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Building and other construction assets constitute a significant part of a country's physical and economic infrastructure. According to several writers, the knowledge of reliable data of building and other construction assets of a specific country or region is a crucial element for the long-term management of these assets. Built capital stock statistics at the national or international levels have been available for most countries of the world, both developed and less developed ones, for some time, but construction infrastructure stock statistics at the disaggregated level are very scarce, even for most developed countries. Furthermore, the methodologies to produce the estimates of built capital stock, at the international level, do not consider countries' specificities. This paper discusses the methodologic issues for producing construction infrastructure stock statistics for Cape Verde, and makes estimates for the period 1980-2019. The paper outlines the Perpetual Inventory Method (PIM) used to produce capital estimation, data employed, and the assumptions made to estimate missing data. The paper analyses the level of the construction infrastructure stock estimates for Cape Verde, as well as their impact on the development pattern of the country's construction industry, and suggests how further studies can enhance our comprehension of the relationship between construction investment and economic growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical capital stock is the basic indicator of macroeconomic empirical studies and also an important manifestation of macroeconomic activity capacity. When measuring China's provincial physical capital stock by the perpetual inventory method, the treatment for the depreciation rate and the initial physical capital stock in the existing literature has some defects in reflecting the economic performance. The purpose of this paper is to build the most reliable and reasonable statistical series of China's provincial physical capital stock. We establish a measurement formula in form of the variable depreciation rate and improve the treatment for the depreciation rate and the initial physical capital stock. For the depreciation rate, we measure the benchmark depreciation rate of physical capital and determine the variable depreciation rate according to the economic growth rate, which makes the variable depreciation rate reflect the economic growth. For the initial physical capital stock, we measure the initial physical capital stock according to the capital output ratio, which makes the initial physical capital stock reflect the economic aggregate. Based on these improvements, we measure China's provincial physical capital stock from 1952 to 2022 by the perpetual inventory method. Through analyzing the measurement results, we have a more distinct insight into the temporal and spatial characteristics of China's provincial physical capital stock: The growth rate of physical capital stock at the provincial level has slowed in spite of remaining high; The eastern region is much higher than the central and western regions. According to these two characteristics, it is suggested that policymakers need to improve market mechanisms and adjust investment policies to promote a benign profile of economic growth and a regional optimization of capital formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to save transaction costs, a sparse portfolio that consists of a small subset of the constituent stocks is commonly requested especially when the target index has a large number of assets. To the best of our knowledge, a large body of literature on sparse index tracking are mainly focus on the penalized least squares estimation under the no-short selling constraint. Accordingly, these procedures are highly sensitive to outliers and their efficiency may be significantly decreased when the noise distribution is unknown and possibly heavy-tailed. As promising alternatives, robust loss functions such as L1 loss and Huber's loss have been well characterized in penalized M-estimation techniques. This paper considers robust sparse portfolios to simultaneously perform stock selection and capital allocation for high-dimensional index tracking. Through the simulation, we show that newly proposed approach is resistant to heavy-tailed errors or outliers in the response. Finally, we illustrate the superior performance of the proposed method through tracking the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce the delayed-advanced Kaldorian business cycle model and consider how time-delay and time-advance affect economic fluctuations. Given the asymptotic stability of the original Kaldor model, we first show that an approximated Kaldor model by a Taylor series expansion can accurately describe the dynamics of the delayed Kaldor model. We also confirm that the delay has a destabilizing effect. When time-delay is replaced with time-advance, we have an advanced Kaldor model. Taking the advanced capital stock formulation, we derive the stability conditions and find that the time-advance has a stabilizing effect. Lastly, we examine these opposite-signed effects in a modified delayed-advanced model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The improvement of the digital construction level is the material and technological foundation to build a strong network and digital country, and the efficiency of human capital investment is a key factor affecting the sustainable development of the digital economy. In order to ensure the efficient development of