Urban natural gas demand and factors analysis in China:Perspectives of price and income elasticities

Urban natural gas is becoming the main sector driving China’s natural gas consumption growth in recent years.This study explores the impacts of urban natural gas price,wage,socioeconomic determinants,and meteorological conditions on urban natural gas demand in China over 2006-2017.Furthermore,this study also analyzes the potential regional heterogeneity and asymmetry in the impacts of gas price and income on China’s urban gas demand.Empirical results reveal that:(1)The increased gas price can significantly reduce the urban gas demand,and the average income level may effectively promote the gas demand,also,a strong switching effect exists between electricity and natural gas in urban China;(2)these impacts are heterogeneous in regions among China,urban natural gas demand is largely affected by the gas price in regions with high-gas-price and by income in regions with low-gas-price;and(3)the impact of gas price on urban gas consumption is consistent in regions with different urban natural gas consumption,while the impact of income is asymmetric.This study further provides several policy implications for improving the urban natural gas industry in China.

Evaluation and welfare effect of coordinated ecological development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

Regional coordinated ecological development is a new form of regional coordinated development that aims to construct an ecological civilization in the“new normal”period.The coordinated ecological development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei(BTH)region is especially significant because this region is leading the overall coordinated development and reform in China.Based on complex system theory,synergetics,and the ecological civilization and green development ideas of the“new normal”period,we constructed a regional ecological synergy measurement model that scientifically evaluates the dynamic evolution of the BTH ecological synergy level from 2006 to 2018.Using an econometric model,we also analyzed the welfare effect and the regional heterogeneity of ecological synergy in regional development.First,it was found that in general,the degree of ecological synergy in BTH increased yearly up to 2018 with a strong development trend.The speed of ecological synergy in the Tianjin-Hebei and Beijing-Hebei subsystems was accelerating during that period,but the development potential of the ecological synergy in Beijing-Tianjin was insufficient and slow-growing.Second,whereas Beijing had entered the stage of moderate coordinated ecological development,Tianjin and Hebei remained in the low level of coordinated development;moreover,the coordinated development was unstable.The uneven development of the internal subsystems in BTH restricted the development of the cooperative effect and the overall development of the region.Third,improving the degree of ecological synergy significantly benefited the social and economic welfare in BTH.Finally,the welfare effect of the degree of ecological synergy showed a significant regional heterogeneity,being significantly higher in Tianjin and Hebei than in Beijing.This result indicates that improving the ecological synergy can narrow the development gaps between Tianjin,Hebei,and Beijing.To further improve the level of regional ecological synergy,we should innovate the coordinated model of regional development,implement the collaborative ecological development model,generate new growth drivers for the green development of BTH based on a reasonable division of labor,difference positioning,and active integration,create a soft environment for an innovation ecosystem that promotes regional ecological synergy,and build a regional innovation ecosystem led by Beijing and Xiongan.Next,we should establish a balanced regional-interest mechanism with ecological environmental protection that supports regional green and high-quality development.

Static and Dynamic Analysis on the Environmental Efficiency of 267 Cities in China during 2004-2012

This study mainly investigates the environmental efficiency of 267 Chinese cities from 2004 to 2012 through a metafrontier,directional and super-efficiency approach. First,we explore the regional and time heterogeneity of environmental efficiency. Then,we compare the technological gap ratio in different regions and years. Lastly,we analyze the technological and management potential in different regions. We determine that the gap between environmental efficiency under group frontier and metafrontier widened from 2009 to 2012,indicating that environmental efficiency varies in different regions in China. The technology gap ratio has decreased in the four regions. This result confirms that the regional heterogeneity of environmental efficiency has increased. Thus,strengthening environmental management is crucial. China must improve green innovation to decrease energy consumption and abate carbon emissions.

Research on the Impact of the Pension Insurance System on the Optimization of the Consumption Structure of Rural Families

