Resource Flows Research Articles

An instrumental value-based framework for assessing the damages of abiotic resources use in life cycle assessment

Abiotic resources are extensively used in industrialized societies to deliver multiple services that contribute to human well-being. Their increased extraction and use can potentially reduce their accessibility, increase competition among users, and ultimately lead to a deficit of those services. Life cycle assessment is a relevant tool to assess the potential damages of dissipating natural resources. Building on the general consensus recommending evaluating the damages on the instrumental value of resources to humans in order to assess the consequences of resources dissipation, this research work proposes a novel conceptual framework to assess the potential loss of services provided by abiotic resources, which when facing unmet demand can lead to a deficit to human users and have consequences on human well-being. A framework is proposed to describe the mechanisms that link human intervention on the resources in the accessible stock to competition among users. Users facing the deficit of resource services are assumed to have to pay to recover the services, using backup technologies. The mechanisms that are proposed to be characterized are dissipation and degradation. Data needed to later operationalize the framework for abiotic resources are identified. It also proposes a framework at the life cycle inventory level to harmonize life cycle inventories with the current impact assessment framework to fully characterize impacts on resource services. It regards ensuring mass balances of elements between inputs and outputs of life cycle inventory datasets as well as including the functionality of resource flows. The framework provides recommendations for the development of operational life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods for resource services deficit assessment. It establishes the impact pathway to damage on the area of protection “Resource Services”, data needed to feed the model and recommendations to improve the current state of life cycle inventories to be harmonized with the LCIA framework.

Forest management schemes based on carbon sequestration models

This research requires the carbon sequestration model to determine the capacity of the forest and its products to sequester carbon and then to choose the most effective forest management plan in terms of sequestering CO2.we need to create a carbon sequestration model to assess how much trees and their products can absorb carbon dioxide. We compared how effective each forest management plan is at sequestering CO2 after developing a dynamic model for accounting for physical quantities of carbon sequestered and oxygen released by forests, analyzing forest resource flows and stocks and determining the willingness to pay for carbon sequestration and oxygen release by forests using a benefit transfer approach.we selected Chinese forestry as a representative to give the results of a study on selective logging to promote carbon sequestration in temperate coniferous and mixed broadleaf forests in China at reasonable time intervals.

Environmental Benefit of Eco-Industrial Development: Effective Approach of Europe to Climate Change and Mitigation

Recent rapid progress in industrialization and urbanization has made scientists to explore a green development so that environmental bodies should not be contaminated and living things should not face health threat. Even though industries not related to environmental concern should also develop a green way in their production. Eco-Industrial Parks are evaluated in several comparative studies, generally in advanced countries. An important message is that EIPs concurrently need advances in business relations, among several such as corporations, and resource flows. The profits for all are comprised enterprises, who take steps for reduction in the net waste production and/or resource consumption. The implementation of advanced technologies is required towards resource conservation. Another important matter is the manufacturing of new products and the urbanized zoned should be provided the environmental services. Concerning these all things, this paper deals with benefits of eco-industrial parks and sustainable development in the future. This paper also deals with how eco-industrial parks are beneficial for Europe and developing countries. Findings from previously published literature demonstrated that eco-industrial parks play significant role for eco-environment friendly sustainable development.

Environmental regulation and development of the tertiary industry

ABSTRACT Environmental regulation has become an important policy practice in many countries, and it has an effect on economic development. Previous literature has focused on the effect of environmental regulation on the development of the aggregate economy or the secondary industry while ignoring its effect on the development of the tertiary industry. Accordingly, we systemically identify for the first time the causal effect of environmental regulation on the development of the tertiary industry. Exploiting the great exogenous variation in regulatory intensity generated by China’s 2013 Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan, we apply the difference-in-difference method to China’s province-sector panel data from 2009 to 2017. The results suggest that environmental regulation reduces the fixed asset investment and value-added of tertiary sectors but increases the establishment of legal entities in tertiary sectors. Thus, environmental regulation does lead some production resources flowing to local tertiary sectors. However, this flow fails to reverse the decline in the investment and production of local tertiary sectors. Environmental regulation affects the development of the tertiary industry through industrial linkages between the secondary and tertiary industries, the flow of production resources from the secondary to the local tertiary industry, and the local governments’ taxation and spending behaviour.