digital construction and human capital investment efficiency and to test whether digital construction can effectively promote the improvement of human capital investment efficiency and narrow the regional human capital investment efficiency gap, we used a coupling coordination model to examine the consistency between the level of digital construction and the efficiency of human capital investment. The purpose and findings of the paper are as follows. The research results indicated that the efficiency of digital construction and human capital investment in central and western regions is stronger than that in the eastern region. The coupling level of the above two aspects is relatively low, and there are significant differences among different regions. Based on the research results, it is proposed that the government should guide the optimization of human capital investment structure, and enterprises should lead the improvement of human capital investment efficiency. In addition, the government should promote digital infrastructure guided by technology integration, and the enterprises should expand digital applications in intelligent scenarios. Furthermore, to improve the coordination level of digital construction and the human capital investment, could take measures by coordinating digital construction and interoperability and sharing human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Unveiling insights into the Chinese low consumption puzzle by emphasizing the impact of monopolistic and strategic land supply on the final consumption rate. • Monopolistic land supply suppresses the final consumption rate by expanding government income share and widening urban-rural income gaps. • Strategic land supply suppresses the final consumption rate by driving up the share of capital income and housing prices. • Reducing land transaction monopolies and optimizing supply structures can yield substantial benefits for economic rebalancing. The challenge of low consumption presents a complex development issue in China, one that has been insufficiently analyzed through the lens of land supply. This paper introduces a fresh perspective to the Chinese low consumption puzzle by shedding light on the constraints imposed by monopolistic/strategic land supply on the final consumption rate. Our findings reveal that China's distinctive land supply patterns systematically restrict consumption, as monopolistic land supply hinders total consumption by widening the share of government sector income and the urban-rural income gap. Additionally, strategic land supply curtails consumption by increasing the share of capital income and driving up housing prices. This study underscores the significance of land supply-side reforms in bolstering consumption, offering valuable policy insights for China and other transitioning economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a serious disease that threatens and affects capital stock, population composition, and economic growth. This research paper aims to study the mathematical modeling and disease dynamics of HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) with memory effect. We propose two fractional models in the Caputo sense for HIV/AIDS with and without migration. First, we prove the existence and positivity of both models and calculate the basic reproduction number R0$$ {\mathcal{R}}_0 $$ using the next generation method. Then, we study the local and global stability of the obtained equilibria. In addition, numerical simulations are provided for different values of the fractional order ρ$$ \rho $$ using the Adams–Bashforth–Moulton fractional scheme, to verify the theoretical results. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis of the parameters for the model with migration is carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to simulate total factor productivity, following the original proposal made by Cobb and Douglas (1928). Estimates with annual frequency are computed for the United States during two periods, i.e. 1899-1992 and 1933-2019. In the case of Mexico, estimates are computed for the 1993-2015 period. An income distribution in favor of capital in recent decades is found both for the United States and México. Capital share has grown in the United States from 25% in 1899-1922 to 89% in 1993-2019, while for Mexico it has been 82% for 1993-2015. Functional income distribution requires close monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose and analyze a coupled disease‐economic model to study the impact of poverty on cholera outbreaks. We consider the stock of capital per effective units of labor, reflecting the effect of the stock of capital on cholera outbreak and transmission. The system has positive bounded solutions. We show that the disease‐free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable whenever R01≤1$$ {\mathcal{R}}_{01}\le 1 $$, while when R01>1$$ {\mathcal{R}}_{01}>1 $$, the disease‐free equilibrium is unstable. The sensitivity analysis of the model has been performed in order to determine the impact of related parameters on outbreak severity. We further study various cases for the investment rate upon critical value of the investment in order to describe the effect of poverty on the infected individuals over time. The results we obtained show that increasing of the stock of capital per effective units of labor and the implementation of strategies combining awareness programs and therapeutic treatments will reduce the proportion of the infected population. To verify our analytical results, the numerical simulations on the model are performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an imbalance in the development of artificial intelligence between industries. Compared to non-AI enterprise, AI- enterprise will save labor, enhance innovation capabilities, and improve production efficiency. By constructing a two-industry model of AI and non-AI enterprise, this paper finds that with the development of artificial intelligence in the same industry, the AI enterprise will occupy a dominant position, attracting labor and capital from the non-AI enterprise into the AI enterprise. In different industries, the development of artificial intelligence improves the production efficiency of the enterprise. However, due to the price effect, non-AI enterprise benefits more. Labor and capital flow from AI enterprise to non-AI enterprise. In order to promote the improvement of production efficiency in the whole society, the government can tax non-AI enterprise and subsidize them to AI enterprise. Taxation promotes the degree of automation and the improvement of production efficiency, but it has only a short-term effect on the development of AI. At the same time, taxation inhibits the development of non-AI enterprise, and there is a high risk of unemployment. When both industries use artificial intelligence for production, the labor share and the capital share of the two industries will tend to the same value. The convergence of technology measures is conducive to increasing labor income share and reducing income inequality, but it is not conducive to innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role played by public capital on the production level of Italian regions by specifically accounting for the quality of institutions. Our analysis, carried out over the period 2000–2019, benefits from a rich data set on public expenditures. This allows us to build the regional public capital stock by distinguishing among public institutions in charge of the investments and sectors of intervention. While controlling for several contextual variables (human capital, technological capital, and population density), the main results show that public capital has a positive and significant effect on production. Most interestingly, looking at Mezzogiorno's regions, public capital carried out by local institutions turns out to have a lower impact than in the rest of the Italian regions. On the other hand, central bodies in the South exhibit an impact higher than the average. Moreover, institutions' quality exhibits a positive and significant effect on regional economic performance. These results cast serious doubts about the local Southern administrations' capacity to effectively manage the National Recovery and Resilience Plan's enormous resources and the new European Union cohesion framework 2021–2027. Our results are also relevant for other European regions that, featuring structural traits similar to Southern Italian regions, are expected to face the same difficulties in managing public funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving agricultural energy efficiency is essential in reducing energy consumption and achieving agricultural sustainable development. This paper aims to measure the agricultural total-factor energy efficiency in China rather than the partial-factor energy efficiency while taking full account of regional heterogeneity and to investigate the driving factors of agricultural total-factor energy efficiency. The empirical results showed that the average value of agricultural total-factor energy efficiency is 0.814 in China, and the technological gap ratio is 0.853. The regional difference in agricultural total-factor energy efficiency was quite obvious. Higher agricultural energy inputs are associated with higher agricultural total-factor productivity. The total value of potential agricultural energy savings in 30 provinces of China reached 1704.41 billion tons of standard coal. In terms of the absolute amount of agricultural energy saving, the amount was largest in the low-energy-input area, which was 113.87 million tons of standard coal, accounting for 66.81% of the total potential saving amount. Furthermore, we used the Tobit model to analyze the influencing factors of agricultural total-factor energy efficiency. We found that the proportion of agriculture to GDP has a positive impact on agricultural total-factor energy efficiency, while the per capita income of farmers, fiscal support for agriculture, the illiteracy rate of farmers, agricultural labor input, and agricultural capital stock have a negative impact on agricultural total-factor energy efficiency. Finally, we proposed policy implications in terms of agricultural technological progress, agricultural infrastructure, technical training, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on panel data of 285 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2020, this paper uses a set of regional economic analysis tools to explore the spatial and temporal characteristics of urban industrial pollution and its drivers. The results of the research show that the Urban Industrial Pollution Index (UIPI) has shown a significant downward trend overall. However, high levels of industrial pollution are found in the areas where the four major industrial bases are located. The overall development gap of the UIPI shows a fluctuating upward trend. In terms of the contribution of development differences, supervisory density is the highest, followed by intra-regional differences, and inter-regional differences are the lowest. The UIPI has a strong spatial dependence, with a concentration