Reverse Spillover Research Articles

OFDI and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China

AbstractUsing the data on outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by listed companies in China, we find that OFDI significantly increases stock price synchronicity. This result indicates that OFDI releases more market/industry (systematic) information relative to private information. Reverse technology spillover and the host country/region institutional environment are two potential mechanisms through which OFDI increases synchronicity. We find that OFDI plays a role in screening firms with better transparency and corporate governance. The propensity score matching method and instrumental variable regressions are employed to rule out endogeneity issues. We also check the impact of stock return characteristics and macro shocks on this positive relationship.

Geoscience spillover: Gunnar Böðvarsson and the adoption of petroleum technologies in Iceland’s geothermal industry, 1940s–1970s

ABSTRACT During the twentieth century, Iceland became a leader in geothermal energy use, with hot water and steam providing for the heating of 9 out of 10 houses and almost one-third of the electricity supply. A crucial factor in the expansion of geothermal energy between the 1940s and 1970s were indirect ‘spillovers’ from the oil industry via the applied geosciences. While fundamentally different in end use, geothermal and hydrocarbon industries employ similar geoscientific methods for exploring and extracting fluids and gases. This article traces the spillovers from oil to geothermal by examining Iceland’s Geothermal Division and its founding director, Gunnar Böðvarsson. He saw the oil industry as a model and embraced its geoscientific exploration methods, oilwell rotary drilling and petroleum reservoir engineering. Adapted to the requirements of geothermal energy, petroleum technologies greatly improved the knowledge of geothermal reservoirs and the efficiency of well drilling and hot water and steam extraction. The geoscience spillover between oil and geothermal reveals an understudied dimension of geothermal history and the crucial role of the geosciences at the intersection of academia and energy industries, which also resulted in reverse spillovers from geothermal to oil and complicates the common dichotomization of fossil fuels vs. renewable alternatives.

Operando Stable Palladium Hydride Nanoclusters Anchored on Tungsten Carbides Mediate Reverse Hydrogen Spillover for Hydrogen Evolution

AbstractProton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis holds great promise for green hydrogen production, but suffering from high loading of platinum‐group metals (PGM) for large‐scale deployment. Anchoring PGM‐based materials on supports can not only improve the atomic utilization of active sites but also enhance the intrinsic activity. However, in practical PEM electrolysis, it is still challenging to mediate hydrogen adsorption/desorption pathways with high coverage of hydrogen intermediates over catalyst surface. Here, operando generated stable palladium (Pd) hydride nanoclusters anchored on tungsten carbide (WCx) supports were constructed for hydrogen evolution in PEM electrolysis. Under PEM operando conditions, hydrogen intercalation induces formation of Pd hydrides (PdHx) featuring weakened hydrogen binding energy (HBE), thus triggering reverse hydrogen spillover from WCx (strong HBE) supports to PdHx sites, which have been evidenced by operando characterizations, electrochemical results and theoretical studies. This PdHx‐WCx material can be directly utilized as cathode electrocatalysts in PEM electrolysis with ultralow Pd loading of 0.022 mg cm−2, delivering the current density of 1 A cm−2 at the cell voltage of ~1.66 V and continuously running for 200 hours without obvious degradation. This innovative strategy via tuning the operando characteristics to mediate reverse hydrogen spillover provide new insights for designing high‐performance supported PGM‐based electrocatalysts.

Влияние трудовой миграции на технологическое развитие стран ЕАЭС

The formation of a single labor market in the EAEU creates new opportunities and risks for national economies: the free movement of labor resources within the integration association affects not only the level of wages or employment, but also leads to more complex, complex consequences for donor and recipient countries. Using correlation analysis, the paper verifies the hypothesis that the reverse spillover effect associated with the return of migrant workers to their home countries contributes not only to the growth of value added in labor donor countries, but also stimulates demand for new technologies and services, which ultimately leads to an increase in the level of technological development of EAEU countries. As a result of the analysis, it was found that there is no statistically significant relationship between the variables under study – labor migration does not have a significant impact on the level of technological development of the EAEU countries. The results of the study can be used to develop a strategy of technological development of the EAEU countries, taking into account the parameters of external labor migration.

