Reasonable Policy Research Articles

The Effect of Price, Brand Image and Promotion on Easy Shopping Customer Repurchase Intention Mediated By Customer Satisfaction

This study aims to analyze the effect of Price, Brand Image, and Promotion on Customer Repurchase Intention on Easy Shopping with Customer Satisfaction as a Mediating Variable. The population are Easy Shopping’s customers and numbers of samples are 170. The analytical method used in this study is the SEM, with data analysis method by Partial Least Square (PLS). Primary data is obtained by distributing Google Form questionnaire to respondents. The results shows that Price, Brand Image, and Promotion have a significant effect on Customer Satisfaction, Customer Satisfaction has a significant effect on Customer Repurchase Intention and can mediate the effect of Price in the partial mediation category, Brand Image, and Promotion in the full mediation category on Customer Repurchase Intention. Research suggestions for Easy Shopping, they can set more reasonable price policy for customers, particularly for member customers who have loyally purchase with certain amounts on Easy Shopping catalog products. Keywords: Price, Brand Image, Promotion, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Repurchase Intention

Measuring green development index and coupling coordination of mining industry: An empirical analysis based on panel data in China

Due to the quick adaptation of the mining industry and demand for the mining industry is growing due to the need for minerals and metals, green mining industry has earned much support. China has taken specific actions and made the advancement of green mining a crucial part of establishing an eco-society. Growth tactics utilized by traditional mining economies had negative repercussions, including resource depletion and deteriorating environmental conditions. For China, when formulating reasonable and scientific policies, a fair evaluation of the mining industry's level of green development has significant practical relevance. This study employed 16 common indicators divided into four categories: economical and intensive utilization, ecological environmental protection, scientific and technological innovation, safety and harmony, etc. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method and the entropy weight method (EWM) were used to reflect the relationship between indicators at different levels. In addition to the coupling of subsystems coordination model, which reveals the relationship between subsystems, scores of subindexes and weighted indicators are also derived. The empirical findings demonstrate that (1) despite non-cyclical fluctuations in the development of China's green mining industry, the overall index exhibits an upward trend from year to year; (2) the coordination of China's green mining industry subsystems is basically inconsistent, stage-wise balanced, and lacks precise coordination; and (3) the development of China's green mining industry is challenging, especially in the management and resto areas. Furthermore, the framework for green mining growth described in this study can be applied to other regions or sectors.

Reforming Shareholder Claims in Investor-State Dispute Settlement

Abstract Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) stands alone in empowering shareholders to bring claims for shareholder reflective loss (SRL)—meaning claims over harms allegedly inflicted upon the company, but which somehow affect share value. National systems of corporate law and public international law regimes generally bar SRL claims for strong policy reasons bearing on the efficiency and fairness of the corporate form. However, ISDS tribunals allow shareholders broad and regular access to seek relief for reflective loss. The availability of SRL claims in ISDS ultimately harms States and investors alike, imposing surprise ex post costs on States and various corporate stakeholders (particularly creditors), and creating perverse incentives likely to raise the cost of doing business ex ante. The article sets out the harms caused by allowing ISDS claims for reflective loss, as well as the possible justifications for allowing such claims in this specific context. Concluding that any potential benefits of SRL can be realized through less invasive means, we then canvas a number of plausible reform options, with an eye to their trade-offs.

Forecast of Advanced Human Capital Gap Based on PSO-BP Neural Network and Coordination Pathway: Example of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region

