology on firms’ green total factor productivity. This study offers a theoretical basis for a comprehensive understanding of digital technology and enterprises’ green development. It also contributes practical insights for the government to formulate relevant policies and for enterprises to use digital technology to attain green and sustainable development.

Economic Growth Theory and Natural Resource Constraints: A Stocktake and Critical Assessment

AbstractSociety is facing significant environmental challenges. The effects of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation are being increasingly felt worldwide. In recent years, researchers have attempted to adapt neoclassical and endogenous growth theory to account for constraints imposed by scarce natural resources. In this article, we review where, and how, researchers tend to incorporate natural resources and natural capital into growth theory. We then outline areas and questions that remain unanswered, including how novel impact investing and the eroding trade‐off between GDP and the environment affect growth theory.

A geospatial approach to identifying biophysically suitable areas for fruit and vegetable production in the United States

AbstractIn the United States, the production of many fruits and vegetables (F&Vs) is concentrated in a few key regions of the country, and it may not be possible to maintain or increase output from these areas due to natural resource constraints and climate change. Rather, developing new and more geographically diverse production systems may be necessary to meet food needs and adapt to changing conditions. However, there is currently a limited understanding of the availability and location of suitable land where future production could occur. In this project, we developed geospatial models to identify and quantify land suitable for producing F&V crops across the contiguous United States based on biophysical constraints. Suitability was based on key criteria related to land cover and use, topography, soil properties, and climate. We found tremendous potential to expand F&V production at the national level, identifying 333 million hectares of suitable land, 47% of which is currently used for agriculture. Suitable land to produce most F&Vs exists across the United States, indicating that there is significant potential to geographically diversify production in the future, though tropical and sub‐tropical fruits are restricted to the southern areas of the country. These results provide a starting point for identifying opportunities to expand F&V production, reduce geographic concentration, and establish new supply chains.

Economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection: assessing the existence of green growth in Pakistan.

The Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific (MCED-5) provided a regional implementation plan to pursue economic development in Asia-Pacific. Achieving environmentally sustainable economic growth or green growth is considered necessary by the ministerial declaration of the conference. The ministerial declaration defines green growth as an approach to sustaining economic growth and employment creation, a prerequisite for effective poverty reduction while coping with natural resource constraints and climate change. Based on the importance of green growth, the study seeks to investigate the progress towards sustainable economic development in Pakistan from 1990 to 2019. The study employs structural equation modeling (SEM) to determine the direct and indirect effects of the variables of the green growth model adopted in the MCED-5. The results of the study indicate that an increase in the net national income of the country leads to increased natural resource depletion. The declining stock of natural capital points towards the difficulty in fulfilling biocapacity sustainability in Pakistan while achieving social progress and declining carbon intensity in the quest for sustainable development. Based on the analysis, it can be claimed that the negative impact of increasing inclusive wealth on natural capital makes Pakistan in environmental terms a weakly sustainable nation. Thus, the conclusion is that Pakistan is following a path of weak sustainability. As a result, there is a need to shift the country's sustainable economic development from weak sustainability to strong sustainability if the increasing natural resource depletion is to be restrained.

Transparency and Global Initiatives in the Face of Natural Resource Depletion in Sub-Saharan Africa

This research focuses on Natural Resource Depletion in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as ways to overcome it, with a particular focus on the role of transparency in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The transparency initiative is a global initiative aimed at eradicating corruption, ensuring accountability, and assisting participating countries in developing quality budgets that will ensure a good standard of living for their citizens now and in the future. Hausman test was applied and a fixed panel regression model was specified which reveals that there is a significant relationship between GDP per capita, inflation, the EITI dummy, and the transparency indicator is established using a panel regression model. The results show that the model fits the data well and can be used to forecast future economic growth in SSA countries that participate in the EITI scheme. The fixed-effect model also shows that the Transparency indicators such as voice and accountability, and corruption have a positive significant impact on the economic growth of the 10 SSA countries under consideration, indicating that transparency is a critical factor in determining good economic performance. Meanwhile, diagnostic tests such as normality test was performed, with satisfactory results, indicating that the model is very robust and reliable. Meanwhile, inflation have positive significant impact while natural resources show a negative significant influence on the economic growth of all the 10 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the EITI scheme which can be attributed to the natural economic depletion. Then, using correlation analysis, it was discovered that there is a strong link between transparency indicators (voice and accountability, corruption as well as quality of budget, and fiscal management) and economic growth. This suggests that the greater the transparency, the more natural resource constraints will be overcome, and SSA countries participating in the EITI scheme will achieve greater economic performance.

