Sustainable Development Capability Research Articles

Using Net Primary Productivity to Characterize the Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Ecological Footprint for a Resource-Based City, Panzhihua in China

An ecological footprint is a primary indicator in measuring the sustainability of regional development, especially in resource-based cities. Here, we built an ecological footprint-based framework to assess the sustainability for a resource-based city of Panzhihua, in China. In this framework, a suite of long-term ecological parameters (2000–2020), essentially including Net Primary Productivity (NPP), land cover, as well as social statistical data, was used as the input indices of a provincial hectare ecological footprint model. The model outputs are composed of the ecological footprint (EF), ecological footprint per capita (PEF), ecological capacity (EC), ecological capacity per capita (PEC), ecological deficit/surplus (ED/S), and per capita ecological deficit/surplus (PED/S). Then the sustainable development capability of the city was comprehensively evaluated using a suite of ecological indices, including the ecological pressure index (EPI), ecological footprint per ten thousand GDP (EFG), ecological sustainability index (ESI), and ecological coordination index (ECI). The study reveals that, from 2000–2020, (1) PEC and PED/S presented an increasing trend (0.2401 hm2/person and 2.1421 hm2/person, respectively), while PEF decreased by 1.9 hm2/person. In the case of the ecological deficit, fossil energy land and forest were the dominant land types in controlling the ecological footprint and ecological capacity, (2) EPI and EFG decreased by 6.6381 hm2/person and 2.2462 hm2/person, respectively, and ESI and ECI increased by 0.3436 hm2/person and 0.2897 hm2/person, respectively. These indices also reflect that the utilization rate of natural resources in Panzhihua City has been improved, with enhanced sustainability, as well as a decline in ecological pressure. This ecological footprint-based framework could work as a template for evaluating the sustainability of resource-based cities from positive and negative ecological footprint indices.

Research on the Sustainable Development and Dynamic Capabilities of China’s Aircraft Leasing Industry Based on System Dynamics Theory

The Boeing 737 MAX crisis and COVID-19 pandemic have seriously influenced the development of China’s aircraft leasing industry in the past two years. This paper applies system dynamics theory to explore the sustainable development of China’s aircraft leasing industry. It analyses the dynamic mechanism and constructs a system dynamics model. Based on China’s macroeconomic data and historical data from the financial, aviation, and leasing industries, it aims to stimulate the development of China’s aircraft leasing industry in the next five years. Through sensitivity analysis, this research finds that changes in GDP growth have the most obvious impact on the sustainable development of China’s aircraft leasing industry. Reducing the average financing cost and the income tax rate of aircraft leasing companies, increasing their investment in talent, and controlling risk will increase the market share of China’s aircraft leasing companies and promote the development of the industry. However, increasing the number of aircraft leasing companies has little effect on market share. On this basis, this paper proposes policy recommendations to promote the sustainable development of China’s aircraft leasing industry.

Comprehensive analysis of industrial-scale heating plants based on different biomass slow pyrolysis technologies: Product property, energy balance, and ecological impact

Slow pyrolysis poly-generation technology for rural heating using agroforest residues has reached the stage of industrial demonstration application in China. Comprehensive assessment of technical characteristics and technical adaptability is essential as further industrialization development requires related plants to be sustainable and replicable. In this study, three typical technical processes and application models are discussed; namely, poly-generation for syngas and char using a rotary kiln (SCRK), poly-generation for syngas and char using a vertical kiln (SCVK), and poly-generation for hot water and char using a chain grate furnace (HCCF). The technical characteristics, adaptability to raw materials, product property, energy balance, and ecological impact were systematically analyzed by an empirical analysis based on industrial-scale project data. The SCRK was advantageous in terms of product quality and yield of char; the low heating value (LHV) of syngas exceeded 17.3 MJ/m 3 , which was approximately thrice that of the other two technical processes. The energy conversion efficiency of the SCVK was 76.8%, that is, approximately 4.0–5.7 percentage points higher than that of the HCCF and SCRK. The emergy sustainability indices of SCRK, SCVK, and HCCF, as ecological indicators, were 31.2, 21.4, and 24.5, respectively. The above results indicate that the heating plants based on biomass slow pyrolysis have promising application prospects. The technology promotion path was discussed by matching production situations, market demands, and technical characteristics based on a technical evaluation radar chart. Some targeted suggestions were proposed for the industrial application of different biomass slow pyrolysis poly-generation technologies. This study provides a reference for industrialization development of biomass slow pyrolysis technologies for rural heating. • Agroforest residues were used for slow pyrolysis poly-generation for rural heating. • Product property, energy balance, and ecological impact were analyzed. • All three technologies had sustainable development capabilities. • Rotary kiln had higher product quality and char yield rate than the others.