Do multinational enterprises’ overseas investment activities promote their green transition performance? Evidence from Chinese listed companies

Enterprises, including multinational ones, play a crucial role in harmonizing economic growth with environmental conservation through green transition efforts. Based on a panel dataset of 1,916 publicly listed Chinese companies, this study investigates how overseas investment activities conducted by multinational enterprises (MNEs) influence their green transition performance. We find that the increase in overseas investment significantly contributes to MNEs’ transition toward greener practices, with this positive effect being particularly pronounced in greenfield investments. Mechanism analysis suggests that overseas investment benefits the green transition performance of MNEs through competitive effects, economies of scale, and profit feedback from overseas subsidiaries. Moreover, reverse technology spillovers derived from overseas investments are effective in promoting MNEs’ greening, an effect amplified when MNEs possess a higher technology absorptive capacity or operate in flexible intellectual property protection.

Reverse Hydrogen Spillover on Metal Oxides for Water-Promoted Catalytic Oxidation Reactions.

Understanding the water-involved mechanism on metal oxide surface and the dynamic interaction of water with active sites is crucial in solving water poisoning in catalytic reactions. Herein, this work solves this problem by designing the water-promoted function of metal oxides in the ethanol oxidation reaction. In situ multimodal spectroscopies unveil that the competitive adsorption of water-dissociated *OH species with O2 at Sn active sites results in water poisoning and the sluggish proton transfer in CoO-SnO2 imparts water-resistant effect. Carbon material as electron donor and proton transport channel optimizes the Co active sites and expedites the reverse hydrogen spillover from CoO to SnO2. The water-promoted function arises from spillover protons facilitating O2 activation on the SnO2 surface, leading to crucial *OOH intermediate formation for catalyzing C-H and C-C cleavage. Consequently, the tailored CoO-C-SnO2 showcases a remarkable 60-fold enhancement in ethanol oxidation reaction compared to bare SnO2 under high-humidity conditions.

Bioinspired Proton Pump on Ferroelectric HfO2-Coupled Ir Catalysts with Bidirectional Hydrogen Spillover for pH-Universal and Superior Hydrogen Production.

The improvement of hydrogen evolution reaction kinetics can be largely accelerated by introducing a well-designed hydrogen spillover pathway into the catalysts. However, the driving force and mechanism of hydrogen migration on the surface of catalysts are poorly understood and are rarely explored in depth. Here, inspired by the specific ferroelectric property of HfO2, Mn-O-Ca sites in Mn4CaO5, and Fe-Fe sites in hydrogenases, we constructed a bioinspired HfO2 coupled with Ir catalysts (Ir/HfO2@C) with an alkaline hydrogen reverse spillover effect from HfO2 to interface and acid hydrogen spillover effect from Ir to interface. Benefiting from the bidirectional hydrogen spillover pathways controlled by pH, Ir/HfO2@C displays a narrow overpotential difference between acidic and alkaline electrolytes. Remarkably, Ir/HfO2@C shows a remarkable mass current density and turnover frequency value, far exceeding the benchmark Ir/C by 20.6 times. More importantly, this Ir/HfO2@C achieves extraordinarily low overpotentials of 146 and 39 mV at 10 mV cm-2 in seawater and alkaline seawater, respectively. The anion-exchange membrane water electrolyzer equipped with Ir/HfO2@C as a cathode exhibits excellent and stable H2-evolution performance on 2.22 V at 1.0 A cm-2. We expect that the bioinspired strategy will provide a new concept for designing catalytic materials for efficient and pH-universal electrochemical hydrogen production.