in Henan Province. It is spatially distributed in a “northeast-southwest” direction, with a tendency of diffusion and transfer to surrounding cities. Urban industrial pollution is significantly suppressed by human capital, capital stock, technological innovation and economic agglomeration. Human capital and economic agglomeration can suppress industrial pollution in surrounding cities through spatial spillovers. In addition, a number of influencing factors have a heterogeneous impact on urban industrial pollution across regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public capital plays a key role in national economic production in developing countries, and it has become the focus of factor reform in China. This paper aims at studying the dynamic characteristics of China's public capital and the return rate. To this end, this paper inventories the public capital stock from 1978 to 2017; constructs a two-sector model to derive the necessary condition for optimal investment related to the return rate, and empirically tests it; estimates the output shares of the two sectors and calculates the rate of return to capital; and illustrates the dynamic evolution of public capital and the return rate from the time and regional dimensions. The study shows that, first, public capital has grown significantly. The portion of public capital held in the form of state-holding is increasing year by year. However, the proportion of public capital to total capital has decreased from 81% to 35%. Second, the growth of public capital has effectively balanced the gap of capital between regions. Third, the rate of return to capital has been decreasing, with two sectors' return rates having converged in 1981 and in 2010–2013. This paper measures the stock of public capital and its return rate, which is beneficial for formulating the policy of public capital in economic production and distribution, as well as exploring the path to achieving common prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper first reestimates the public capital stock of each China province from 1994 to 2019 by improving the computing method of the components of the perpetual inventory method (PIM). Then, it brings the public investment and public capital into the extended Cobb-Douglas production function and explores the mechanism of public investment affecting economic growth from the regional perspective. Furthermore, through the analysis of the Local Government Financing Vehicles (LGFVs) as the major investor of local public investment during the last two decades, This paper confirms the importance of complementary factors such as institutional innovation and effective management of the public infrastructure in making public investment an "effective catalyst for growth" (Kessides, 1993). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to explain the cause and proceedings of the 1930s Great Depression from a biophysical economic perspective. The Depression was a painful episode in the socio‐technological transition from a coal/railroad regime to one based on hydrocarbons, motor vehicles, and electricity. The beginning—the Great Crash of October 1929—corresponded with drastic cuts in oil prices and announcement of oil supply certainty, following discovery of huge oilfields in the US Southwest. The Depression principally centered on a change from railroads to motor‐vehicle‐based transportation, but was long and drawn‐out due to the hegemonic power that the railroads held over the US economy. The late 1920s saw increased use of hydrocarbon‐based technologies, but the emerging technologies were still reliant on the old technological system. Methods of biophysical economics, mapping energy flows to capital formation, show the critical role of railroads in the Depression. In 1929, railroads accounted for 24% of the non‐residential capital stock; they delivered between 70% and 76% of energy needs; and 69% of energy required for capital formation. Thus a hypothesis emerges that dwindling investment in the railroads was a major constraint on the economy. In biophysical terms, the US economy's main energy delivery system—coal carried by railcars—was hamstrung. Energy flow Sankey diagrams for 1929 and 1939 show the gradual change in energy systems that occurred over the Depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is motivated by the debate about the decline in the degree of capacity utilization in the US economy observed since the begin of the 2000s. Its purpose is to check if capacity utilization calculated by the Fed for the industrial sector can be tracked by a Supermultiplier model estimated with data for the whole economy. The model tracks well the actual series of induced investment share, induced investment and stock of capital of the whole economy, but not the degree of capacity utilization when compared with capacity utilization from the industry. We investigate the possible causes of this divergence. We show that (i) there are some discrepancies between the trend of the actual data on stock of capital and the productive capacity that is used to calculate the capacity utilization of the industrial sector, and (ii) since 2000, industrial production has been growing slower than GDP. This could help to explain the discrepancies between capacity utilization of the entire economy and of the industrial sector, suggesting that this demand shock suffered by the industrial sector, combined with a slow mechanism of adjustment of capacity to demand, is one possible explanation for the observed decline in utilization rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demographic