The Impact of Green Innovation on a Firm’s Value from the Perspective of Enterprise Life Cycles

Many studies focus on the impact of green innovation on enterprises, but few studies pay attention to the difference made by the impact of green innovation at the different stages of a firm’s life cycle. This study used Chinese A-share listed companies as a sample to conduct research and found that green innovation has a positive effect on a firm’s value. However, compared with firms at a mature stage of their life cycle, the impact of green innovation on firm value is more significant in firms at the stages of growth and decline. Further research shows that green innovation can increase the value of firms at the growth stage by improving their sustainable development capability and reducing debt financing costs. However, for firms at the decline stage of their life cycle, green innovation can only increase firm value by reducing debt financing costs. In addition, the nature of property rights and the level of corporate governance will have a moderating effect on the relationship between green innovation and firm value. This research will not only enrich the previous literature but also guide the allocation of resources for firms at different stages of their life cycle to carry out green innovation.

Sustainable Mechanism of the Entrusted Transportation Management Mode on High-Speed Rail and the Impact of COVID-19: A Case Study of the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Rail

The transport management mode fundamentally determines the sustainable development of high-speed rail passenger transport (HSRPT), which was shocked by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In order to study the sustainable development mechanism of HSRPT and the impact of COVID-19, primarily based on the data from the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed rail (HSR) taken from 2018, we adopt system dynamics (SD) to provide a scenario simulation method to examination sustainable operation status of HSRPT under the entrusted transportation management mode (ETMM) by VENSIM, and take into account the following two evaluation indicators: economic and operational. The results show the following: (1) Transportation demand and commissioned transportation management fees play a vital role in the sustainable operation of the Beijing–Shanghai HSR, causing significant changes in transportation revenue and transportation costs. (2) COVID-19 had a great impact on the sustainable operation of the Beijing–Shanghai HSR. In 2020, the turnover and transportation profit of the Beijing–Shanghai HSR fell by 74.31% and 49.19%, respectively. In 2022, the transportation profit can be restored to the level of 2019. The study results reveal that Beijing–Shanghai HSR under the ETMM has a good sustainable development capability.

Effects of control mechanisms on supply chain resilience and sustainability performance

Supply chain resilience (SCRES) plays an important role in dealing with disruptions in a highly turbulent business environment and has received a fair amount of attention from industry and academia. This study explores the relationships among control mechanisms (process, social, and outcome control), SCRES (proactive and reactive resilience), and sustainability performance (economic, environmental, and social performance). Structural equation modeling is used to analyze data collected from 322 Chinese manufacturing firms. This study finds that process control and social control have a positive impact on the two dimensions of SCRES, while outcome control has no significant impact on SCRES. Proactive and reactive resilience both have a significant positive impact on the three dimensions of sustainability performance. The results deepen the understanding of the enablers and performance of SCRES. They also provide managerial insights into how to use control mechanisms to build SCRES capability for sustainable development. JEL Classification: M1

Research on the Stability of Supply Chain's Sustainable Development Capability under the Internet Model

The emergence of the Internet model has brought new challenges to the sustainable development of enterprise supply chain, and the evaluation of the stability of sustainable development capability is the key to ensure the effective implementation of the supply chain model. Build the evaluation index model of sustainable development capability, as the basis for obtaining the evaluation index, determine the stability evaluation index of sustainable development capability from three aspects of economy, society and ecological environment, and evaluate the stability of the sustainable development capability of the supply chain under the Internet model with the rank correlation coefficient. The official data collected from the China E-commerce Statistical Yearbook shows that before 2015, the stability of the supply chain sustainable development ability of e-commerce enterprises under the Internet mode was poor; From 2015 to 2021, the supply chain of e-commerce enterprises in the Internet mode has a good stability for sustainable development.