The upgrading of human capital caused by education is significant to regional development. Reasonable predictions of the degree of advanced human capital in different regions are effective for formulating reasonable talent policies and accelerating regional coordinated development. The BP neural network is a widely used prediction technology. PSO-BP neural network has good global search ability, which can accelerate the convergence speed of traditional BP neural network, which is suitable for forecasting larger data. The study takes the provincial data of China from 2005 to 2019 as an example, using PSO-BP neural network algorithm to predict the advanced level of human capital through the influencing factors filtered by OLS regression. The results show that: (1) Innovation ability and urbanization can play a decisive role in advanced human capital filtered by OLS regression; (2) The results of predicting the development trend of advanced human capital in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region in 2020–2025 through the PSO-BP neural network have showed that there is still a large gap between the senior human capital stock in Hebei-Beijing-Tianjin in terms of total and per capita in 2020–2025 compared with other regions in east of China; (3) Giving full attention to elaborate the positive role of economic quality and quantity development are suitable for narrowing the difference of advanced human capital in this region. Through the method of OLS-BP-neural network, this study explores the gap and influencing factors of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, excavates the reasons for the huge gradient difference in the development of this region, and extends the machine learning prediction method to the analysis of the advanced level of human capital and the research of narrowing the regional development gap.

Challenges of methadone maintenance treatment decentralisation from Vietnamese primary care providers' perspectives.

Decentralising methadone maintenance treatment to primary care improves patients' access to care and their drug and HIV treatment outcomes. However, primary care providers (PCP), especially those working in limited-resource settings, are facing great challenges to provide quality methadone treatment. This study explores the challenges perceived by PCP providing methadone treatment at commune health centres in a mountainous region in Vietnam. We conducted in-depth interviews with 26 PCP who worked as program managers, physicians, counsellors, pharmacists and medication dispensing staff at the methadone programs of eight commune health centres in Dien Bien, Vietnam, in November and December 2019. We used the health-care system framework in developing the interview guides and in summarising data themes. Participants identified major challenges in providing methadone treatment in commune health centres at the individual, clinic and environmental levels. Individual-level challenges included a lack of confidence and motivation in providing methadone treatment. Clinic-level factors included inadequate human resources, lack of institutional support, insufficient technical support, lack of referral resources and additional support for patients. Environment-level factors comprised a lack of reasonable policies on financial support for providers at commune health centres for providing methadone treatment, lack of regulations and mechanisms to ensure providers' safety in case of potential violence by patients and to share responsibility for overdose during treatment. PCP in Vietnam faced multi-level challenges in providing quality methadone treatment. Supportive policies and additional resources are needed to ensure the effectiveness of the decentralisation program.

Refined Estimation of Potential GDP Exposure in Low-Elevation Coastal Zones (LECZ) of China Based on Multi-Source Data and Random Forest

With climate change and rising sea levels, the residents and assets in low-elevation coastal zones (LECZ) are at increasing risk. The application of high-resolution gridded population datasets in recent years has highlighted the threats faced by people living in LECZ. However, the potential exposure of gross domestic product (GDP) within LECZ remains unknown, due to the absence of refined GDP datasets and corresponding analyzes for coastal regions. The climate-related risks faced by LECZ may still be underestimated. In this study, we estimated the potential exposure of GDP in the LECZ across China by overlying DEM with new gridded GDP datasets generated by random forest models. The results show that 24.02% and 22.7% of China’s total GDP were located in the LECZ in 2010 and 2019, respectively, while the area of the LECZ only accounted for 1.91% of China’s territory. Significant variability appears in the spatial-temporal pattern and the volume of GDP across sectors, which impedes disaster prevention and mitigation efforts within administrative regions. Interannual comparisons reveal a rapid increase in GDP within the LECZ, but a decline in its share of the country. Policy reasons may have driven the slow shift of China’s economy to regions far from the LECZ.

Debatable of Indonesian Citizens' Rights and Obligations Regarding the Covid-19 Vaccination Policy

The purpose of this study is to examine the rights and obligations of Indonesian citizens regarding vaccination. This research uses a type of normative legal research with a statute approach. Collect data by grouping and reviewing regulations, library materials, books, and other sources related to problems in this study. The results showed that polemics that led to pros and cons related to vaccination were caused by several factors such as vaccines being new, the safety of vaccines that cannot be passed, and the sanctions imposed on those who refuse vaccines. The pro-life community considers vaccination to be an obligation and the contras think that the imposition of vaccination is in line with the right to health. There are several variables for the reason for the vaccination policy to be implemented, namely the state in a state of emergency, namely in a pandemic crisis, and subsequently related to the human obligation to respect the human rights of others (the right to the health of others). Thus, the problem of legal certainty from the implementation of vaccination is an obligation of Indonesian citizens.

