Transformation power or development pressure:economic growth targets and urban carbon productivity

Maintaining moderate economic growth targets(EGTs)is the key for local governments to effectively implement the“carbon peak and carbon neutrality”goals under the refreshed development pattern.Utilizing panel data of 276 prefecture-level cities in China's Mainland from 2010 to 2020,and employing methods such as intermediary and threshold models,this study empirically analyzes the internal mechanism of EGT’s impact on urban carbon productivity(UCP).Our findings demonstrate that:①The overall EGT during the analyzed period is not conducive to improving UCP.This conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests.This effect is more pronounced in the central region and resource-based cities than in the east-west region and non resource-based cities.②EGT not only directly suppresses UCP but also exerts indirect negative impacts on UCP from three aspects:delaying the digital economy(DE),constraining financial expansion(FE),and hindering green technology innovation(GTI).This negative indirect effect is similar to or even surpasses the direct effect,suggesting that the internal relationship between EGT and“dual-carbon”goals should be re-evaluated from a new compound perspective.③EGT not only has a simple linear impact on UCP but also significantly exhibits a dynamic evolution pattern in inverted“U”shape.That is,as EGT continuously upgrades,a nonlinear impact on UCP emerges in the form of“promoting first,suppressing later”.This indicates that surpassing the“degree”limit for EGT will be detrimental to the improvement of UCP.This study broadens the scope of carbon productivity analysis by introducing a new perspective centered on EGT.The insights gleaned from this research offer valuable guidance for local governments to effectively manage economic growth expectations and promote the synchronized achievement of dual-carbon objectives.

Research on the Digital Economy's Impact on China's Economic Growth:Based on the Variations in Urbanization Levels Across China's Eastern,Central,and Western Regions and Sectoral Heterogeneity

This paper uses inter-provincial panel data from 2011 to 2017,a linear regression model,and a threshold model to conduct empirical analyses of the impact of the digital economy on China's overall economic growth and the three main sectors of industry.The paper then investigates the impact and effects the digital economy has had on the economic growth of the three main sectors of industry in China's eastern,central,and western regions.Finally,the paper investigates the most significant differences among the various regions and the threshold effects of urbanization levels on the relationship between the digital economy and economic growth.The findings indicate a significantly positive correlation between the digital economy and regional economic growth.Moreover,geographical factors notably influence this correlation.The digital economy exerts a positive effect on all sectors of industry.It may not substantially impact industrial development in regions with highly developed infrastructure.Regarding the other regions,the digital economy exhibits varying degrees of impact due to the differences in the specific indicators.The conclusion drawn by the threshold model is that the magnitude of the threshold effect correlates with geographic factors.No threshold effect was observed in the eastern region,while the threshold effect occurred in the central region when the urbanization levels for the provinces were below 0.6645.Similarly,the threshold effect was noted in the western region when the urbanization level was below 0.3931.Considering all of this,the study also offers policy recommendations that will help balance the regional development of digital economies,accelerate the digital transformation of traditional industries,enhance digital infrastructure construction,refine the formulation and implementation of data policy,and establish relevant incentive mechanisms.

Economic Growth Performance and Economic Activities in Kosovo During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Kosovo

The paper addresses economic growth and developments of economic activities during the Covid-19 crisis in Kosovo.After the last war,Kosovo continues to remain among the countries with a low level of development and a high rate of unemployment.The low level of economic growth and the high rate of unemployment remain among the main economic challenges for solution.The importance of the paper consists in addressing economic issues and processes including developments in economic activities during the Covid-19 crisis in Kosovo.Kosovo was affected by Pandemia Covid-19 starting from March 2020.Undoubtedly,the Covid-19 crisis has had effects on economic processes,affecting the activity of various sectors of the economy.The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the performance of economic growth and economic activities during the Covid-19 crisis in Kosovo.In order to achieve the objectives,the analysis method is mainly used,tabular and graphic separately,comparative method,analyzing in dynamics the issue related to economic activities in the Republic of Kosovo.Through this study,the results and recommendations given are considered to be considered by policy makers in the Republic of Kosovo.