Impact of innovation network on regional innovation performance: do network density, network openness and network strength have any influence?

Purpose With the development of regional economy, innovation network plays an increasingly prominent role in reducing regional innovation cost and enabling information, knowledge and capital flow and diffusion. Building an efficient innovation network has become a feasible way to improve regional innovation capabilities and performance. Thus, under the background of Chinese special triple helix structure, the specific mechanism of innovation network characteristics on regional innovation performance is still an issue that needs to be studied urgently. Design/methodology/approach This study conducts a multi-level regression analysis regional innovation panel data of China from the past four years to explore how the three dimensions of innovation network characteristics (i.e. network density, openness and strength) affect regional innovation performance. Findings The results show that there is an inverted-U relationship exists between network density and regional innovation performance. The network openness and regional innovation performance show a significantly positive relationship and a U-shaped relationship exists between network strength and regional innovation performance. Research limitations/implications First, this study examines the relationship between network density, openness, strength and innovation ability in the network variable structure. However, this study does not analyze how absorptive capacity impacts the network structure and innovation performance of regional innovators. Second, innovation network intensity largely varies according to different types of enterprises or industries. Therefore, future studies can attempt to analyze the relationship between innovation network and innovation performance on the basis of the industry or the enterprise itself. Fourth, this study does not consider the change in the influence of innovation network structure on innovation ability. Practical implications The results of this study provide insights for the formulation of the regional innovation policy. First, enterprises must maintain good contact with research institutes, universities and technology intermediaries and promote resource, information and money flow between networks through formal and informal interactions. Enterprises can currently only interact with a limited number of innovative subjects due to their limited resources. Therefore, we should continue implementing the open policy of foreign capital utilization and absorb the technology, knowledge, management, ideas, talent and other resource advantages in the world. The investment environment in the central and western regions should be improved as soon as possible to guide foreign direct investments to the middle and the west part of China, thereby promoting the coordinated development of regional innovation ability and economy. Social implications In 2015, the Chinese Government proposed “public entrepreneurship and innovation,” including technological, institutional, management and mode innovations. This study suggests that innovation subjects in the region should establish an interactive and dynamic innovation network among innovators. Originality/value The innovation of this study lies in the analysis of the characteristics of innovation network that significantly affect regional innovation performance, the exploration of different stages of innovation network construction path and provide theoretical guidance for the construction of innovation network.

Colonialism Matters: Benefits of Metropoles With a Focus on India and Great Britain

The history of colonialism normally focusses on the socio-economic losses of colonies, and the benefits of metropoles are a much less-studied field. Our study indicates that the flow of resources, rent and personal wealth should not be downplayed as factors of economic growth in the key Empires, although information on most subjects is limited. This importance could be demonstrated (although not fully quantitatively evaluated) by India–United Kingdom relations before 1913. We highlight the key channels of this influence (trade, investment and migration), and the persistence of the income gaps between the dominant and dependent countries until their independence.

Resource indicator-oriented building information modeling for the management of infrastructure

This paper contributes to increasing resource efficiency by providing a method for calculating the environmental impact in the context of the infrastructure sector. For this purpose, the LCA method is linked to a parametric BIM model for road construction. Municipal existing road structures and characteristics were considered for the development of the approach. The research topic is motivated by the sector of infrastructure construction and especially road construction, which is enormously resource-intensive. Therefore, resource efficiency indicators such as raw material consumption, energy consumption and climate warming must be adequately implemented in the information model for the entire life cycle of a road construction project. The aim of this work was to combine the two areas of resource efficiency calculation and parametric BIM modeling and to generate added value from this combination. In this way, relevant indicators can be extracted that can also be used to define the information needs in terms of resource efficiency and further developed as recommendations for municipal operators. The extension of the methodology to other infrastructure areas has been identified as a further starting point. In the future, it must be ensured that resource flows are recorded holistically to increase resource efficiency.