Research on Promoting Effect of Coordinated Development of Two-Way FDI on Integration of Two Industries

This paper takes 30 provinces and cities in China as the research object, andanalyzes the influence and mechanism of two-way FDI coordinated development on the integration of the two industries based on two-way fixed effects. The study found that: The coordinated development of two-way FDI in provinces and cities has significantly promoted the convergence of two industries in our country, and the promotion is mainly realized by improving the level of technological innovation and optimizing the structure of human capital. Further analysis shows that the coordinated development of two-way FDI plays a more significant role in promoting the integration of the two industries and capital-intensive service and manufacturing industries in the eastern and central regions. Therefore, it is recommended that all regions should adhere to the two-way open strategy, enhance the level of technological innovation and increasing talent introduction plan, further optimize the structure of regional human capital, establishing reasonable industrial policy, promote the depth of the two fusion.

The Relevance of ‘International Society’ in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities in a Potential Post-Liberal Order

In this paper, I aim to update and apply the idea and practices of “international society,” as developed in the classic book written by Hedley Bull (1977). This, by assessing its continuing relevance in the first decades of the 21st century. For scholarly, practical, and policy reasons, I believe that Bull’s masterpiece offers a relevant ‘guide to the perplexed’ to navigate world politics in our turbulent times. The two research questions to be addressed in the paper are: First, what are the challenges confronting the idea of the contemporary international society and its practices in the third decade of the 21st century? Second, what is the relevance of the idea of the international society and its practices nowadays? To answer the first question, I compile a list of significant contemporary challenges to the international society. In a nutshell, these include the rise of non-state actors and their challenge to the centrality of states; the impact of globalization and the preponderance of global issues (such as COVID-19 and climate change); and the lack of agreed global and shared norms, in both cultural and normative terms, which make international cooperation more difficult to obtain. Facing these four intertwined challenges, I argue that the idea and practices of international society can be updated to face the complex realities of our times. I sustain this argument by linking the concept and practices of the international society to the relevant mechanisms of global and regional governance, including the institutions of the international society. I refer to alternative world orders from the North and the South that reflect the resilience of the international society. Moreover, the opportunities for the flourishing of international society might include its potential decoupling from the Liberal International Order.

Deep learning reveals rapid vegetation greening in changing climate from 1988 to 2018 on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Vegetation dynamics in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) have been debated in recent decades. Most studies suggest that wetter and warmer climatic conditions would release low temperature constraints and stimulate alpine vegetation growth. Other studies suggest that climate warming might inhibit vegetation growth by increasing soil moisture depletion in the southern QTP. Most of previous studies have relied on vegetation indices derived from satellite observations to retrieve large-scale vegetation changes, and the uncertainty of vegetation indices makes it difficult to accurately characterize the vegetation trends on the QTP. Here, we developed a deep learning algorithm in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform to accurately map the land use/cover change (LUCC) on the QTP, and then infer vegetation gain and loss and their drivers during the period 1988–2018. The vegetation on the QTP experienced rapid greening, which was dominated by transitions from bareland to alpine grassland (27.45 × 104 km2) and from alpine grassland to alpine meadow (17.43 × 104 km2) during 1988–2018. Furthermore, although human activities influence vegetation succession at the local scale, the dominant influencing factors affecting vegetation greening on the QTP are precipitation (q-statistic = 23.87 %) and temperature (q-statistic = 11.01 %). A 30-year time series analysis clarified the specific dynamics of vegetation on the QTP, thus contributing to the understanding of the response mechanisms of alpine vegetation under climate change and providing a reference for the formulating of reasonable ecological protection policies and human development strategies.