Trust, organizational commitment and tacit knowledge sharing between employees in IT industry firms in Ho Chi Minh City

In organizations, knowledge is divided into two types: explicit and tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge can play an important role towards company’s sustainable development and competitiveness capabilities. The crucial of tacit knowledge has been verified in relation to decision-making, time management, quality and performance in organizations. Tacit knowledge is an intangible asset and its value increases as more people share it. However, tacit knowledge sharing is not a very easy task because of its complex nature. This study aims to analyze the psychological mechanism affecting the tacit knowledge sharing (TKS) behaviour of IT employees based on psychological contract model and organizational commitment literature. Surveys were designed by structured questionnaires to collect data using convenience sampling and yielded 408 responses from IT employees working at IT industry enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City. The research hypotheses were developed and validated using structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The results show that TKS is directly influenced partly by trust (TRU) among coworkers and three organizational commitment components such as affective, normative, and continuance commitment (AOC, COC and NOC) mediate the relationship between TRU and TKS. Based on these results, author offers some suggestions to managers in firms concerning relevant policies that enable their knowledgeable employees to share tacit knowledge.

Development of an index system for evaluating the organisational capabilities of primary medical institutions: a modified Delphi study in China

ObjectiveThe low performance of primary medical institutions (PMIs) in China is a significant issue. The WHO proposed that the main reason for the failure of the healthcare system in developing...

Data-Driven Evaluation and Optimization of Agricultural Sustainable Development Capability: A Case Study of Northern Anhui

Human survival depends on the sustainable development of agriculture. This study constructs a data-driven evaluation and optimization method of agricultural sustainable development capacity, aiming to better cope with challenges such as environmental pollution and excessive consumption of resources and energy, as well as improve agricultural economic level. Further, an evaluation index system was constructed based on comprehensive consideration of energy and resources utilization, environmental pollution, and agricultural economy. After simplifying and integrating the data, a data envelopment analysis model was constructed to quantitatively evaluate the capability for agricultural sustainable development and its changing trend. Moreover, its influencing factors were analyzed from the perspective of input, which provides accurate countermeasures for improving agricultural sustainable development ability, resource utilization efficiency, and process optimization. This study shows the realization process of the aforementioned method for the agricultural development of six cities in northern Anhui from 2010 to 2019. Our results suggest that the sustainable development ability of northern Anhui is weak, but overall, has a good development trend. Based on our results, some countermeasures were proposed to control production scale reasonably, reduce environmental load, and improve resource efficiency, which provides a reference for policymakers to guide and standardize the development of regional agriculture.

A Green Technological Innovation Efficiency Evaluation of Technology-Based SMEs Based on the Undesirable SBM and the Malmquist Index: A Case of Hebei Province in China

Small- and medium-sized technology-based enterprises (technology-based SMEs) are an important part of China’s scientific and technological development. To a certain extent, the green technological innovation level of technology-based SMEs plays a significant role in supporting the overall development of social green innovation. Carrying out research on green technology innovation efficiency evaluations of technology-based SMEs is helpful to find existing problems to provide references for managers. Therefore, this paper proposes an evaluation system based on the undesirable slack based model (SBM) and the Malmquist index model. Firstly, the evaluation index system of the green technological innovation efficiency of technology-based SMEs in Hebei Province was constructed from the perspectives of input and output, in which environmental pollution is included in the evaluation factors of green innovation activities. Then, the undesirable SBM and the Malmquist index model of green technology innovation efficiency evaluation were constructed. Finally, the technological innovation efficiency of technology-based SMEs in Hebei Province in different regions and time nodes was comprehensively calculated and combined with the Malmquist index model to analyze the efficiency changes of technology-based SMEs in Hebei Province over different years. The results show that the overall level of green technological innovation efficiency of technology-based SMEs in Hebei Province is low, and the regional differences in various cities are obvious, but the main trend is rising. The research in this paper can further improve the research results in the field of evaluation of technology-based SMEs and technological innovation efficiency, as well as play an important role in improving the ecological competitiveness and sustainable development capabilities of the products of Hebei’s technology-based SMEs.