Emergency Cooperation Mechanism under Institutional Collective Action — A Review on Inter Organizational Collaboration

In recent years, due to the high-frequency growth and increasing cross-border nature of all kinds of emergency events, which has made the emergency management ability of a single organization in the face of all kinds of emergencies is not so prominent. How to strengthen the cooperation of different organizations in emergency management has become a major problem to be solved by the governments at all levels. Many scholars in various fields have also carried out a variety of theoretical research and management practice. This paper introduces the role of cooperation mechanism under the institutional collective action framework in the emergency management in the face of different types of emergencies. The emergencies are divided into natural disasters, social security events, disaster accidents and public health emergencies. This study found that cooperation mechanism with different degree of autonomy and complexity can effectively help organizations strengthen their willingness to cooperate, promote formal and informal exchanges, promote the rational flow and effective allocation of resources and promote effective collective action. And the binding and bridging mechanism is more popular with the organization participants in all levels of government when dealing with all kinds of emergencies, while other types of cooperation mechanisms focus on different types of emergencies according to their own characteristics. Through the in-depth study of cooperation mechanism under the institutional collective action framework, it also provides a new idea for the domestic emergency management.

Circular economy in agriculture. An analysis of the state of research based on the life cycle

The circular economy (CE) has emerged as a strategy able to fulfil the double purpose of improving the economic performance of the agricultural activity while minimising the impact generated on the environment by reducing the inflow of resources and waste generation. This has led to an increasingly greater adoption of circular models in agricultural practices. The objective of this study is to analyse the state of research on the application of the circular economy in agriculture throughout each of the stages of its life cycle through a systematic literature review. The results show that this line of research is very new but has been attracting a growing amount of interest in recent years. The most resource-intensive phases are field preparation, fertilizer application, mulching and irrigation, while field preparation, mulching, pruning and training are the most intensive phases of waste generation. The majority of the contributions are made from an environmental perspective, so there is a major opportunity to develop the research addressing the economic and social aspects. There is a need to gain further knowledge about the economic-financial feasibility of the different circular practices considered and the perceptions of the stakeholders.

Стратегические возможности развития инновационной экосистемы

The innovation ecosystem is a catalyst for favorable conditions that accelerate the high-tech development. This paper features the strategic opportunities for the development of an innovation ecosystem that improves the efficiency of the innovation process. The article defines its structural elements and boundaries, which are unstable because of the everchanging number of participants and tasks. The object of the study is an innovation ecosystem that provides the formation and development of a favorable environment for improving the efficiency of the implementation of the innovation process. The methodological basis included the theory of strategy and methodology of strategizing developed by Professor V.L. Kvint, as well as various methods of analysis and synthesis of economic data, deduction and induction, the causal method, comparative analysis, and a systematic approach. The research revealed some of the features of an innovation ecosystem in the context of increased entrepreneurial activity and a high concentration of innovation centers. The development of innovative ecosystems should be uninterrupted as they transform due to the changing configuration of the fractal interaction between various subjects. A valuable innovation ecosystem requires coordinated resource flows and activities, as well as a set of interaction rules for its heterogeneous members. The interaction between the participants of the innovation ecosystem depends on the number of entities involved, the dynamics of the formation of the internal environment, the needs and preferences of customers, the specifics of legal regulation, the conditions for standardization and certification, the number of exchange transactions between the inventor and the recipient, and the size of production chains. The analysis made it possible to identify strategic opportunities for the formation and development of an innovation ecosystem, as well as to reveal the role of its participants in solving strategic tasks of increasing competitive power and developing new high-tech products.

Evaluation of the symbiosis level of the water-energy-food complex system based on the improved cloud model: a case study in Heilongjiang Province.