Pipeline sharing: Potential capacity analysis of biofuel transportation through existing pipelines

In response to resource depletion and tightening carbon emissions policies, the product oil is gradually being substituted by biofuels and faced with falling demand. A large number of studies have been done on the optimization of the biofuel supply chain, but few of them have considered the existing petroleum pipelines for policy reasons. Market-based reforms in the oil and gas industry have provided the possibility of pipeline sharing, whereby pipeline owners can use the remaining delivery capacity to transport other liquid fuels that are allowed into the pipeline, such as biofuels, thereby increasing pipeline benefits and reducing biofuel logistics costs. This paper develops a logistics optimization model considering multi-product pipeline scheduling from the perspective of biofuel suppliers and proposes a pipe-rail transportation mode to assess the optimization potential of logistics costs. Finally, this paper verifies the feasibility of the proposed approach using a logistics system in a region of China as a practical case study and conducts a sensitivity analysis on whether changes in the demand for product oil and biofuels affect the choice of pipeline opening location, concluding that there is no effect within a 4-fold increase in biofuel production and a 0.78-fold decrease in product oil demand.

Multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities in China: An analysis of poverty reduction effect of employment services.

Disability is a global public health problem, and poverty due to illness and disability has always been a major problem and challenge for global poverty governance. In order to eradicate poverty, China has carried out a series of welfare reforms and employment interventions for people with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine the levels of multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities aged 16-59 in China and the poverty reduction effect of employment services. The Alkire-Foster (AF) method is applied to measure and decompose the multidimensional poverty index (MPI) of people with disabilities in this study. In order to make the results more robust, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and the combination of propensity score matching and difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) are used to study the effect of employment services on multidimensional poverty of the disabled. The results show that among persons with disabilities aged 16-59, about 90% are deprived in at least one dimension, and about 30% are in a state of severe multidimensional poverty until 2019. The contributions of deprivation in the dimensions of education and social participation are remarkably higher than dimensions of economy, health and insurance. In addition, employment services have a significant improvement effect on multidimensional poverty, which is reflected not only in the economic dimension, but also in the dimensions of education, insurance and social participation. People with disabilities are generally in multidimensional poverty in China, and their abilities in learning and social integration are seriously inadequate. Employment services have played a great role in improving poverty, but the improvement has been different in different dimensions and different disability categories. These findings provide important evidence for recognizing multidimensional poverty of persons with disabilities and the poverty reduction effect of employment services, which will help to formulate more reasonable public policies to eradicate poverty.

Distribution locational pricing mechanisms for flexible interconnected distribution system with variable renewable energy generation

Nowadays, distribution locational pricing mechanism has been widely used in the radial distribution network to guide the energy consumption and promote the renewables utilization. Aiming to explore the reasonable pricing policy which is applicable to the merging flexible interconnected distribution system (FIDS), this paper develops two different distribution locational pricing mechanisms for distribution lines interconnected by soft open points (SOPs). First, based on the Wasserstein ambiguity sets for uncertainties from the main grid and distribution network, a carbon-oriented distributionally robust economic dispatch model is constructed for FIDS considering different price and carbon signals from the main grid. Then, by leveraging the optimal scheme from economic scheduling model, distribution locational marginal prices (DLMPs) and equivalent DLMPs (EDLMPs) are presented to measure the marginal cost and actual cost for energy consumption in the FIDS respectively. The calculation and decomposition methods of these price signals are also developed. In case studies, a practical 63-node FIDS is chosen to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Numerical results illustrate the characteristics of DLMPs and EDLMPs in FIDS under multiple uncertainties. Comparing to DLMPs, EDLMPs are more appropriate to FIDS because this pricing mechanism can reflect the lower generation cost of renewables for each consumer.