Defensive capabilities of contrasting sorghum genotypes against Atherigona soccata (Rondani) infestation.

Plants are equipped with a wide range of defensive mechanisms such as morphophysiological, biochemical, molecular, and hormonal signaling for protecting against insect-pest infestation. The infestation of a devastating pest shoot fly [Atherigona soccata (Rodani)] at seedling stage causes huge loss of sorghum crop productivity. In morphophysiological screening ICSV700, ICSV705, and IS18551 have been categorized as resistant, PSC-4 moderately resistant, SL-44 and SWARNA as susceptible. The present study focused on the role of defensive gene expression and its products viz: superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), phenyl alanine ammonia lyase (PAL), responsive enzymes, and metabolites restoring redox status in sorghum plants against shoot fly infestation. In both leaf and stem tissue of sorghum genotypes,shoot fly infestation induced SOD, APX, DHAR, GR, PAL, and PPO activities while CAT activity was significantly declined at 15 and 21days after emergence (DAE). IS18551 with resistant behavior showed upregulation of SOD, GR, APX, and DHAR along with accumulation of ascorbate, glutathione enhancing redox status of the plant during shoot fly infestation at later stage of infestation. While SWARNA with susceptible response exhibited enhanced activity of phenylpropanoid pathway enzymes PAL and PPO which in turn increased the levels of secondary metabolites like o-dihydroxyphenol and other phenols deterring the insect to attack the plant. The qRT-PCR data predicted that stress-responsive genes were initially unregulated in SWARNA; however, at 21 DAE, multifold higher expression of SOD, CAT, APX, and PPO (24.8-, 37.2-, 21.7-, and 17.9-fold respectively) in 1S18551 indicates the resistance behavior of this genotype against insect infestation owing to sustainable development capability.

Quantifying the sources of synergistic effects in co-pyrolysis of pinewood and polystyrene

Co-processing of biomass and plastic wastes via pyrolysis and gasification for feed-flexibility revealed the presence of synergistic enhancement of H2 and syngas yield and lowering of char and tar yields. However, an understanding of the source of these interactions and their quantification is lacking. To address this, we investigated the co-pyrolysis of pinewood (PW) and polystyrene (PS) blends at 900 °C using uniquely arranged sample-loading configurations in a fixed-bed reactor with online product gas and energy consumption analysis. Quantification of interactions such as volatiles-volatiles, volatiles-feedstock, and volatiles-char interactions in comparison with weighted results from individual pyrolysis of PW and PS provided deconvoluted information on the synergistic effects. Volatiles-volatiles interaction accounted for a 33% increase in H2, while PS volatiles-PW intermediates interaction accounted for 17% increase, and inhibitive PW volatiles-PS intermediates interaction led to 8% decrease. This deconvolution also revealed another 20% increase associated with the evenly mixed co-pyrolysis of PW and PS that was not accounted for from the volatiles-feedstocks interaction. The co-pyrolysis of PS with PW char also revealed the catalytic activity of PW char on plastics decomposition which was found to be restricted by the capacity of PS melt to block the char’s active sites during their direct contact. Cracking of PS volatiles on these catalytic active sites led to the increased yields of CH4 and H2. These results provide quantified insight into the sources of interaction between biomass and plastics to enhance synergy, develop component compatibility, and gain prediction capability for sustainable and feed-flexible gasifier development.

Applying the Super-EBM model and spatial Durbin model to examining total-factor ecological efficiency from a multi-dimensional perspective: evidence from China.