As the conflict between the supply and demand of resources intensifies, it is critical to deeply study the important relationships and symbiotic evolution mechanisms among water resource development and utilization, energy production, agriculture, and the socioeconomic system to promote multiresource synergy management. This study introduced symbiosis theory to build a regional water-energy-food complex system in which the water-energy-food nexus was the main body and the social-economic-natural system was the external environment. Then, a symbiosis evaluation index system was established from three dimensions, including the symbiotic unit, symbiotic relationship, and symbiotic environment. Using the improved cloud model, we judged the symbiosis level of the water-energy-food complex system in Heilongjiang Province from 2010 to 2019. The results indicated that (1) the symbiosis level of the provincial water-energy-food complex system, symbiotic unit, and symbiotic environment was on the rise from level II in 2010 to level IV in 2019, and the symbiosis level of the symbiotic unit fluctuated between level III and level IV. The system exhibited an overall strong symbiosis state. (2) The weights of the three criteria were ranked as symbiotic environment > symbiotic unit > symbiotic relationship. The state of the social-economic-natural system could be considered a "monitor" of the symbiosis level, the symbiotic unit was an important basis for the evolution of the complex system, and the symbiotic relationship was the shortcoming of the system symbiosis enhancement. (3) The trade-offs between food production and water savings constrained socioeconomic development in the province. The resource demands of the economic and social systems and the emissions to the natural system that occurred during the resource exploitation and utilization processes were important factors affecting the coordinated development of the studied system. Overall, the experimental results were consistent with the research subjects' actual situations, and the government should promote the regional three-way flow of social, natural, and economic resources to allow the targeted management of multiresource security.

Deforestation embodied in global trade: Integrating environmental extended input-output method and complex network analysis

As deforestation has become an increasingly urgent issue worldwide, global initiatives and national policies have been launched to reduce deforestation. However, existing measures pay little attention to indirect deforestation and consumers' responsibilities, overlooking the different roles played by countries in the trading network. Therewith, to identify the producer's and consumers' responsibilities for deforestation, and reveal the roles and interrelations of those countries in the trading system, this study applies input-output analysis to find the main producers and consumers of embodied deforestation and complex network method to construct a network to illustrate the interrelations of the countries and identify their roles in the network. The results show the United States, China, Germany and other developed countries are the main consumers while Canada, Brazil, Indonesia and other heavily forested countries are the critical providers of embodied deforestation. Further studies find these countries have the highest level of degree, strength, and centrality, dominating the trade activities in the network. Additionally, the network features small-world nature and heterogeneity, illustrating the close connection of the network and the decisive roles of key nodes. This analysis provides findings to help policymakers more effectively address deforestation worldwide, by highlighting the flow of resources to and from key economies which have previously been overlooked.

АНАЛІЗ ПРИВАБЛИВОСТІ ВІДНОВЛЮВАНОЇ ЕНЕРГЕТИКИ В ОКРЕМИХ КРАЇНАХ

The increasing importance of crises, such as the crisis caused by russia's invasion of Ukraine, has a significant impact on the formulation of policies for energy development in this area and the use of renewable energy sources. This issue is especially relevant for states that depend on energy supplies from other countries or have transit flows of resources on their territory. This article aims to analyze the experience of individual countries concerning the development of renewable energy and determine future directions and practical recommendations for Ukraine's development of green energy. Subject of study. The subject of the study is the process of transformation of energy policy based on the use of alternative energy sources in different regions of the world. The methodological basis and information base of the research are legislative and regulatory documentation, current scientific and applied research, and statistical information. The article uses a number of methods, including analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization. Socio-economic processes of renewable energy policy formation were studied in dynamics. A tabular format is used to compile the data to improve clarity. Also, the research was conducted in accordance with the features of the system approach and structural-functional analysis. The hypothesis of the study dealt with the possibility of using the experience of obtaining significant results in the development of renewable energy in certain parts of the world to develop the appropriate policy in Ukraine. Presenting main material. Groups of countries with the existing potential of solar, wind and hydrogen energy, and a separate group of countries that, due to climatic conditions and economic opportunities, can implement several types of alternative energy, are highlighted. In terms of the beginning of military activities and the destruction of a significant part of the energy infrastructure, Ukraine has to assist in the development of alternative energy sources such as wind, water and solar power. The originality and practical significance of the study is due to the analysis of the development processes of renewable energy, taking into account the characteristics of different countries. Research conducted and practical recommendations developed provide an opportunity to contribute to the formulation of policy for development of the Ukrainian economy during this period of crisis and post-crisis. Conclusions. Among the studied world leaders in the implementation of renewable energy, groups of countries with the existing potential of solar, wind and hydrogen energy, and a group of countries that, due to climatic conditions and economic opportunities, can implement several types of alternative energy should be singled out.

