The Relationship between Water Resources Use Efficiency and Scientific and Technological Innovation Level: Case Study of Yangtze River Basin in China

The Yangtze River Basin’s water resource utilization efficiency(WUE)and scientific and technological innovation level(STI)are closely connected,and the comprehension of these relationships will help to improve WUE and promote local economic growth and conservation of water.This study uses 19 provinces and regions along the Yangtze River’s mainstream from 2009 to 2019 as its research objects and uses a Vector Auto Regression(VAR)model to quantitatively evaluate the spatiotemporal evolution of the coupling coordination degree(CCD)between the two subsystems of WUE and STI.The findings show that:(1)Both the WUE and STI in the Yangtze River Basin showed an upward trend during the study period,but the STI effectively lagged behind the WUE;(2)The CCD of the two subsystems generally showed an upward trend,and the CCD of each province was improved to varying degrees,but the majority of regions did not develop a high-quality coordination stage;(3)The CCD of the two systems displayed apparent positive spatial autocorrelation in the spatial correlation pattern,and there were only two types:high-high(H-H)urbanization areas and low-low(L-L)urbanization areas;(4)The STI showed no obvious response to the impact of the WUE,while the WUE responded greatly to the STI,and both of them were highly dependent on themselves.Optimizing their interaction mechanisms should be the primary focus of high-quality development in the basin of the Yangtze River in the future.These results give the government an empirical basis to enhance the WUE and promote regional sustainable development.

Are cities greener because of innovation?Independent innovation policy and green economic efficiency

The national independent innovation demonstration zone(NIIDZ)is an independent innovation policy that plays a crucial role in implementing strategies.Given the importance of the NIIDZ,this study uses panel data of 278 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2020 and empirically examines the effect and internal mechanism of the NIIDZ on green economic efficiency(GEE)using the difference-in-difference model(DID).The results show that the NIIDZ effectively enhances the growth of GEE,and the results remain valid through several robustness tests,such as year-by-year propensity score matching.The transmission mechanism suggests that the NIIDZ indirectly drives GEE by accelerating scientific and technological investment,promoting talent concentration,and optimizing the industrial structure.Moreover,heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promotion effect of the NIIDZ on GEE is more prominent in the eastern region and high green development level areas.The study’s findings can serve as a reference for China to further utilize the policy effectiveness of the NIIDZ and accelerate the high-quality development of the green economy in the future.

Influence of technological innovation on regional green development efficiency in China(2004-2017):An empirical analysis based on the spatial Durbin model

Under the background of green development,the function direction of technological innovation to green development efficiency,which includes economy,resources and environment,needs to be observed by demonstration.In this paper,the green development efficiency of 30 provinces(cities and districts)in China from 2004 to 2017 is measured and its intertemporal changes,regional differences of green development efficiency are analyzed by using the super efficiency SBM model,further through theoretical analysis and empirical study,the influence of technological innovation on regional green development efficiency and its impact mechanism are investigated.The influence mechanisms of the technological innovation on green development efficiency are clarified and empirically tested by spatial econometric models from the perspectives of the growth sources and quantitative analysis.The results show that during the observation period,the green development efficiency in China exhibits a U-shaped variation,but there are huge regional differences with the obvious polarization in Eastern and Midwestern regions,and that technological innovation has some effect in promoting the regional green development efficiency,but not significant enough,which are heterogeneous according to the time periods and regions.

Research on Innovation-Driven Expansion of Regional OFDI: New Evidence From a Business Environment Perspective

This paper investigates the impact of provincial innovation-driven efficiency on the expansion of regional Outward Foreign Direct Investment(OFDI)flows within the context of China’s economy during the period 2011 to 2020 by measuring the innovation-driven efficiency and business environment index using the DEA-Malmquist index and the combined CRITIC weighting method from the new perspective of business environment improvement.The findings reveal that:(a)There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between provincial innovation-driven efficiency and regional OFDI flows.This increase in innovation-driven efficiency can promote OFDI expansion of the region by improving its business environment.(b)The improvement of the business environments plays a significant intermediary and synergistic role in OFDI expansion driven by improved innovation efficiency.(c)The study of regional heterogeneity suggests that the central region enjoys the longest window period in terms of innovation-driven OFDI expansion,followed by the eastern region while the western region has the shortest window period.The improvement of the business environment in the western region is more effective in driving regional OFDI expansion.This conclusion remained true after the robustness test.In conclusion,this paper offers a few policy recommendations that can help Chinese capital of various kinds go global more effectively.