Evolutionary Game and Simulation Analysis of Power Plant and Government Behavior Strategies in the Coupled Power Generation Industry of Agricultural and Forestry Biomass and Coal

Under the background of “dual carbon”, the coupled power generation of agricultural and forestry biomass (AFB) and coal, as a new path of coal-power transformation, is key to achieving energy conservation and reducing emissions in the power sector. Timely and effective government subsidies as well as regulation policies will play important roles in the development of the coupled power generation industry. Previous studies usually assumed government policy as singular and static, rarely considering the dynamic changes in government policies. In this study, evolutionary game theory and systematic dynamics research methods were combined. The game relationship and the dynamic evolution process of the behavioral strategies of both sides are analyzed through the construction of a mixed-strategies game model of the government and power plants. A system dynamics model is built for simulations based on the results of the dynamic game evolution, and the influence paths of key factors on the behavioral strategies of the government and power plants were further demonstrated. The results indicated the following: (1) The behavioral strategies of the government and power plants were not stable for a long period of time, but fluctuated during their mutual influence. The dynamic policies and measures formulated by the government according to changes in the behavioral strategies of power plants will promote industrial development more effectively. (2) Increasing subsidization and the strengthening of supervision caused by government policy can increase the enthusiasm of power plants to choose the coupled power generation of AFB and coal. (3) If the government improves the benefits or reduces the transformation costs caused by coupled power generation the industry will be fundamentally improved. The results clearly show the interactions as well as adjustment processes of the behavioral strategies of power plants and the government in the coupled power generation industry of AFB and coal, and the specific effects of key factors on the behavioral strategies of power plants and the government were investigated. This study can provide a theoretical basis for the government to formulate reasonable industrial policies and measures for the coupled power generation of AFB and coal, in addition to being a valuable reference for other countries to develop a coupled power generation industry.

Monetary Policy and Inequality

We ask three questions about the connection between monetary policy and inequality. First, does monetary policy affect inequality? While different households respond to changes in monetary policy for different reasons, we argue that the overall consumption effects are relatively evenly distributed across households. Second, does household heterogeneity change our understanding of monetary policy transmission? A more careful account of microeconomic consumption behavior materially alters our understanding of transmission channels, but has rather limited effect on our general view of the aggregate effects of monetary policy. Third, does inequality affect the optimal conduct of monetary policy? Since monetary policy is a rather blunt distributional tool, we argue that even a central bank with an explicit distributional mandate would not deviate much from conventional policy prescriptions.

Revisiting the Green Growth Effect of Foreign Direct Investment from the Perspective of Environmental Regulation: Evidence from China.

The inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) has both advanced China's economic development process and influenced the ecological quality of China's regions. Under the deepening of economic globalization and the continuous deterioration in environmental quality, the correlation mechanism between foreign direct investment, environmental regulation, and economic growth is becoming increasingly complex. Therefore, based on the slacks-based measure (SBM) model and the Global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) index, this study measured the level of green economic growth using data from 30 provinces and cities from 2004-2019 and constructed a panel fixed-effect regression model to study the effect of foreign direct investment on green economic growth in China. The study found that foreign direct investment significantly promoted green economic growth in China, foreign direct investment promoted green economic growth through independent innovation and inhibited green economic growth through imitation innovation, and environmental regulation moderated the impact of foreign direct investment on green economic growth. This paper incorporated foreign direct investment, heterogeneous technological innovation, green economic growth, and environmental regulation into the research framework, and thereby further enriched and improved the research on the theoretical mechanism of green economic growth. The research conclusion clarified the influence mechanism of foreign capital on the quality of China's economic development, which was conducive to the formulation of more reasonable policies for attracting investments and to the promotion of the formation of a positive interaction mechanism between environmental regulation and foreign direct investment, which is of great practical significance for China's economy to achieve sustainable development.