Presently,the growth of residents’consumption is slowing,which necessitates the expansion of domestic demand.Against this backdrop,research on the impact of pension insurance on the optimization of the consumption structure in rural areas not only facilitates the welfare of rural residents and improves their consumption structure but also boosts the sustainable and healthy development of the Chinese economy.This paper applies China Family Panel Studies(CFPS)micro-data in 2018 and adopts Propensity Score Matching(PSM)to research the impact of China’s pension insurance system on the consumption structure in rural areas and its heterogeneity.This paper draws a conclusion at four levels.First,pension insurance effectively optimizes the consumption structure in rural areas,increases the current overall consumption level by 0.0024 percent,and objectively releases the consumption potential in rural areas.Second,participation in pension insurance enhances the overall consumption level of rural families in eastern China,central China,and northeastern China by 0.08 percent,0.146 percent,and 0.0446 percent respectively,yet,that inhibits the overall consumption level of rural families in rural areas in western China by 0.1057 percent.Third,from eastern China to western China,with regard to pension insurance,as its impact on consumption shifts from a higher level to a lower level,its impact on the optimization of consumption structures sinks to a lower level.Fourth,in terms of major factors,age(older),matrimonial res(married),years of education(longer),health(poor),and the number of family members(small)contribute to the stronger willingness to participate in pension insurance.

Effect of Digital Economy Development on Rural-Urban Income Disparity: Evidence from China

Promoting income equality between urban and rural residents is one of the main goals of China’s social progress and economic development.It is also a necessary means to achieve“common prosperity.”Digital economy can effectively promote economic development,the adjustment of industry structure and industry upgrading,as well as increase the disposable income of urban and rural residents,which is theoretically beneficial to rural-urban income disparity.An empirical analysis is conducted based on the data of 30 provinces,municipalities,and autonomous regions in China from 2013 to 2020.The findings demonstrate that the growth of digital economy helps lessen rural-urban income disparity and has a significant effect in East China and North China.

An empirical study on the green effects of new energy vehicle promotion in the context of global carbon neutrality

In the context of global carbon neutrality,new energy vehicle promotion(NEVP)has become an important means of reducing carbon emissions.This paper constructs a theoretical model and uses panel data on NEVP in 21 countries from 2012 to 2018 to empirically examine the green effect of NEVP.The results indicate the following:(1)NEVP significantly reduces greenhouse gases emissions,and the green effect can be transmitted and diffused through a direct path.(2)Replacing fuel-fired vehicles and accelerating the end-of-life vehicle scrapping process significantly conducted the green effect,and aggravating traffic congestion was not statistically significant.(3)The transmission mechanism of the green effect is regulated by regional economic heterogeneity.In regions with better development of fuel-fired vehicles,the transmission of the green effect is subject to the elimination of fuel-fired vehicles and traffic congestion governance,and the transmission efficiency is low.However,regions with a relatively weak fuel-fired automobile industry foundation show a strong“advantage of backwardness”,and the green effect is more prominent.This means that global NEVP should be further accelerated to achieve the green effect and the goal of global carbon neutrality.

Impact and prediction of pollutant on mangrove and carbon stocks:A machine learning study based on urban remote sensing data

Mangrove ecosystems have important ecological and economic values,especially their ability to store carbon.However,in recent years,human disturbance has accelerated mangrove degradation.Among them,the emission of pollutants cannot be ignored.It is of great significance for carbon emission reduction and ecological protection to study the impacts of different pollutants on mangroves and their carbon stocks.Based on the remote sensing data of coastal areas south of the Yangtze River in China's Mainland,this paper builds the ensemble learning model Random Forest(RF)and Gradient Boosting Regression(GBR)to empirically analyse the relationship between industrial wastewater,industrial sulfur dioxide(SO2),PM2.5 and mangrove forests.The results show that the pollutant concentration of meteorological normalisation is more stable.The importance of pollutants presents regional heterogeneity.The area of mangroves in different cities and the corresponding total carbon stocks show different trends with the increase or decrease of pollutants,and there is a dynamic balance between urban pollutant discharge and mangrove growth in some cities.The research in this paper provides an analysis and explanation from the perspective of machine learning to explore the relationship between mangroves and pollutants and at the same time,provides scientific suggestions for the formulation of future pollutant emission policies in different cities.

Investigating spatio-temporal characteristics and influencing factors for green energy consumption in China

The green transformation of energy consumption is beneficial for promoting green development in China.This study constructed a green energy consumption evaluation index system and measured the green energy consumption levels in 30 provinces of China from 2000 to 2019 using the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method.This study further employed the spatial Durbin model to examine influencing factors and spillover effects of green energy consumption.The results showed that,temporally,China’s green energy consumption levels had a fluctuating upward trend.While,spatially,the overall levels of green energy consumption in China showed apparent characteristics of“high in the west and low in the east”.In terms of influencing factors,environmental regulations played an important role in promoting green energy consumption in the region,while economic development,opening up,and industrial structure had considerably inhibiting effects.Additionally,economic development,opening up,and industrial structure of neighboring regions showed marked positive spillover effects,while urbanization level and technological innovation showed substantial negative spillover effects.The regional heterogeneity test results showed that environmental regulation and industrial structure rationalization were the important factors for promoting green energy consumption in the eastern region,environmental regulation played an important driving role in the central region,and opening to the outside world and technological innovation helped improve the level of green energy consumption in the western region.