Competitive equilibriums and social shaping for multi-agent systems

In this paper, we study multi-agent systems with decentralized resource allocations. Agents have local demand and resource supply, and are interconnected through a network designed to support sharing of the local resource; and the network has no external resource supply. It is known from classical welfare economics theory that by pricing the flow of resource, balance between the demand and supply is possible. Agents decide on the consumed resource, and perhaps further the traded resource as well, to maximize their payoffs considering both the utility of the consumption, and the income from the trading. When the network supply and demand are balanced, a competitive equilibrium is achieved if all agents maximize their individual payoffs, and a social welfare equilibrium is achieved if the total agent utilities are maximized. First, we consider multi-agent systems with static local allocations, and prove from duality theory that under general concavity assumptions, the competitive equilibrium and the social welfare equilibrium exist and agree. Next, we show that the agent utility functions can be prescribed in a family of socially admissible functions, under which the resource price at the competitive equilibrium is kept below a threshold. Finally, we extend the study to dynamical multi-agent systems where agents are associated with dynamical states from linear processes, and prove that the dynamic competitive equilibrium and the dynamic social welfare equilibrium continue to exist and coincide with each other. In addition, we also present a recursive representation of the competitive equilibriums using dynamic programming, and a receding horizon approach for smoothing the dynamic pricing as a dynamic competitive equilibrium social shaping method.

Leverage of resource efficiency over environmental emissions: Case of a megacity in China

Material metabolism in a Chinese megacity, Shanghai, was investigated with an integrated approach. Production-based raw material input, city-wide waste output and carbon emissions were compiled for the period 1995–2020, by computing hundreds of products and by-products. Decoupling of these resource and environmental flows from economic development was assessed, and the socio-economic and technical drivers were decomposed. The research demonstrated a hypothesis that flows of primary resources, waste, and carbon emissions displayed a certain level of synchronicity in the past decades. An order effect was seen with waste indicators usually performing better than carbon indicators, and carbon indicators are better than resource indicators in terms of material/environmental intensity and decoupling. There might be a resource leverage leading to the synchronicity of environmental emissions. Improvement in resource efficiency was decomposed as the most significant driver to urban metabolism, bringing about >33 % of resource reduction, 32 % of carbon mitigation, and 30 % of waste diminution from the 2010 values. A greater extent in emission reduction than resource use was attributed to the decrease of fossil fuels share in total resource use and carbon intensity per energy consumption. Continuous increase in post-use waste flows caused a rebound of waste indicators in the recent five-year period (2016–2020) and broke up the synchronicity. This potentially foresees the shift of material metabolism from production to consumption side in major cities in China and calls for reforms of environmental policies.

Integration and modularization: Research on urban cross-regional emergency cooperation based on the network approach

Urban disasters and the practice of emergency management present obvious cross-regional characteristics given the increasing complexity of urban development and operating systems. Currently, strengthening urban emergency management cooperation and integrating heterogeneous emergency organization resources comprise the basic trends and common requirements to manage urban disasters. This study uses the collapse of the Xinjia Hotel in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China, on March 7, 2020, as an example to construct an urban cross-regional emergency cooperation network and thereby clarify the mode and mechanism of urban cross-regional emergency cooperation. The structural characteristics of the overall network of urban cross-regional emergency cooperation and the cooperation network of different emergency function modules are examined based on the research framework of “Integration of the emergency cooperation–Modularization of the emergency cooperation.” Moreover, we explore the resource flow and interaction between the emergency organizations of different jurisdictions in urban cross-regional emergency cooperation. Further, the effect of each emergency module on the formation of cross-regional emergency cooperation is discussed. Thus, this study proposes optimization countermeasures from three aspects: system construction, organization coordination, and mechanism design. This research provides a new exploration of the urban cross-regional emergency cooperation between different types of emergency organizations, which is helpful for effective decision-making under different situations.

Spatiotemporal investigation and determinants of interprovincial innovation network from a multilayer network perspective

ABSTRACT Technology cooperation and technology transfer can be beneficial for realising the flow of innovative resources and promoting technological progress and growth, which is crucial to achieving sustainable and coordinated economic development. We investigate the structural characteristics of interprovincial innovation multilayer network, also called technology cooperation and transfer network, including the technology cooperation sub-network and technology transfer sub-network. Data are derived from Patent Information Service Platform for 2008–2018. The results are as follows: (1) the two sub-networks and multilayer network show the increasing density, and all of those networks display large cluster coefficients and short average paths. The degree between different networks is highly relevant. GDP, indegree and outdegree are linearly related. (2) As the two sub-networks in different provinces become increasingly integrated, the core provinces control the flow in the network and the edge provinces surround the core provinces, indicating a clear ‘core-edge’ structure. (3) The exponential random graph model regression results demonstrate a significant ‘path dependence’ property for technology cooperation-transfer network. GDP, R&D, distance and railway freight flow have a significant impact on network format.