Do smart city policies improve energy efficiency?Evidence from China

To address air pollution and offer a convenient and comfortable living environment,the Chinese government launched a smart city pilot(SCP)project in 2012,accompanied by a comprehensive set of environmental and energy-related laws and regulations.Although academic interest in smart cities has surged,there remains a notable gap in empirical research exploring the economic,environmental,and energy effects of such initiatives.Taking 232 prefecture-level cities from 2003 to 2017 as research subjects,this study measures energy effi‐ciency by using energy consumption per unit of GDP and adopts a difference-in-differences(DID)analysis to investigate the impact of SCPs on energy efficiency.The empirical results indicate that SCPs improved energy efficiency by promoting urban technological innovation capabilities and green total factor productivity,and this effect was more pronounced in cities that were more dependent on traditional fossil fuel energy sources and had more developed fiscal and financial levels.Studying the impact of smart city construction on energy utilization efficiency in developing countries,such as China,is not only significantly enlightening for China’s green and low-carbon transition but also provides reference opinions for constructing smart cities and the path to enhancing energy efficiency in other developing countries.The findings provide valuable insights into the global development of smart cities,urban sustainability,and high-quality economic growth.

Coupling Relationship Among Technological Innovation,Industrial Transformation and Environmental Efficiency:A Case Study of the Huaihai Economic Zone,China

The 14th Five-Year Plan period is a critical period for China to achieve high-quality development. Based on super-efficiency slacks-based measure(SBM) model, grey-related analysis(GRA) and other models, this paper studies the heterogeneity of the coupling relationship among technological innovation, industrial transformation and environmental efficiency in the Huaihai Economic Zone during the period of 2005-2019. In addition, it analyzes the coupling mechanism of single and binary systems to the ternary system, which is of great significance for the collaborative symbiosis among systems. The findings are as follows. 1) The technological innovation, industrial transformation and environmental efficiency(TIE) systems of the Huaihai Economic Zone had significant spatial-temporal heterogeneity. Although their evaluation value fluctuated, the development trends are all positive. Ultimately, technological innovation is characterized by being high in the northeast and low in the southwest around Xuzhou, while other systems are relatively staggered in space. 2) The coupling of TIE systems is in transition, lack of orderly integration and benign interaction. However, the developing trend of interaction is also upward, and a spatial pattern driven by Xuzhou and Linyi as the dual cores has gradually formed. Moreover, the coupling is mostly manifested as outdated technological innovation and industrial transformation. Except for the final coordination of regenerative cities, the other resource types are all in transition. Cities in all traffic locations are still in transition. The overall system interaction of cities on Longhai Line(Lanzhou-Lianyungang Railway) is relatively optimal, and cities on Xinshi Line(Xinxiang-Rizhao Railway) are accelerating toward synergy. 3) The coupling status of TIE systems depends on the development of the single system and the interaction of the binary(2E) system. The coupling is closely related to technological innovation and Technology-Industry system,and is hindered by the inefficient interaction of Technology-Environment system. Specifically, the synergy of regenerative cities is attributed to the advantage of a single system and the effective integration of 2E systems. Beneficial from the advantages of environmental efficiency, the cities on Xinshi Line promote the synergy of the 2E and TIE systems. Therefore, while the Huaihai Economic Zone stimulates the development potential of the single and 2E systems, it is necessary to amplify the superimposition effect of systems in accordance on the basis of resource and location.

Technological Innovation Efficiency Evaluation of Equipment Manufacturing Industry--An Empirical Study of Shandong Province in China

Based on the statistical data of eight sub-sectors of equipment manufacturing industry in Shandong province from 2012-2016,DEA and Malmquist index were used to give the static and dynamic evaluation of technological innovation efficiency.The results show that the overall technological innovation efficiency of Shandong equipment manufacturing industry is higher due to the high pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency.As the technical regress and inefficient allocation of resources deepened,the total factor productivity of Shandong equipment manufacturing industry presents a dropped tendency.According to the innovation efficiency and its changes,different industries should adopt the specific development strategies.