Exsolved NiRu bimetallic nanoparticles induced by Ru doping in LaBaMn1.6Ni0.3Ru0.1O5+δ as a coking resistant anode catalyst layer for direct-methane solid oxide fuel cells

Due to its abundant resources and advantages in transportation and storage, methane fueled solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are highly needed. In this work, an exceptional internal reforming catalyst comprising in-situ exsolved NiRu bimetallic nanoparticles and oxygen-deficient layered double perovskite LaBaMn1.6Ni0.3Ru0.1O5+δ (r-LBMNR) was prepared. Compared to the cell with LaBaMn1.6Ni0.4O5+δ (r-LBMN) catalyst, the cell with a Ru-doping r-LBMNR catalyst layer, exhibits superior peak power output of 336 mW cm−2 and better durability with a less decay rate of 0.014% per hour in CH4 fuel. The enhanced electrochemical performance can be attributed to the high oxygen ion and electron conductivities of the catalyst and the coupling of Ni and Ru sites with the oxygen-deficient r-LBMNR matrix This coupling activates CH4 and H2O, promotes the oxidation of C atoms in CH4 molecules, and enables reversible hydrogen spillover, ultimately leading to the production syngas of CO(g) and H2(g).

Insights into reverse oxygen spillover effect induced via CeO2 modulation to enhance the stability of CuCoOx catalysts in hydrodeoxygenation of biomass derivatives

In hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reactions, the evolution of the chemical states of active species in the catalyst caused by the spillover effects greatly influences their catalyst performance. Herein, the HDO of guaiacol (GUA) over CuCoOx and CuCoCeOx catalysts synthesized by co-precipitation method was systematically investigated. During the HDO reaction of GUA, acid sites (Co(II)) facilitated the C-O bond (demethylation via -OCH3) cleavage, which was the rate-determining step. A series of characterizations and experimental results revealed that introducing CeO2 into the CuCoOx catalyst could enable the catalyst to undergo reverse oxygen spillover in the hydrogenation environment, promoting the regeneration of CoO in the catalyst. Therefore, the deactivation of the CuCoOx catalyst due to hydrogen spillover and CoO reduction could be avoided, and the catalyst stability improved. The present study methodically investigated the spillover effects induced by Cu and CeO2 and provided the theoretical basis for the structural design of heterogeneous catalysts.

Can carbon emission trading policy enhance the synergistic emission reduction of carbon dioxide and air pollutants? A comparative study considering different pollutants

Exploring the synergistic control of carbon dioxide and pollutants is significant to the dual carbon target. This study first evaluates the effect of CET on the synergistic emission reduction of carbon dioxide and different pollutants. Moreover, this study investigates the mechanisms of synergistic emission reduction through the pathways of technology progress and structure adjustment. Technology progress is categorized into technology research and development, technology introduction, reverse technology spillover and technology purchase. Structure adjustment contains industrial structure and energy structure. Finally, the impact of CET on the synergistic emission reduction in the surrounding regions is analyzed. The results indicate that the CET could promote the synergistic emission reduction of carbon dioxide and pollutants, including air pollutants (SO2, PM2.5), wastewater and solid waste. The synergistic emission reduction of CO2 and SO2 could be enhanced through reverse technology spillover, technology purchase and industrial structure adjustment. The synergistic emission reduction of CO2 and PM2.5 could be enhanced through R&D and reverse technology spillover. The synergistic emission reduction of carbon dioxide and ammonia nitrogen could be enhanced by increasing R&D, technology purchase and energy structure adjustment. The CET could improve the synergistic emission reduction effect of carbon dioxide and air pollutants in the surrounding regions.