Identifying opportunities to close yield gaps in China by use of certificated cultivars to estimate potential productivity

Even though China has increased grain output in the past decade and greatly contributed to reducing global hunger, the country is still confronted with intense food security pressure due to its huge population base and severe loss of farmland. It has become increasingly important to fully exploit yield gaps (the difference between potential and actual yields) of all staple grains and to identify priority areas in order to achieve the UN sustainable development goal of zero hunger by 2030. The objective of this study was to calculate the production and yield gaps for rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and corn (Zea mays L.) across 31 provinces of mainland China, and then to propose sustainable ways to exploit the production and yield gaps in relation to the availability of natural resources and the ecological conditions of the various regions. The yield potential was estimated by assuming that certificated cultivars were adopted in each agricultural ecological zone (AEZ) and that state-of-the-art technologies and best management practices were used. The results suggested that the gross potential productivity of the three staple grains of mainland China in 2016 was 8.86 × 108 tons, with a production gap of 2.99 × 108 tons. Corn exhibited the greatest yield gap. The highest potential productivity was observed in the Northeast Plain and the Huang-Huai-Hai/North China Plain, accounting for 26.35% and 35.91% of the country’s total potential productivity, respectively. The greatest yield gaps were also found in these two plains. To narrow yield gaps, farmland infrastructure, especially irrigation facilities, should be improved, and field management should be strengthened for the provinces with the greatest gaps. However, in view of natural resource constraints (e.g., water shortages in Northern China), water-saving measures and techniques have been encouraged throughout mainland China and the planting of high water-consuming crops such as rice has been discouraged and should be reduced and replaced by other crops in the North China Plain and Northwest China. Using presently available cultivars and field management technologies, China still has great potential to increase grain production and improve food security by closing exploitable yield gaps through the use of suitable production methods based on existing natural resource capacity and ecological status.

A joint pricing and network design model for a closed-loop supply chain under disruption (glass industry)

Closed-loop supply chains have attracted more attention by researchers and practitioners due to strong government regulations, environmental issues, social responsibilities and natural resource constraints over past few years. This paper presents a mixed-integer linear programming model to design a closed-loop supply chain network and optimizing pricing policies under random disruption. Reusing the returned products is applied as a resilience strategy to cope with the waste of energy and improving supply efficiency. Moreover, it is necessary to find the optimal prices for both final and returned products. Therefore, the model is formulated based on demand function and it maximizes total supply chain’s profit. Finally, its application is explored through using the real data of an industrial company in glass industry.

Frugal innovation as a key to supply chain success: projection into the Moroccan context

In an economic environment characterized by rapid technological change and limited natural resource constraints, the frugal innovation approach is perfectly situated. This approach considers an economical and alternative solution especially for emerging countries by minimizing the use of funding and scarce natural resources, leading to the design of sustainable supply chain concepts capable of meeting the different consumer demands and integrating into the new global economy. This work serves to: simplify the frugal innovation approach by reviewing the separate definitions of innovation and frugality, the evolution of the approach throughout history, and comparisons of types of innovation; find the intersections and complementarities of these notions with the supply chain of the future; and seize opportunities to apply this frugal innovation approach in an emerging economy such as Morocco. The research has shown that frugal innovation can be implemented in both developing and developed countries and is one of the important factors in developing the economy and making it more competitive.