Research on the Impact of Digital Finance on Energy Efficiency in China

Digital finance and green technology innovation(GTI)serve as powerful engines for promoting energy efficiency(EE)and economic development.This paper explores the mechanism by which digital finance impacts EE based on panel data from 30 provinces in China spanning from 2011 to 2019.The results demonstrate that digital finance can significantly enhance EE,with a particularly pronounced effect in the eastern region.Through mechanistic analysis,it is evident that GTI serves as the transmission pathway through which digital finance influences EE,accounting for 45.3%of the effect.The policy implication of this study suggests that China should expedite the digitization of financial markets to further harness the development of digital finance,particularly in pursuit of its technological innovation and green,lowcarbon environmental protection effects.

Threshold effects of tourism agglomeration on the green innovation efficiency of China's tourism industry

Industrial agglomeration is an essential and effective way to integrate resources and elements. Its impact on the green innovation efficiency of the tourism industry is a process of continuous development and dynamic change. This paper, based on the provincial panel data from 2006 to 2015, uses super SBM model to measure the green innovation efficiency of China's tourism industry.The threshold regression model is employed to conduct empirical tests of the nonlinear threshold effect of agglomeration on the green innovation efficiency of tourism industry. The inter-provincial differences of various threshold effects and their possible causes are analyzed. Results indicate that the green innovation efficiency of China's tourism industry is generally growing, while regional disparity is significant with a gradient decrease along the eastern-central-western regions. There is an obvious positive nonlinear relationship between tourism agglomeration and green innovation efficiency. It is also found that with the increase of agglomeration, its influence is at a high level. As the level of agglomeration crosses the first threshold, its impact is at a low level, and when it crosses the second threshold, the impact of tourism agglomeration is at an intermediate level. Finally, this paper proposes the basic path and some policy recommendations to promote the green innovation efficiency of the tourism industry in China.

Study on the efficiency and regional disparity of green technology innovation in China's industrial companies

This paper first constructed a system to evaluate the innovation efficiency of industrial companies within China's Mainland.Then,a principal component analysis(PCA) was performed to these indicators for dimensionality reduction,so as to figure out the technology innovation efficiency in these two phases,respectively.Finally,the overall efficiency of industrial companies in different regions was estimated and factorized via data envelopment analysis(DEA).The results showed that:(1)the efficiency of green technology innovation of industrial companies in China was relatively low as a whole,which mainly resulted from pure technical efficiency(PTE).Further,this huge gap continues to expand in these regions.And both PTE and scale efficiency(SE) in central and western regions leave much to be expected.(2)In the first phase of green technology development,when environmental factors were concerned,the efficiency was much lower than that without environmental considerations.Besides,the central and western regions were facing increasingly severe environmental problems,and there was a wide disparity in technology development efficiency among eastern,central,and western regions.(3)In the second phase of green technology commercialization,there were still more rooms for improvement in raising the efficiency of green technology innovation,and the efficiency in eastern,central,and western regions was ranked from highest to lowest.(4)Liaoning,Hebei,Heilongjiang,Xinjiang,Shanxi,Inner Mongolia,Yunnan,and Qinghai should focus on improving their technology;Jilin,Jiangxi,Anhui,and Guangxi should make their efforts to reduce resource redundancy;whereas Ningxia and Gansu should try to solve the above two issues.

Evaluation and Influence Factor of Green Efficiency of China’s Agricultural Innovation from the Perspective of Technical Transformation

Agricultural innovation is important for the green transformation of agriculture.Based on the perspective of technology transformation,this paper builds a theoretical analysis framework and evaluation index system for green efficiency of agricultural innovation,and discusses the evolution laws and influencing factors of the green efficiency of China’s agricultural innovation from 2005 to 2017 utilizing the DEA model,Malmquist index,and Tobit regression analysis.The results show that:1)The overall green efficiency of China’s agricultural innovation is not high,the green efficiency of agricultural innovation in eastern China is mainly driven by pure technical efficiency,while that in central and western China is mainly driven by the scale efficiency.The green efficiency of agricultural innovation shows significant spatial differences,and the low efficiency and relatively low-efficiency regions moved to central and southeastern China.2)Technical progress is the main force affecting the change of green total factor productivity of China’s agricultural innovation,seeing a trend of decrease followed by an increase.Pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency exhibit an increasing-decreasing trend,and gradually transform into key factors that restrict the improvement of the green total factor productivity of agricultural innovation.3)Agricultural technologies’diffusion,absorption,and implementation are three influencing factors of the green efficiency of agricultural innovation.The local level of informatization,the number of agricultural technicians in enterprises and institutions,average education level of residents,and the level of agricultural mechanization have positive impacts on the promotion of the green efficiency of agricultural innovation,promoting the diffusion,absorption and implementation of agricultural innovation technology can significantly improve the green efficiency of agricultural innovation.