Reversible hydrogen spillover induced by Brønsted acid for accelerating direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide

Supported PdAu bimetallic nanoparticles have been developed for the direct synthesis of H2O2 (DSHP). However, to date, the dilute H2 streams necessary to avoid potential risks of explosion limits the attainable product concentrations of H2O2. Here, a series of silicon-modified Al2O3 (SixAl) were synthesized for loading PdAu bimetallic nanoparticles. The H2 consumption turnover frequency (TOF) and H2O2 formation TOF show a volcano trend with the silica content, where PdAu/Si5.6Al exhibits the best H2 consumption TOF and H2O2 formation TOF (11259.3 and 1995.2 h−1). Silica on the surface of Al2O3 is identified as Brønsted (B) acid site. The increase of B acid sites density accelerates the H2 conversion into H atoms, thereby boosting H2O2 formation process. The adsorption and dissociation of H2 into atomic H at B acid sites would spill across the support to PdAu nanoparticles reversely. The reversed hydrogen spillover effect induced by B acid site accounts for enhanced H2 conversion and H2O2 productivity for PdAu/SixAl.

Exploring the Interfacial Hydrogen Transfer between Pt and the Siliceous Framework and Its Promotional Effect on the Isotope Catalytic Exchange.

Interfacial hydrogen transfer between metal particles and catalyst supports is a ubiquitous phenomenon in heterogeneous catalysis, and this occurrence on reducible supports has been established, yet controversies remain about how hydrogen transfer can take place on nonreducible supports, such as silica. Herein, highly dispersed Pt clusters supported on a series of porous silica materials with zeolitic or/and amorphous frameworks were prepared to interrogate the nature of hydrogen transfer and its promotional effect on H2-HDO isotope catalytic exchange. The formation of zeolitic frameworks upon these porous silica supports by hydrothermal crystallization greatly promotes the interfacial hydrogen bidirectional migration between metal clusters and supports. Benefiting from this transfer effect, the isotope exchange rate is enhanced by 10 times compared to that on the amorphous counterpart (e.g., Pt/SBA-15). In situ spectroscopic and theoretical studies suggest that the defective silanols formed within the zeolite framework serve as the reactive sites to bind HDO or H2O by hydrogen bonds. Under the electrostatic attraction interaction, the D of hydrogen-bonded HDO scrambles to the Pt site and the dissociated H on Pt simultaneously spills back to the electronegative oxygen atom of adsorbed water to attain H-D isotope exchange with an energy barrier of 0.43 eV. The reverse spillover D on Pt combines with the other H on Pt to form HD in the effluent. We anticipate that these findings are able to improve our understanding of hydrogen transfer between metal and silica supports and favor the catalyst design for the hydrogen-involving reaction.

Deciphering role of dual nickel sites in reconstructed hetero-anionic structure of nickel sulfide for boosted hydrogen evolution reaction

The profound understanding of catalyst surface evolution under hydrogen evolution conditions is paramount for precisely regulating active sites, yet it has been somewhat overlooked. In this study, we unveil an innovative spontaneous anion regulation mechanism of nickel sulfide electrocatalysts during the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and elucidate the role of concomitantly generated dual nickel sites. An in-situ reconstructed hetero-anionic nickel oxysulfide surface layer is revealed as the true active sites, tailoring the electronic structure of sulfide-modified nickel sites to promote *H2O dissociation. Simultaneously, the newly introduced oxygen-modified nickel sites effectively serve as *H adsorbers, triggering reversible hydrogen spillover to facilitate *OH transfer and alleviate OH blockage. Therefore, an electrocatalyst-based anion exchange membrane electrolyzer demonstrates remarkable efficiency at industrial current densities, with sustainability maintained at 80 % over 200 h. This study inspires fresh insights into the design of advanced multi-anion catalysts.

Environmental regulation, outward foreign direct investment, and China’s green total factor productivity

AbstractIncreasing green total factor productivity (GTFP) is currently the primary goal of sustainable development worldwide. GTFP not only reflects the efficiency of economic expansion but also encompasses resource consumption and pollution. This research enhances the current understanding of GTFP by indicating that aside from reverse technology spillovers, labor mobility, and changes in industrial structure, additional factors, such as environmental regulations, exert a dynamic function in shaping the influence of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on the GTFP of the home nation. The empirical findings indicate that OFDI has a single threshold effect on GTFP, and the negative effect increases with the reinforcing of environmental control. The main impact comes from home country’s changes in green technology (GTC) rather than changes in green efficiency. Additionally, environmental regulation has a positive moderating effect on OFDI, the moderating effect of environmental regulation in western regions is more pronounced in promoting the home country’s GTC. It is imperative to take into account regional variations and devise distinct policies for eastern, central, and western regions.