Economic Growth:The Fundamental Path to the Realization of Social Security Rights for Migrant Workers

The International Labour Organization seems to only see the aspect of social security promoting economic growth,while neglecting the aspect of economic growth supporting social security.From the standpoint of materialism and the practice of social security,the realization of social security rights for migrant workers fundamentally depends on economic growth.The Belt and Road Initiative has provided a Chinese solution for creating a strong material and technological foundation to meet the social security needs of all people,including migrant workers.

Can environmental sustainability be decoupled from economic growth? Empirical evidence from Eastern Europe using the common correlated effect mean group test

The European Union(EU) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) aim to develop long-term policies for their respective member countries. Having observed increasing dangers to the environment posed by rising economic growth, they are seeking pathways to enable policy action on economic growth and environmental sustainability. Given the facts in theoretical and empirical studies, this study assessed the validity of the decoupling hypothesis by investigating asymmetricity in the relationship between environmental sustainability and economic growth in nine Eastern European countries from 1998 to 2017 using the cross-section augmented Dickey-Fuller(CADF) unit root, panel corrected standard error(PCSE), common correlated effect mean group(CCEMG), and Dumitrescu Hurlin causality approaches. Both population growth and drinking water are used as controlled variables. The outcomes establish strong cointegration among all the variables of interest. According to the results of CCEMG test, economic growth exerts short-term environmental degradation but has long-term environmental benefits in Eastern Europe;and population growth and drinking water exert a positive effect on environmental sustainability in both the short-and long-run. The results of Dumitrescu Hurlin causality test indicate that environmental sustainability is unidirectionally affected by economic growth. Based on these outcomes, we suggest the following policies:(1) the EU and OECD should implement member-targeted policies on economic growth and fossil-fuel use towards regulating industrial pollution, water use, and population control;and(2) the EU and OECD member countries should invest in environmental technologies through green research and development(R&D) to transform their dirty industrial processes and ensure productive energy use.

Does economic growth stimulate energy consumption?New evidence from national and regional levels in China

A detailed investigation of the nexus between economic growth and energy use is imperative for formulating sustainable development policies.In this study,we examine panel cointegration and causality relations among economic growth,energy use,capital stock,and labor in 30 Chinese provinces between 2000-2019.We conduct a comprehensive empirical analysis based on panel modeling and a neoclassical production function.The findings of the second-generation panel unit root and co-integration tests reveal that these variables have long term co-integration linkages.We then perform a panel cointegration estimation using the fully modified ordinary least squares technique and find that total energy consumption,electricity consumption,capital stock,and labor significantly influence economic growth at the national and regional levels in China.Moreover,the outcomes of the Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test indicate the existence of a two-way causal nexus between economic output and total energy consumption at the national level,but only a causal link from GDP to total energy use in the eastern and central regions.Conversely,a causality from total energy use to economic output is identified in the western region.Finally,we provide policy implications for the sustainable development of both energy and the economy at the national and regional levels.

RMB Exchange Rate,Overseas Education,and High-Quality Economic Growth

China is transitioning its industrial structure from labor-and resource-intensive industries that previously contributed significantly to the country’s GDP growth to technology-intensive industries emphasizing a highly-skilled workforce and sustainability to achieve high-quality economic growth.This paper examines the impact of the RMB exchange rate on high-quality economic growth through theoretical modeling and empirical analysis and discusses the variable of overseas education to explore the mechanism of how the RMB exchange rate and overseas education jointly impact high-quality economic growth.The research sample includes the National Bureau of Statistics data on education from 1995 to 2015,the Bank for International Settlements(BIS)data on the RMB exchange rate,and the added value of China’s high-quality economic growth estimated based on the national economy data.An empirical analysis of theoretical expectations was conducted,finding that RMB appreciation could make a positive contribution to China’s high-quality economic growth;RMB exchange rate fluctuations would impact the relative cost of overseas education and overseas returnees could have a positive impact on domestic resource utilization efficiency and domestic capacity to make sci-tech innovations,thereby injecting vitality to high-quality economic growth.This study focuses on both the RMB exchange rate and the population studying abroad,providing additional observation dimensions to existing research.