What Is the Rational Choice of Community Governance Policy

Community governance is the “micro-cell” of social governance and the foundation of the governance system. The rational selection logic of community governance policy reflects the value orientation, goal selection, and tool guarantee of governance policy. It is the result of the interaction between government and public values and it reflects the final value choice in the form of policy text and tries to balance policy rationality through accurate calculation. Through the analysis of 100 government work reports and 63 community governance policy documents of the Chinese government from 2013 to 2022, it was found that “People-oriented” was the core value orientation of governance policy. “Better life” was a key target choice for governance policy. “Diversified tools” were an important implementation guarantee for governance policy. These rational choices were consistent between the central and the local governments, but there was a conflict between localities. Urban and rural community governance policies need to establish a public space between policy rationality and value selection to solve the targeting bias of policy rationality in the future. This paper solves the conflict between policy rationality and value choice using the paths of expert think tank construction, highlighting leading goals, and using technology empowerment, to adjust the tension between the two through reasonable value choice and balanced policy rationality, to achieve the goal of urban and rural community governance modernization.

Environmental regulation, digital finance, and technological innovation: evidence from listed firms in China.

Environmental regulation becomes essential to corporate technological innovation amid increasing concern with environmental issues. However, a clear understanding of the specific role of environmental regulation's ex-post effectiveness is lacking. Using the panel data of Chinese A-share listed firms during 2011-2018, we examine the effects of environmental regulation on corporate technological innovation. The results indicate that environmental regulation negatively affects corporate technological innovation. With regard to digital finance, it benefits for corporate technological innovation and positively moderates the relationship between environmental regulation and corporate technological innovation. The heterogeneity analysis suggests that the negative impact of environmental regulation over technological innovation is much significant for small-scale firms, western-region firms, and firms with strong financing constraints. Furthermore, the moderating role of digital finance is more significant for firms with strong financing constraints and heavy polluting firms. We also verify the robustness of the regression results. The current study provides both theoretical support and reference to improve corporate technological innovation and promote high-quality economic development through adopting reasonable policy measures.

Does environmental regulation improve public health? Evidence from China's Two Control Zones policy.

Improving public health is the premise of sustainable human development and an essential condition of economic growth. However, increasing severe environmental pollution poses a threat to public health. Implementing environmental regulation policy has become a meaningful way to control environmental pollution and the basis and guarantee for achieving public health. This paper aims to study the impact of environmental regulation on public health. The Two Control Zones (TCZ) policy is the earliest and stricter environmental regulation in China. Based on the policy experiment of TCZ, this paper analyzes the role of TCZ policy in improving public health using the DID model and data from 112 cities. The study finds that the TCZ policy can significantly improve public health, and this improvement effect was continuous and lagging. The results of benchmark regression show that the implementation of the TCZ policy has reduced the incidence rate of respiratory diseases in TCZ areas by 5.7%. When considering city heterogeneity in terms of economic and geographical conditions, the study further found that the impact of improvement is largest for cities in more heavily non-provincial capital and central and western regions, respectively. In addition, the results of mediating test show that TCZ policy improves public health by reducing environmental pollution. Our research fills the gap in the literature on the micro effects of environmental regulation policy on public health in developing countries. The government should prioritize environmental pollution control through reasonable environmental regulation policies. The government should strengthen environmental information disclosure to remind the public to deal with air pollution. The government and enterprises also should take various environmental protection measures to reduce air pollution emissions.

Geo-Politics of Afghanistan under Taliban Regime:

Abstract
 Taliban seized power in Kabul on 15th August 2021 after the abrupt pulling out of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan. Taliban assured international community about the human rights protection, women education, freedom of media, and no use of Afghan soil by terrorists against any other country. These assurances appraised international community not to oppose their regime. However, after more than a year has passed, future of Afghanistan is still uncertain. This study tries to analyse the geo-politics of Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul to Taliban. It tries to explore the reasons for non-confrontationist policies by the neighboring states as well as regional powers. Qualitative methodology with secondary sources has been used in this research. Findings of the research reveal that despite assurances by Taliban regime, Afghanistan is gradually plunging into the similar situation of 1990s. However, from regional integration perspective, there are high hopes that it can act as bridge between Central and South Asia and China with the Persian Gulf. Regional countries must contribute for the peace and development of Afghanistan by supporting the people of Afghanistan to decide their future. Afghanistan can either be a roundabout or a dead end street for the regional states that depends on the region’s policies towards it.