Ecological efficiency mainly emphasizes the importance of balancing the relationships between natural resources, energy, the ecological environment and economic growth, which has aroused widespread concern worldwide. China's rapid economic development has inevitably been accompanied by serious resource exhaustion, environmental pollution and ecological deterioration in the past several decades, which has brought huge challenges to China's sustainable development. Therefore, establishing the evaluation framework of total-factor ecological efficiency (TFEE) and identifying its driving force have a great significance for improving China's sustainable development capabilities. First, an ecological efficiency evaluation framework is established based on the theory of total-factor analysis. Second, the super efficient hybrid distance model considers undesirable output and measures TFEE nationwide in 30 provinces and four regions during the period 2003-2017. Finally, the spatial effect of TFEE and its influencing factors are examined by using a spatial Durbin model. The empirical results show that (1) nationwide and regional TFEEs have different degrees of decline during the study period. There were significant differences among the 30 provinces and four regions. Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai are efficient, while the other provinces have not been as effective. The TFEEs of the four regions are not effective with an ordering of eastern > northeast > central > western. (2) Moran's I index shows that the TFEE nationwide has a positive spatial autocorrelation with strong spatial agglomeration. However, the spatial distribution pattern of TFEE in China was unstable and labile. The Moran scatter plot indicates that China's provincial TFEE has not only spatial dependence characteristics but also differences in spatial correlation. (3) Most factors are bound up with TFEE to various degrees: technological progress (TP), industrial agglomeration (IG) and human capital (HC) play a positive role, while industrial structure (IS), the level of urbanization (CITY) and energy intensity (EI) play a negative role. Additionally, environmental regulation (GZ) shows a U-type relationship with TFEE. The level of economic development (GDP) and foreign direct investment (FDI) cannot have a significant impact on TFEE at this stage. (4) The spatial Durbin model results show that TFEE has a significant spatial spillover effect, and the improvement of the TFEE of a province will increase the TFEE of neighbouring provinces. The confirmed spatial spillover effects of technological progress (TP), industrial structure (IS), the level of urbanization (CITY), industrial agglomeration (IG) and human capital (HC) can significantly impact the TFEE of neighbouring provinces. Among them, technological progress (TP), the level of urbanization (CITY) and human capital (HC) can significantly improve the TFEE of neighbouring provinces, and the level of economic development (GDP) and foreign direct investment (FDI) can significantly inhibit the improvement of TFEE in neighbouring provinces.

The Impacts of Technology Shocks on Sustainable Development from the Perspective of Energy Structure—A DSGE Model Approach

Considering that the effect of different types of energy on sustainable development differs, the optimization of energy structure is commonly seen as a decisive factor for sustainable development. In this study, we focus on energy structure and construct a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) analysis framework including the environment, society, and the economy. Furthermore, we analyze the effect of different technology shocks on sustainable development when the proportion of clean energy is separately set at 10%, 20%, and 40%. To demonstrate the conclusions of the DSGE analysis framework, we construct the sustainability index and measure the relationship between the sustainability index scores and the proportion of clean energy of 68 countries in 2017, and the R2 of the linear relationship between the sustainability index score and the proportion of clean energy was 0.30. Results show that the technology shock of clean energy exhibits more benefits for sustainable development than that of non-clean energy. Moreover, we find that the optimization of the energy structure can be helpful for the enhancement of sustainable development capacity. This study is helpful to expand the DSGE analysis framework from the perspective of energy structure. This study also provides effective ways and reference suggestions for local governments to optimize energy structure and improve sustainable development capability.

Evaluation on Sustainable Development of Urban Agglomeration under the New Urbanization and the Industrial StructureUpgraded Based on a Case Study of Beibu Gulf Urban Agglomeration

The new urbanization has a connotation of human-centered urbanization, covering the synchronization of informatization, industrialization, agricultural modernization and urbanization, the optimization of layout, ecological civilization, cultural inheritance, and the realization of balanced and sustainable development among population, economy, society, resources and environment. Taking the path of new urbanization is the development direction of Chinese cities in the future.It is an important measure taken by the Chinese government to implement the new concept of development to promote the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure and achieve balanced development between ecological and ecological protection and economic and social development. In this paper, firstly, based on the relevant theories of urbanization at home and abroad, the evaluation index system of urban sustainable development is constructed in five dimensions: economic market driving force, population and social development force, resources and environment carrying capacity, public service guarantee force, and urban-rural integration and aggregation force to study the cities and counties in the Beibu Gulf urban agglomeration region. Then, the factor analysis method is used to perform sub-item and comprehensive evaluation on the urban sustainable development capability. Finally, combined with the development characteristics of each city in the urban agglomeration, relevant development strategies and suggestions are put forward to provide reference for the development of urbanization.