Cobalt Single-Atom Reverse Hydrogen Spillover for Efficient Electrochemical Water Dissociation and Dechlorination.

Efficient water dissociation to atomic hydrogen (H*) with restrained recombination of H* is crucial for improving the H* utilization for electrochemical dechlorination, but is currently limited by the lack of feasible electrodes. Herein, we developed a monolithic single-atom electrode with Co single atoms anchored on the inherent oxide layer of titanium foam (Co1-TiOx/Ti), which can efficiently dissociate water into H* and simultaneously inhibit the recombination of H*, by taking advantage of the single-atom reverse hydrogen spillover effect. Experimental and theoretical calculations demonstrated that H* could be rapidly generated on the oxide layer of titanium foam, and then overflowed to the adjacent Co single atom for the reductive dechlorination. Using chloramphenicol as a proof-of-concept verification, the resulting Co1-TiOx/Ti monolithic electrode exhibited an unprecedented performance with almost 100 % dechlorination at -1.0 V, far superior to that of traditional indirect reduction-driven commercial Pd/C (52 %) and direct reduction-driven Co1-N-C (44 %). Moreover, its dechlorination rate constant of 1.64 h-1 was 4.3 and 8.6 times more active than those of Pd/C (0.38 h-1) and Co1-N-C (0.19 h-1), respectively. Our research sheds light on the rational design of hydrogen spillover-related electrocatalysts to simultaneously improve the H* generation, transfer, and utilization for environmental and energy applications.

Cobalt Single‐Atom Reverse Hydrogen Spillover for Efficient Electrochemical Water Dissociation and Dechlorination

AbstractEfficient water dissociation to atomic hydrogen (H*) with restrained recombination of H* is crucial for improving the H* utilization for electrochemical dechlorination, but is currently limited by the lack of feasible electrodes. Herein, we developed a monolithic single‐atom electrode with Co single atoms anchored on the inherent oxide layer of titanium foam (Co1−TiOx/Ti), which can efficiently dissociate water into H* and simultaneously inhibit the recombination of H*, by taking advantage of the single‐atom reverse hydrogen spillover effect. Experimental and theoretical calculations demonstrated that H* could be rapidly generated on the oxide layer of titanium foam, and then overflowed to the adjacent Co single atom for the reductive dechlorination. Using chloramphenicol as a proof‐of‐concept verification, the resulting Co1−TiOx/Ti monolithic electrode exhibited an unprecedented performance with almost 100 % dechlorination at −1.0 V, far superior to that of traditional indirect reduction‐driven commercial Pd/C (52 %) and direct reduction‐driven Co1−N−C (44 %). Moreover, its dechlorination rate constant of 1.64 h−1 was 4.3 and 8.6 times more active than those of Pd/C (0.38 h−1) and Co1−N−C (0.19 h−1), respectively. Our research sheds light on the rational design of hydrogen spillover‐related electrocatalysts to simultaneously improve the H* generation, transfer, and utilization for environmental and energy applications.

Spectroscopic visualization of reversible hydrogen spillover between palladium and metal–organic frameworks toward catalytic semihydrogenation

Hydrogen spillover widely occurs in a variety of hydrogen-involved chemical and physical processes. Recently, metal–organic frameworks have been extensively explored for their integration with noble metals toward various hydrogen-related applications, however, the hydrogen spillover in metal/MOF composite structures remains largely elusive given the challenges of collecting direct evidence due to system complexity. Here we show an elaborate strategy of modular signal amplification to decouple the behavior of hydrogen spillover in each functional regime, enabling spectroscopic visualization for interfacial dynamic processes. Remarkably, we successfully depict a full picture for dynamic replenishment of surface hydrogen atoms under interfacial hydrogen spillover by quick-scanning extended X-ray absorption fine structure, in situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics calculation. With interfacial hydrogen spillover, Pd/ZIF-8 catalyst shows unique alkyne semihydrogenation activity and selectivity for alkynes molecules. The methodology demonstrated in this study also provides a basis for further exploration of interfacial species migration.