Variations in soil moisture over the ‘Huang-Huai-Hai Plain＇ in China due to temperature change using the CNOP-P method and outputs from CMIP5

In this study, the variations in surface soil liquid water(SSLW) due to future climate change are explored in the‘Huang-Huai-Hai Plain'(‘3H') region in China with the Common Land Model(CoLM). To evaluate the possible maximum response of SSLW to climate change, the combination of the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation related to the parameter(CNOP-P) approach and projections from 10 general circulation models(GCMs) of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project5(CMIP5) are used. The CNOP-P-type temperature change scenario, a new type of temperature change scenario, is determined by using the CNOP-P method and constrained by the temperature change projections from the 10 GCMs under a high-emission scenario(the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario). Numerical results have shown that the response of SSLW to the CNOP-P-type temperature scenario is stronger than those to the 11 temperature scenarios derived from the 10 GCMs and from their ensemble average in the entire ‘3H' region. In the northern region, SSLW under the CNOP-P-type scenario increases to0.1773 m^3 m^(-3); however, SSLW in the scenarios from the GCMs fluctuates from 0.1671 to 0.1748 m^3 m^(-3). In the southern region,SSLW decreases, and its variation(–0.0070 m^3 m^(-3)) due to the CNOP-P-type scenario is higher than each of the variations(–0.0051 to –0.0026 m^3 m^(-3)) due to the scenarios from the GCMs.

Macro Debt Burden and Consumption Expansion:An Analysis Based on Panel Model and Panel Quantile Regression Model

As the level of social credit burden rises,to ease the liquidity constraint for residents is currently an important way to boost the domestic demand in China.This paper uses the panel data of Chinese provincial-level administrative units in 2007−2017 and adopts the panel regression model and panel quantile regression model to empirically analyze the relationship between debt burden level and average propensity to consume(APC).The result shows that increase in the level of macro debt burden can significantly improve the APC of residents;the marginal promoting effect of macro debt burden for the APC is in a V-shaped structure;such marginal influence differs evidently in different areas,with the marginal promoting effect turning out most prominent in the northeast of China.Accordingly,it’s suggested for government to keep refining the credit market,increase residents’income in multiple means,guide supply of liquidity towards the real economy and promote equalization of basic public services,so as to realize the expansion and upgrade of consumption.

Official rotation and corporate innovation: Evidence from the governor rotation

Rotation is a practice whereby officials are regularly moved between equally ranked positions.Focusing on governor rotation,this paper examines the effect of official rotation on corporate innovation in China.First,we find that official rotation significantly promotes corporate innovation,including enterprises’innovation investment,quantity,and quality.Second,we find that the effect of official rotation on corporate innovation varies because of official and regional heterogeneity.Officials rotating from other provinces significantly stimulate corporate innovation,but officials rotating from the central government have an insignificant influence on corporate innovation.In addition,offi-cials rotating to non-eastern regions significantly enhance corporate innovation,while officials rotating to eastern regions have a negligible impact on corporate innovation.We further examine the driving mechanism behind the effect of official rotation on corporate innovation and find that officials rotating from eastern regions to non-eastern regions can significantly promote corporate innovation,but officials rotating from non-eastern regions to eastern regions do not boost corporate innovation.These findings imply that the different effects of official rotation on corporate innovation are due to the official experience effect.We also find that official rotation can promote corporate innovation through reducing corporate charitable donations and increasing corporate innovation subsidies.In a supplementary analysis,we find that GDP-oriented performance appraisal pressure weakens the effect of official rotation on corporate innovation.The lower the pressure on officials regarding their performance,the more significant the effect of official rotation on corporate innovation.In addition,official rotation can significantly promote the development of the regional economy and improve the GDP growth rate via corporate innovation,which is a micro-level economic growth effect of official rotation.Overall,our findings further verify the economic effect of official rotation and extend our understanding of the influencing factors of corporate inno-vation from the perspective of the official governance system.Our findings also have clear policy implications for how the government can improve the official governance model to promote corporate innovation during the transition period of the national innovation system.