Impact of social responsibility disclosure between implementation of green accounting and sustainable development: A study on heavily polluting companies in Bangladesh

AbstractBased on the empirical data of heavily polluting companies in Bangladesh from 2010 to 2019, this paper conducts an empirical analysis of the application effect of green accounting in the sustainable development of heavily polluting companies. Among 212 listed companies under Dhaka Stock Exchange, the study discovered that the effective implementation of green accounting has significantly improved the sustainable development capabilities of heavily polluting companies; there is a significant positive correlation between the quality of social responsibility information disclosure and the sustainable development capabilities of heavily polluting companies; the quality of social responsibility information disclosure can be positively adjusted the relationship between the implementation of green accounting and the sustainable development capabilities of heavily polluting companies.

Research on Key Influence Factors of Sustainable Development Capability of Smart City Based on Hybrid Decision Model

The development of economy and the progress of human society are urging the pace of urban development. The combination of urban services, information and communication technologies has given birth to smart cities. In the long-term construction process, the sustainable development capacity of smart cities is weak. In order to enhance the sustainable development capability of smart cities, we establish an indicator system of factors affecting the sustainable development of smart cities and use decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and analytic network process based on DEMATEL (D-ANP) to analyze the interrelationships and relative importance of influence factors. The results reveal that in the evaluation index system of smart city sustainability development, Smart governance (D2) has the greatest impact on other dimensions. As for the impact on the sustainable development of smart cities, the influence of smart city mechanism (D3) has the largest weight, smart people’s livelihood (D1) and Smart governance (D2) have similar weights. Based on the results, suggestions for improvement are provided for the sustainable development of smart cities.

Quantitative evaluation of sustainable development ability of deep buried geothermal water coupled with key index factors

ABSTRACT Scientific evaluations of the sustainable development ability of deep-buried geothermal water are essential to fully utilizing these resources while simultaneously minimizing negative environmental effects. However, due to the multi-source and variability of accumulated information in the process of geothermal water development, the precise identification of spatial differences in sustainable development capabilities is still in the exploratory stage. Taking geothermal water of thermal reservoirs with buried depths of 1000–1200 m and 1200–1400 m of downtown Kaifeng City China as an example, the exploitation potential, well distribution density, geothermal gradient, water level decline rate, recharge volume, and specific yield are selected as index factors. The weights of index factors are determined based on the gray correlation analysis method, and the sustainable development ability of the geothermal water is quantitatively evaluated using fuzzy variable set theory. Our research shows that the geothermal water resources of the 1000–1200 m deep thermal reservoir in Kaifeng can be divided into three sustainable development ability zones: ‘weakest’, ‘medium’, and ‘strong’. Moreover, the 1200–1400 m deep thermal reservoir can also be divided into three sustainable development ability zones: ‘weakest’, ‘weak’, and ‘strongest’. This research work provides a direction for the rational development and scientific protection of geothermal water.

Can Mixed-Ownership Reform Drive the Green Transformation of SOEs?

In the construction of ecological civilization, green innovation has become an important driving force for the sustainable development of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This paper uses panel data of state-owned listed enterprises from 2008 to 2019 to explore mixed-ownership reform’s influence on the green transformation of SOEs and its specific mechanisms. The results show that the diversity of mixed shareholders, the depth of mixed equity, and the restriction of mixed equity significantly promote the SOEs’ green innovation. Moreover, there are distinctions in the impact of the shareholding ratio of heterogeneous shareholders on green innovation. Only the increase in the shareholding ratio of foreign shareholders has a positive correlation with green innovation. The mechanism tests indicate that the mixed-ownership reform plays a governance role in the green transformation of SOEs by optimizing the reasonable allocation of environmental protection subsidies and propelling environmental social responsibility’s active performance. Our study further subdivides the significant promotion effect of mixed-ownership reform on green innovation, finding that it only exists in the SOEs in heavily polluting industries and regions with a high degree of marketization. Finally, we find that the ownership structure adjustment caused by the mixed-ownership reform has improved SOEs’ environmental management system and facilitated its sustainable development capabilities.