How do green financing and green logistics affect the circular economy in the pandemic situation: key mediating role of sustainable production

Emerging economies are striving to realize their potential for sustainable production in achieving zero-carbon agenda. Due to natural resource constraints, businesses must focus on green production resources to develop the circular economy. Therefore, this study aims to identify the key role of green financing and logistics in adopting sustainable production and circular economy. We have collected the data from 240 respondents from the Chinese manufacturing sector following the COVID-19 peak in late 2020 and analyzed using structural equation modeling. As per research findings, green financing and green logistics have a significant and positive effect on sustainable production and the circular economy. Second, sustainable production has a significant positive influence on the circular economy. Manifestly, sustainable production was discovered to play an important mediating role among these variables. Besides, the novel Importance-performance map analysis shows each constructs performance and importance value towards the circular economy. This paper contributed to the literature and highlighted the importance of each construct. Moreover, the study findings implied that green financing and green logistics should be integrated into organizational procuring and financing strategies for manufacturing green and sustainable goods, and advancing the circular economy goals.

Uncoordinated urbanization and economic growth—The moderating role of natural resources

AbstractMalthusian population theory states that, when population growth exceeds the growth of the means of production, socioeconomic development will be hindered. This paper analyzes this issue from the perspective of uncoordinated urbanization. We used the data available for 262 cities at the prefecture level and above in China, for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015. We empirically investigated the relationship between uncoordinated urbanization and urban economic growth. We also examined how this relationship is affected by natural resource constraints. The research results show that there are temporal and spatial differences in the distribution of uncoordinated urbanization in China. From a temporal perspective, from 2000 to 2015, 45.61% of China’s 262 cities show under‐urbanization, while 36.45% of cities show over‐urbanization. However, the number of cities with over‐urbanization is growing. From a spatial perspective, the number of cities in the northeastern region with over‐urbanization is declining. Conversely, the number of cities with over‐urbanization in Beijing in the central and southeastern coastal areas is increasing. Empirical research shows that uncoordinated urbanization and urban economic growth have an inverted U‐shaped relationship. Abundant natural resources can make the inverted U‐shaped curve of uncoordinated urbanization and economic growth flatter. The “resource curse” seems to occur only under high levels of uncoordinated urbanization (over‐urbanization). For some cities where there is under‐urbanization, abundant natural resources are conducive to urban economic growth.

Household food waste in rural China: A noteworthy reality and a systematic analysis.

Economic development has improved people's daily diets in China, but food waste has increased significantly. China faces severe natural resource constraints, and reducing food waste is important for ensuring national food security. Based on 1634 survey samples from 28 provinces in China, this study assessed food waste in rural China and empirically analyzed the main factors affecting rural household food waste. The results showed that, on average, 1.67% of food is wasted per household each day in rural China. Food waste is greater in economically developed areas, such as East China. Empirical analysis showed that cooking utensils, preparing the right amount of food, religious beliefs, number of family members, average weight of family members, percentage of purchased grain in the total food consumption in 1 year, and total grain output are significantly related to rural household food waste.

СПЕЦІАЛІЗАЦІЯ АГРОПРОДОВОЛЬЧОГО ЕКСПОРТУ УКРАЇНИ: ТЕНДЕНЦІЇ, ДРАЙВЕРИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ

Спеціалізація країн на світовому ринку є основою міжнародної торгівлі. Теоретичні засади глобальної спеціалізації сформовано концепціями міжнародної торгівлі, абсолютних і порівняльних переваг, альтернативних витрат. Експортну спеціалізацію України та її аграрного сектору визначають шість видів агропродовольчої продукції – кукурудза, пшениця, ячмінь, ріпак, соняшникові олія та макуха, які забезпечують майже третину загальнонаціонального і понад 70% агропродовольчого експорту держави. Отже, агропродовольчий експорт України є переважно сировинним і гіперспеціалізованим.Спеціалізація та інтернаціоналізація агропродовольчого виробництва і експорту України посилюються: зростають частки держави в загальносвітових обсягах експорту даних видів продукції, критично збільшується залежність вітчизняних аграріїв від імпорту багатьох видів виробничих ресурсів. Водночас частка імпортної складової в експорті Україною рослинницької продукції є порівняно невеликою.Сучасна модель глобальної агропродовольчої спеціалізації України вимагає коригування. Це необхідно як для збереження природно-ресурсного потенціалу аграрного виробництва, так і для забезпечення розвитку галузі в руслі сучасних загальносвітових соціально-економічних тенденцій. Для цього необхідно насамперед розширювати переліки виробленої сільгосппродукції і країн-імпортерів, активізувати залучення вітчизняних виробників до глобальних ланцюжків створення вартості, а також підвищувати частку продукції поглибленої переробки. Досягнення поставлених цілей зумовлює першочергову необхідність розвитку транспортно-логістичної інфраструктури та формування в державі ефективного інституційного середовища. Усе це має покращити умови ведення аграрного бізнесу і мотивувати його до дотримання природно-ресурсних обмежень і розвитку виробництв з глибокої переробки сільгоспсировини. Для збільшення кількості країн-імпортерів і розширення масштабів експорту вітчизняної агропродовольчої продукції потрібно також активізувати міждержавне торговельно-економічне співробітництво.

Optimal Elasticity of Biological Networks.

Reinforced elastic sheets surround us in daily life, from concrete shell buildings to biological structures such as the arthropod exoskeleton or the venation network of dicotyledonous plant leaves. Natural structures are often highly optimized through evolution and natural selection, leading to the biologically and practically relevant problem of understanding and applying the principles of their design. Inspired by the hierarchically organized scaffolding networks found in plant leaves, here we model networks of bending beams that capture the discrete and nonuniform nature of natural materials. Using the principle of maximal rigidity under natural resource constraints, we show that optimal discrete beam networks reproduce the structural features of real leaf venation. Thus, in addition to its ability to efficiently transport water and nutrients, the venation network also optimizes leaf rigidity using the same hierarchical reticulated network topology. We study the phase space of optimal mechanical networks, providing concrete guidelines for the construction of elastic structures. We implement these natural design rules by fabricating efficient, biologically inspired metamaterials.

Strategic decision-support modeling for robust management of the food–energy–water nexus under uncertainty

Food, energy, and water (FEW) are interconnected pillars that underpin the security of people’s livelihoods. In this paper, we propose a decision-support model to better understand and aid management of regional FEW nexus systems under uncertainty. We apply the model to a case study focusing on fluctuations in water supply, which significantly affect production in the agriculture and energy sectors in Shanxi Province, China. We use a two-stage, stochastic, chance-constrained programming approach to the proposed spatially detailed cost-minimizing FEW nexus model under demand and natural resource (land and water) constraints. This approach translates the target reliability level (i.e., the probability that the devised solution can satisfy all constraints) into a penalty that has to be paid in the case of their non-fulfillment. On this basis, robust decisions (i.e., production options suitable for a broad variation in certainty of water supply) are derived. Using this approach, we estimate the penalties required to achieve given levels of reliability by incentivizing the deployment of water-saving technologies. For example, our model predicts that water storage would become cost-effective if the penalty for exceeding the available water supply were 2.5 times higher than the current price for industrial water; this would enable at least 40% reliability compared to 18% if the penalty were at the current water price level. Taking advantage of the differences in water intensity of crops in different sites, our model optimizes the reservoir location, which allows water withdrawal by agriculture to be reduced by 1.23%. We also evaluate the benefits of incorporating uncertainty and missed opportunity due to a lack of perfect information. In the case study, we show that the benefits of including uncertainty in the form of the two-stage stochastic programming approach appear to be quite significant, reaching 4% of the total solution costs. Water-importing costs, taxes, and subsidies are instruments that translate into the penalty in this model; the modeling approach presented here can thus be used to inform cost-effective and robust management of the FEW nexus in Shanxi Province, China, and other water-scarce regions around the world.