Does political participation help improve the life satisfaction of urban residents: Empirical evidence from China.

Studies have shown that political participation does not only affect the flow of public resources but also creates positive feedback on participants' subjective perceptions. However, research on the relationship between political participation and the life satisfaction of Chinese urban residents is relatively scarce. Thus, this study investigates whether political participation helps improve the life satisfaction of Chinese urban residents. Based on 2577 samples of the 2015 Chinese Social Survey this study used the Ordinary least squares model, instrumental variable model, and propensity score matching model to explore the relationship between political participation and the life satisfaction of Chinese urban residents. The empirical results show that political participation can significantly improve the life satisfaction of urban residents. Compared with urban residents without political participation, the life satisfaction of the political participants was 0.145 units higher at a 0.05 level of significance. In addition, this improved effect varied in degree among different groups of urban residents and was more significant for females, members of the Communist Party of China, highly educated, and employed urban residents. In China, there is a significant relationship between political participation and the life satisfaction of urban residents, with the life satisfaction of urban residents improving significantly through political participation. There are differences in the level of this improved effect among different urban residents, and it is more significant for females, highly educated, members of the Communist Party, and employed urban residents. To improve the life satisfaction of Chinese urban residents, it is necessary to further broaden their political participation channels.

It is time to fix the low financing trap: public spending on education revisited

PurposeThis paper aims to explore whether there is a “low financing trap” that results in underfunding of education systems in low and lower middle income countries (LICs and LMICs). It shows public investment in education has not increased over the last two decades despite extensive advocacy and has equilibrated at about 4% of GDP. More than 6% of GDP is needed to achieve the sustainable development goals.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses large scale data from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics and the World Bank to analyse patterns of investment across sub-Saharan Africa. The most recent data downloaded in 2022 are used for each country. The analysis uses time series analysis to show how flows of resources for education have evolved and illustrates the limits to growth.FindingsThe research develops a taxonomy of countries and identifies three bands of effort for investment in education. Individual countries tend to remain in the same band of expenditure level and only the highest band countries are likely to be able to finance their development goals from their own resources between now and 2030. Escape from the low financing trap is critical for future educational development.Originality/valueInnovative approaches to external assistance are needed which recognise that domestic revenues are at the heart of sustainable financing and that greater efficiency and effectiveness are critical to sustainable solutions. The priority is to accelerate the development of fiscal states, which can finance public goods from domestic revenue and make good use of concessionary assistance.

Radical reassemblages: The life history of a Nile Delta pumping collective

This article investigates how people, technology, and water flows act together in using and transforming infrastructure to improve water access. Analytically, we propose to study collective action over time through the relationships between humans and non-humans as they collaborate to mediate water and other flows. Our case-study lies in Egypt. Over four decades, the Irrigation Improvement Project has introduced various sociotechnical and institutional measures to improve water management in the Nile Delta. By establishing collective pumping infrastructure and Water User Associations, water users were compelled to collaborate to reduce water extraction and over-irrigation. For heuristic purposes, we examine in detail the life history of one pumping collective facing increasing water scarcity. The article presents four life phases of the pumping collective and analyses what drives the assemblage and its transformations. Through time, we understand pumping collectives as heterogeneous and shifting assemblages of human and non-human agents that provide differentiated access to multiple resource flows. We describe the surprising stream of events that unfolds. The pumping collective radically dismantles the standard technological and organizational set-up and replaces it with a more flexible and disaggregated form of irrigation. By tracking this trajectory, the article demonstrates the remarkable agency of a pumping collective in renewing and reassembling itself. On this basis, we argue that the complex entanglement of material objects, human actors, water (and other resource flows) can explain this. Hence, it is important to look beyond the society-nature dichotomy to understand the transformational capacity of collectives.