Reverse technological spillovers from outward FDI on home countries’ total factor productivity: Does the mode of investment matter?

We examine the effect of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on total factor productivity (TFP) of home (source of FDI) countries in a global sample of 85 economies, distinguishing between outward greenfield FDI (OGFDI) and outward cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) purchases. The goal of the study is to test for reverse technological spillovers to the FDI source country. The hypothesis is that OGFDI and M&As have different capabilities of carrying out reverse technological spillovers, which would affect the TFP of home countries differently. We apply a two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) to deal with possible endogeneity and find the following results. First, total OFDI has no effect on the home country's TFP. Second, disentangling OFDI by mode of investment reveals both positive and negative reverse spillovers from FDI to TFP. While OGFDI produces negative reverse spillovers on the TFP of an MNE's home country due to displacement of production and reduced competition at home, M&A purchases produce positive reverse spillovers on the TFP of an MNE's home country due to their potential to acquire high-value knowledge assets. Third, home countries' human capital development positively moderates the impact of OGFDI and M&A purchases on TFP, while trade openness positively moderates only the M&A impact on TFP. Our findings imply that policies that seek to promote OFDI can be beneficial once countries have reached a certain degree of human capital development and participation in international trade.

Going out and bringing in: Exploring the impact of OFDI on green innovation performance under firms' digital transformation strategies

AbstractUnder the digital transformation strategy, whether the overseas investment activities of firms can achieve reverse green spillover is significant to their implementation of green and low‐carbon transformation. Accordingly, we examined the impact of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on green technology innovation (GTI) in parent firms under the digital transformation strategy at the micro‐level using a zero‐inflated negative binomial regression (ZINB) model with data from Chinese A‐share listed firms for 2000–2021. The study shows that (1) OFDI is beneficial to the growth of the parent firm's GTI. The results of both the instrumental variables approach and robustness tests support the baseline findings. (2) The scale, competitive, and human capital effects are the three micro‐mechanisms through which OFDI drives GTI. (3) Digital transformation has a positive moderating effect on OFDI and GTI, implying that digital transformation reinforces the reverse green spillover effect of OFDI. (4) The results of heterogeneity analysis show that state‐owned firms and firms with overseas executives have a more outstanding contribution of OFDI to GTI, and the moderating effect of digital transformation is more significant. This study provides micro‐level theoretical and empirical experiences on the green innovation effects of firms' digital transformation and overseas investment strategies.

Outward foreign direct investment operation modes and reverse technology spillovers: Implications for the quality of economic growth

This study delves into the nuanced relationship between China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) and the enhancement of economic growth quality, with a focus on the reverse technology spillover effect. Our findings reveal that OFDI contributes significantly to the efficiency and sustainability of economic growth. Notably, we observe a time-lag effect in the positive impact on growth quality, indicating a delayed manifestation of reverse technology spillovers. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis suggests that OFDI in high-economic-level host countries, by firms with fewer branches and those in trade sales, enhances the quality, efficiency, and sustainability of China's economic growth, albeit with limited stability impact. Additionally, we uncover a mediating effect wherein OFDI-induced scale expansion elevates domestic human capital levels and research and development intensity, narrows the technology gap, and substantially increases the quality of China's economic growth. This research not only sheds light on the strategic value of China's OFDI in global economic dynamics, but also offers actionable insights for policymakers and businesses to harness OFDI for sustainable and quality-driven economic advancement.