An Empirical Study on the Coupling and Coordination of Health Investment, Resident Health and Economic Growth in Sichuan Province —Based on a Modified Coupling Model

We should calculate the coupling degree of medical investment, resident health and economic growth in Sichuan Province, and make clear the coordinated development of the aforementioned three factors. In that, the government was able to formulate policies that feature the positive interaction and coordinated development of regional medical investment, health and economy. Methods on index system for the evaluation of health investment, resident health and economic growth were constructed, and the coupling and coordination degree of the three systems were empirically studied based on the entropy weight method, the coupling coordination model and the gray correlation method. From the perspective of time series, the overall coupling and coordination level of Sichuan Province is relatively low, and the comprehensive development level of health investment and economic growth system has lagged behind the resident health system;from the perspective of spatial distribution characteristics, in 2019, the coordinated development level of health investment resident health and economic growth coupling in western Sichuan, southern Sichuan, northern Sichuan, eastern Sichuan and northern Sichuan is in the primary coordination stage, but there is a lag in the development of the health investment system between western Sichuan and southern Sichuan, and there is a lag in the development of the economic growth system between northern Sichuan and eastern Sichuan. From the analysis of gray correlation degree, the main correlation factors are diverse. All in all, the overall coordination level of health investment, resident health and economic growth in Sichuan Province is relatively low, and in order to achieve its coordinated development, it is necessary to narrow regional differences, formulate coordinated development strategies according to local conditions, and improve the overall coordination level.

Nexus between CO2 Emissions and Economic Growth, Industrial Production, and Foreign Direct Investment in Vietnam: Symmetric ARDL Approach

Vietnam’s economy has been developing strongly in recent years;however, it is necessary to examine the impact of its economic activities on environmental quality. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth, industrial production, and foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam. The ARDL estimation was used to process the dataset from World Bank. Results showed that economic growth, industrial production, and FDI have an impact on CO2 emissions in the long run in Vietnam. Granger Causality test also indicated that there is a causal relationship between economic growth, industrial production, and CO2 emissions in Vietnam from 1990 to 2018, at 5% statistical significance level. Proposed solutions to reduce CO2 emissions but still promote economic growth toward the green growth orientation and zero carbon target attainment are as follows: 1) reduce the use of fossil energy in industrial manufacturing and replace it by renewable energy sources;2) use modern technology for all production sectors in economy;and 3) develop a legal framework for FDI projects selection and choose foreign investors with modern and low carbon emission technology.

Assessing the Contribution of Ecotourism to Economic Growth and Rural Development Offered by Wildlife Resources to People Living in Communities around Matusadonha National Park

Ecotourism is one of the major drivers of economic growth and rural development in many countries involved in wildlife resource management.The objective was to assess the contribution of ecotourism to economic growth and rural development offered to people living in communities around Matusadonha National Park.A total of 140 participants were interviewed and questionnaires were administered to the same number of people.Data were analysed using both qualitative and quantitative methods.Results show that the majority of participants(57%)were females.Safari operations were the major(54.7%)ecotourism activity in Matusadonha National Park.Above half(58.8%)of participants indicated that ecotourism contributed toward economic growth in communities around Matusadonha National Park.Most people(343)were employed on a part-time basis from 2000 to 2022.Participants indicated that the standard of living in most communities increased by more than 50%.Above 50%of participants were satisfied with the contribution of ecotourism towards rural development.It can be concluded that ecotourism has the potential to improve economic growth and rural development if close monitoring and accountability of funds are monitored closely.Local people should be included in the accountability of funds and management of wildlife resources to improve economic benefits to local people.

Reassessing the Empirical Relationship between Health Expenditure,Governance and Economic Growth in Africa:Analysis of Nigerian

As an aspect of human capital,a positive association exists amongst health,productivity,and growth in output per capita.On the other hand,social infrastructure defined by the institution of governance has a direct effect on the environment upon which productive activities take place to determine outcomes.Nigeria like most African countries is bedevilled by the high prevalence of inadequate health financing and poor governance.Health financing for Nigeria consistently has fallen short of the AU health funding commitment of 15%of annual budgetary allocation to the health sector.Secondly,poor governance conditions available resources and shape the state of infrastructure,particularly health infrastructure and socioeconomic conditions.In turn,this determines individuals’level of exposure to health risks and their capacity to actively contribute to productive activity for growth stimulation and sustainability.Against this backdrop,this study added to the existing literature in the context of Nigeria,by theoretically applying the Solow augmented Mankiw-Romer-Weil structural model in the examination of the impact of government size and governance quality in the health sector,on economic growth.Autoregressive Distributed Lag(ARDL)model was adopted in the estimation.Findings show that governance quality adversely affects growth and this reduces the capacity of health spending to stimulate growth by an almost equal margin.As a result,this study recommends legislative backing to the AU health funding commitment in Nigeria.