Advantage of populous countries in the trends of innovation efficiency

A flurry of studies indicates that population size has a positive effect on innovation,however,cross-country empirical evidence remains sparse.In this paper,we add to the literature by investigating the relationship between population size and innovation efficiency at the country level through constructing three relative indexes based on the datasets of patent applications and Research and Development(R&D)investment.Different from previous studies based on absolute innovation indicators,the relative indexes can reflect the core innovation efficiency of economies by excluding the impact from the difference of economic development level,with a view putting all economies into a comparable standard framework.For all of the three relative indexes,their long-term trends show significant correlations with population size,and the economy with a larger population usually has better and stable performance on the trends of innovation efficiency.In addition,we find that there is a critical population size,over which the economy would be more likely to have a spontaneous improvement on innovation efficiency.This study provides direct evidence in supporting the population size advantage on the trends of innovation efficiency at the economy level and provides new insight to understand the rapid development of innovation in a few populous countries.

Analysis on the Efficiency of Technology Innovation of Listed Companies in China's Machinery Manufacturing Industry

On the basis of the definition of technological innovation and efficiency,based on the DEA method,this paper takes the panel data of 20 listed companies in China's machinery manufacturing industry from 2011 to 2015 as samples,evaluating the technological innovation efficiency of listed companies in China's machinery manufacturing industry.Finally,it sums up and puts forward effective countermeasures to improve the technological innovation of listed companies in China's machinery manufacturing industry.It is hoped that it will play a guiding role in the technological innovation activities of listed companies in China's machinery manufacturing industry.

数字化转型对制造业企业创新效率的门槛效应研究

数字化转型可以突破研发资源配置时空边界,赋能制造业企业创新发展,但潜在的数字鸿沟问题也可能会加剧企业创新的不确定性。鉴于此,利用文本挖掘技术构造数字化转型指数,系统考察数字化转型对制造业企业创新效率的影响效应及作用机制,并选取2007—2022年中国A股制造业上市公司的微观数据进行实证分析。研究发现:数字化转型对制造业企业创新效率具有显著的门槛效应;对于大多数制造业企业来说,其数字化转型水平低于门槛值,数字化转型是提升制造业企业创新效率的助力,而非阻力;人力资本和公司治理是数字化转型影响制造业企业创新效率的传导路径。进一步研究发现,数字化转型对创新效率的门槛效应在国有企业和资本技术密集型制造业企业中更明显。研究结论为合理评估中国制造业推进数字化转型战略的实施效果提供了新视角,对国家充分发挥数字化转型战略与创新驱动发展战略的合力效应也具有政策启示意义。

科技自立自强视域下国家创新体系效能建设与提升——以长三角区域为例

国家创新体系效能建设与提升对实现高水平科技自立自强至关重要。文章以长三角区域为例,运用VIKOR方法评价长三角区域创新体系的整体效能,以实现高水平科技自立自强为目标构建了区域创新体系效能评价模型。研究表明:长三角区域创新体系效能自2016年以来呈逐年递增趋势;影响各省市创新体系效能建设与提升的因素不同,R&D经费支出对上海市有影响,创新平台对江苏省影响最大,研发机构—企业协同创新影响浙江省创新体系效能,对安徽省而言则是高校—企业协同创新。文章为提升长三角区域创新体系效能找到了着力点,并对创新体系效能建设与提升提出政策建议。

Do ESG Scores in Corporations Improve Green Innovation Empirical Evidence from Listed Chinese Companies