Assessment of China's Qualitative Demographic Dividend for Economic Growth during 2016-2020

Given the great strides that China＇s education sector has made in recent decades, it can be expected that the overall workforce quality of exiting China＇s labor market in coming one or two decades will be relatively low, while the overall quality of workforce newly entering into China＇s labor market will be high. As the new, bettereducated generation takes over, China＇s workforce quality will be vastly improved. This in turn will promote economic growth. We refer to economic growth arising from improved workforce quality as qualitative demographic dividend. Using the computable general equilibrium （CGE） model, this paper investigates the relationship between workforce quality improvements and economic growth. According to the model＇s results, an improvement in workforce quality will raise the economic growth rate by about two percentage points per annum between 2016 and 2020 and by 10 percentage points cumulatively by 2020. In other words, GDP will be 1.1 times the level of baseline GDP by 2020 due to the improved education levels. Given different production functions across sectors, the improvement of workforce quality will affect different sectors in different ways. On the whole, the improvement of workforce quality is more favorable to the development of capital-intensive sectors and sectors with rapid technology progress. According to this paper, considering the improvement of workforce quality, we cannot conclude that China＇s potential economic growth rate has already begun to decline. Despite diminishing conventional quantitative demographic dividends, China ＂s qualitative demographic dividends will keep rising. Qualitative demographic dividends will further push forward China＇s industrial restructuring and the strategic transition of industrial competitiveness from quantitative to qualitative and from an extensive to an intensive pattern of development.

Cointegration analysis with structural changes between consumption and economic growth in China

In order to investigate the existence of a stable long-run equilibrium relationship between economic growth and consumption in China, the relationship between the gross domestic product （GDP） and consumption in China was investigated by the cointegration analysis method. Using the Engle-Granger （EG） test and considering the possibility of structural changes, the impact of external economic shocks on the long-run equilibrium relationship between economic growth and consumption in China was analyzed. Analysis results show that without considering structural changes, the EG test cannot detect cointegration in the series subjected to structural changes; in considering structural changes, cointegration is successfully detected by specifying the dummy variable. In addition, the error correction models were constructed in different periods. This study verifies the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between economic growth and consumption in China, and this relationship has significantly changed in 1989 and 1997, respectively.

Supply-Side Structural Reforms and China's Potential Economic Growth Rate

This paper examines the effect of supply-side structural reforms on China＇s potential economic growth rate in the coming decade according to the data the authors have gathered. Under the rapid growth scenario with the implementation of supply-side structural reforms, China＇s potential economic growth rate will reach an average of 6.5% and 5.8% respectively in the 13th Five-year Plan （2016-2020） and 14th Five-year Plan （2021-2025） periods. These rates are 0.2 and 0.3 percentage points higher, respectively, than that under the baseline scenario with the inertia of historic trends. In implementing supply-side structural reforms, China must transform governmental functions, break monopolies, create a comprehensive competitive market environment, foster the creation of pro-innovation mechanisms, refocus on quality and efficiency, and raise capital utilization and labor productivity.

Chinese and US S&T Innovation Policies and Their Effects on Economic Growth Potentials

Since the eruption of the recent global financial crisis, major countries have been pushing forward structural reforms with science and technology （S＆T） innovation at the heart. Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has adopted an ＂America First＂ strategy but has yet to specify a clear S＆T innovation policy. However, Trump＇s current policies have already affected S＆T innovation and his planned budget cuts will impact US growth potentials. Compared with the US, China is steadily implementing its innovation-driven development strategy with significant improvement in S＆ T innovation that increasingly supports economic growth. To spur future economic growth, China should steadfastly follow its S＆T innovation strategy, promote the utilization of S＆T innovation results, boost its economic growth potentials and make the most of global innovation resources.

China’s Potential Economic Growths during 2015-2025 under Different Scenarios~

China has entered a crucial period of further growth and restructuring that will last until 2025. Based on a review of the major factors affecting China＇s potential economic growth, this paper has created an integrated economic system model consisting of system dynamics, econometrics, and input-output for the forecast of China＇s economic size and structure by 2025. Analysis shows that prior to 2025, China will be able to maintain a potential annual economic growth rate of 5.7%-7.2%. Faced with an international environment of a possible slowdown of advanced economies and diminishing demographic dividends, China needs to further expedite its urbanization process, enhance R＆D and education spending, increase total factor productivity （TFP）, vigorously develop the tertiary sector, and expand consumption in order to achieve the optimistically estimated growth of 6.6%-7.4% during the period of 2015-2025. Economic growth should be accompanied by the upgrade of industry structure and improvement of investment and consumption structures.

Transportation Infrastructure Quality Effect on Economic Growth： Evidence from the China Railway Speed-Up Campaigns

Beginning in 1997, China implemented a six-round campaign to accelerate train service, known as the ＂ China Railway Speed-Up Campaign＇＂ which greatly increased railway capacity and improved the quality of rail facilities. This can be seen as a natural experiment of the effects of improving the quality of transportation infrastructure. Using the Beijing- Guangzhou Line and the Beijing-Shanghai Line as examples, this paper creates city-level panel data for stations along accelerated lines and traditional stations for the years between 1994 and 2006 and systematically examines the campaign＇s effect on economic growth using difference-in-difference （DID） methodology. Our research concludes that railway acceleration has promoted economic growth in cities with stations on upgraded rail lines. Over the entire period of the speed-up campaign, the per capita GDP growth rate has risen by 3.7percentage points in cities with upgraded stations versus cities with traditional stations. Moreover, positive effects on economic growth have been found to increase in later stages of railway upgrades.

Spatial spillover effects of transport infrastructure on regional economic growth

Spatial spillover effects,either positive or negative,of transport infrastructure,highways/expressways,etc.,on regional economic growth are proposed.Using the panel data for 11 cities of Zhejiang province from 1994 to 2003,a spatial production function is applied to examine the spatial spillovers which can be generated as a positive output spillover from the transport infrastructure between neighboring cities.Some spatial weighted matrices are adopted to define different neighboring cities to measure how easily factors or economic activities can migrate between regions.The estimation results show that the output elasticity of the highway infrastructure in 11 cities are all insignificant at a 5% significance level;hence,highway infrastructure in a region cannot explain the same region's economic growth.On the other hand,the highway infrastructure of other contiguous regions has positive spillover effects on a same region's economic growth.

Ecological Problems and Countermeasures from the Perspective of Economic Growth——a Case Study of Jiangxi Province

Environmental pollution is deteriorating upon economy growth and will re- strain economy in turn. The research took Jiangxi Province as an example to seek existing problems on eco-environment, analyze causes and propose countermeasure in order to iay foundation for local economy development.

Spatio-temporal characteristics of regional sustainable economic growth drivers of China

Intellectual capital(IC)has become a universal performance indicator for the socioeconomic development of countries and regions.Based on a review ofnational intellectualcapital(NIC)and regional intellectualcapital(RIC)evaluation literature,we used the regional intellectualcapitalindicator(RICI)as a model for China’s RIC evaluation to indirectly understand China’s potential economic growth drivers.Specifically,we collected statisticaldata of31 provinces(including municipalities and autonomous regions)in China from 2004 to 2016to measure RICI and analyze its dynamic characteristics from temporal and spatial perspectives.In this paper,Delphi analysis was used to construct RICI model,and cluster analysisand exploratory spatial data analysis were used to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of RICI in China.The results showedthat RICI,which represents China’s overall economic growth drivers,increases annuallyand is consistent with economic developmentlevelduring the study period.Regarding the geo-spatial space,RICI follows the trend of“high in the east and low in the west”,gradually decreasing from eastern to western China.ForRIC structure,the shape of the radar chart of IC structure located in the eastern coastal areas is usually biased towards strong external relational capital,while that in western China is generally biased towards structural capital.For spatial correlation,China’s RICI has dependence on geographical adjacent space and economic space.Our research can provide policy suggestions for the sustainable development of regional economy from an IC perspective.