The ESG score system is a fundamental component of the green financial system that is essential in promoting corporate environmental progress.In this work we investigate the micro-environmental impact of ESG scores using panel fixed effects models.We examine the processes underlying the influence of ESG scores on the performance of corporate green innovation as well as any potential inequalities in this impact under different moderating factors.To conduct our analysis we use data from Chinese-listed A-shares on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2010 to 2019.Our study demonstrates a relationship between corporate green innovation and ESG ratings indicating that higher ESG ratings assist businesses in achieving better green innovation results.This beneficial effect is evident both numerically and qualitatively and it continues to hold up even after being put through several demanding tests.Additionally we pinpoint two main ways that ESG encourages corporate green innovation by boosting government-enterprise ties and strengthening corporate investment efficiency.We also note that while business characteristics aligned with sustainability further enhance the favorable influence of ESG on green innovation performance characteristics linked to ecologically detrimental activities impede the contribution of ESG to green innovation.Our study adds to the body of knowledge already available on corporate environmental performance and green finance by offering empirical insights that can help enhance corporate environmental development and improve the ESG rating system.

商业模式创新对新创企业组织韧性的影响机制研究

创新赋能组织韧性是企业应对环境不确定性的时代要求,新创企业组织韧性对其生存发展与产业链安全具有重要作用。区分我国A股上市新创企业新颖型和效率型商业模式创新,探讨两种创新类型与新创企业组织韧性的作用关系以及技术创新的调节效应。研究发现:①新颖型商业模式创新对新创企业组织韧性具有非线性影响,两者之间呈现先抑后扬的U型关系,效率型商业模式创新能够显著提高新创企业组织韧性;②技术创新能够强化商业模式创新与新创企业组织韧性的作用关系;③企业融资约束水平未改变效率型商业模式创新对新创企业组织韧性的作用机制,但当融资约束较高时,新颖型商业模式创新对新创企业组织韧性的U型影响消失,技术创新负向调节新颖型商业模式创新对新创企业组织韧性的抑制作用。研究结论可从商业模式创新类型视角为新创企业培育组织韧性提供重要启示。

数字化转型提升企业创新效率的网络机制——合作和知识双重创新网络结构洞的中介作用

企业数字化转型不仅拓展和优化了创新网络,也使创新网络在创新驱动发展中的作用日益重要。基于网络结构洞理论,从创新合作网络和创新知识网络(双重创新网络)角度分析数字化转型通过增强企业在创新网络中的“桥梁”作用来提升企业创新效率的机制,并采用沪深A股制造业上市公司2013—2021年的数据进行实证检验,结果发现:制造业企业数字化转型能够显著提升其创新效率,该作用在非国有企业中更为显著;双重创新网络结构洞是数字化转型影响企业创新效率的中介变量,即存在“数字化转型水平提高→双重创新网络结构洞增加→创新效率提升”的影响路径;企业组织韧性提高能够强化数字化转型对网络结构洞的正向影响,但对网络结构洞影响创新效率没有显著的调节作用。因此,应积极推进企业数字化转型,通过拓展和优化创新网络来促进企业创新效率提升,并不断提高企业的组织韧性以有效化解转型风险。

高质量发展下中国工业企业碳减排路径选择

管理改进与技术创新是工业企业实现高质量减排的两大关键路径。运用Shapley值分解方法实证测度了技术创新与管理改进对工业企业碳减排技术进步效率的贡献作用。结果发现,整体上技术创新与管理改进的贡献率分别为28.45%和71.55%,并且二者贡献率在不同类型特征企业之间存在明显差异。随着企业技术进步水平、雇佣规模和能耗水平的提升,技术创新的贡献率逐步递减,而管理创新的贡献率则呈现递增趋势。首次对企业管理改进与技术创新对碳排放效率的贡献进行测度,为优化“双碳”目标政策与指导企业减排行动提供有益参考。

中国省域科技成果转化效率评价研究——基于长短期视角

基于长短期视角,运用DEA—BCC模型和Malmquist指数模型对我国省级层面2016—2020年科技成果转化效率进行双重测度研究。结果表明:从短期看,我国各省份科技成果转化效率均值偏低,综合效率值呈现“中部>东部>西部”的空间格局,投入产出松弛变量也存在明显的区域异质性;从长期看,我国整体科技成果转化效率略有下降,“追赶效应”和“增长效应”分别是各省份科技成果转化效率的驱动和制约因素;对比来看,纯技术效率和规模效率的作用具有时间异质性,在短期中规模效率比纯技术效率更有效,而在长期中纯技术效率对提升科技成果转化效率的贡献更大。