transition would affect almost every aspect of life and our surroundings and could lead to significant changes and consequences in the social and economic sub-systems. In addition, it is a vital factor in economics. Therefore, a deep understanding of demographic transitions, characteristics, and dimensions would be helpful due to better managing the consequences and preparing for the future. The aim of this paper is to explore the impact of Türkiye's demographic transition on total factor productivity (TFP) from 1970 to 2021 using a Probit model. The results indicate that factors such as dependency ratio, elderly population ratio, youth population ratio, deaths per 1000 people, life expectancy, population density, gross capital formation per capita, and manufacturing production can increase the likelihood of TFP growth. However, factors such as capital stock, urban population, and births per 1000 people are shown to potentially reduce this likelihood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the technological innovation efficiency of industrial enterprises above designated size and its influencing factors under the China's economic census industry classification, using the stochastic frontier approach to estimates the innovation efficiency of the 34 industry from 2008 to 2018. Taking the sales revenue of new products as the dependent variable, R&D capital stock and R&D personnel equivalent are taken as the independent variable, control variables are reasonably selected. The characteristics and influencing factors of innovation efficiency between industries are analyzed. The results show that the innovation efficiency of all industries in China is steadily improving, and the difference between industries is gradually narrowing. Industries with high innovation efficiency are related to future competition and national economy and people's livelihood, while industries with low innovation efficiency are concentrated in mining and supply industry. The low input and low output industries are in the majority. The influence of innovation capital input on output is greater than that of personnel input. The proportion of state-owned property rights and capital constraints have a negative effect on innovation output, while the sales income has a positive effect on innovation output. Therefore, China should further improve the innovation efficiency of industrial industries, adopt classified policies, and increase the number of industries with low input and high output. The conclusion of the paper is of reference value to the development of China's 14th five-year industry and the medium and long term planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congestion is an essential concept in data envelopment analysis (DEA). It occurs when the decrease in at least one decision-making unit (DMU) input increases at least one output without affecting the other inputs or outputs. Although various methods have discussed congestion determination in static DEA, congestion calculation in dynamic DEA under inter-temporal dependence has not been considered in the literature. This paper deals with the congested input levels in multi-period production systems under inter-temporal dependence and the inter-temporal dependence of production periods due to the stock capital. Due to the importance of evaluating DMUs in the presence of time factors, this paper expands the determination of congestion of DMUs under the time factor and dependence of input and output levels in periods. The proposed models determine the congested unit in the assessment window and characterize the extra-input and lack-output amounts in all of the congested unit components in each period of the assessment window. This paper aims to specify production system performance in different evaluation periods by determining the dynamic congestion of DMUs. This paper proposes a method to identify the congested paths. The main advantage of this method is to prevent inappropriate allocation of the resources during evaluation periods of the assessment window. The validity of the proposed method is investigated through an example in the banking sector. Moreover, this method can be utilized in other sectors to homogeneous units with the same structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, the sharing economy has resulted in numerous innovative sharing and borrowing practices, many of which have the potential to radically transform communities and societies. One such innovation is the Library of Things (LoT), a non‐profit sharing space modelled on traditional library systems, which enables users to borrow a diverse range of equipment, tools and goods. This paper contributes to the emerging literature and research on the non‐profit sharing economy and the role of LoTs as sharing spaces. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with LoT founders and managers, three main socio‐spatial themes are discussed in the development of Canadian LoTs: sharing cultures, sharing capital and sharing politics. Overall, this work highlights that the success and sustainability of these sharing spaces hinge on the negotiation of these complex social and spatial dynamics, ranging from their capacity to build spaces of collaboration, experimentation and community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the technological innovation efficiency of industrial enterprises above designated size and its influencing factors under the China's economic census industry classification, using the stochastic frontier approach to estimates the innovation efficiency of the 34 industry from 2008 to 2018. Taking the sales revenue of new products as the dependent variable, R&D capital stock and R&D personnel equivalent are taken as the independent variable, control variables are reasonably selected. The characteristics and influencing factors of innovation efficiency between industries are analyzed. The results show that the innovation efficiency of all industries in China is steadily improving, and the difference between industries is gradually narrowing. Industries with high innovation efficiency are related to future competition and national economy and people's livelihood, while industries with low innovation efficiency are concentrated in mining and supply industry. The low input and low output industries are in the majority. The influence of innovation capital input on output is greater than that of personnel input. The proportion of state-owned property rights and capital constraints have a negative effect on innovation output, while the sales income has a positive effect on innovation output. Therefore, China should further improve the innovation efficiency of industrial industries, adopt classified policies, and increase the number of industries with low input and high output. The conclusion of the paper is of reference value to the development of China's 14th five-year industry and the medium and long term planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is devoted to considering dynamic properties of an environmental protection expenditures model for protected areas (PAs) with two delays. It presents an improved understanding of relationship among tourism, environment, and capital stock in PAs and provides a sustainable strategy to keep the balance between them. The model considers the interactions among environmental resource E$$ E $$, visitors V$$ V $$, and capital stock K$$ K $$ in PAs. The tourism income is used partly to increase the capital stock and partly to protect the environment. In this paper, time delays τ1$$ {\tau}_1 $$ and τ2$$ {\tau}_2 $$ are introduced into the system. The technique of stability crossing curves for two delays is proposed to analyze the occurrence of Hopf bifurcation. Numerical simulations are performed for understanding the analytical results. The results show that under some parameter conditions, the share η$$ \eta $$ of total revenue generated by tourism user fees for environmental protection is related to delays τ1$$ {\tau}_1 $$ and τ2$$ {\tau}_2 $$. Moreover, the environment and the capital stock can be maintained persistently if time delay τ1$$ {\tau}_1 $$ is not too large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Investment Savings-Liquidity preference Money supply (IS-LM) model is represented as a graph depicting the intersection of products and the money market. It elaborates how an equilibrium of money supply versus interest rates may keep the economy in control. In this paper, we combine the basic business cycle IS-LM model with Kaldor's growth model in order to create an augmented model. The IS-LM model, when coupled with a certain economics expansion (in our instance, the Kaldor–Kalecki Business Cycle Model), provides a comprehensive description of a developing but robust economy. Right after the introduction of capital stock into the system, it cannot be employed and also, while making some investment choices, this requires some time in execution, which ultimately alters resources, i.e. capital. Thus, in the capital accumulation, we will be incorporating double time delays in Gross product and Capital Stock. These time delays represent the time periods during which investment decisions were made and executed and the time spent in order for the capital to be put to productive use. After formulating a mathematical model using delayed differential equations, dynamic functioning of the system around equilibrium point is examined where three instances appeared based on time delays. These cases are: when both delays are not in action, when only one delay is in action and when both delays are in action. It is shown that time delay affects the stability of the equilibrium point and, as the delay crosses a critical point, Hopf bifurcation exists. It is observed that by using Kaldor type investment function, the delay residing in capital stock only will destabilize in less time as compared to when both the delays are present in the system. The system is sensitive to certain parameters which is also analyzed in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare the fraction of asymmetric shocks smoothed in the United States and in the Euro Area through risk-sharing channels. By building on a novel dataset, the paper addresses key comparability issues in the literature. Our findings confirm that total risk sharing is higher in the United States and that capital markets are a more powerful shock-absorption channel than in the Euro Area, but less so than previously reported. We also provide a detailed comparison of risk-sharing mechanisms over time and in the face of longer-lasting shocks. Our results suggest that the financial crisis was associated with a reduction in risk sharing through capital markets in the United States, while during the sovereign debt crisis counter-cyclical fiscal policies allowed for higher consumption smoothing in the Euro Area. Finally, both in the United States and in the Euro Area risk sharing tends to decline as shocks become more persistent. • We compare risk sharing between the US and the Euro Area. • We also address comparability issues in the literature on risk sharing. • Risk sharing is higher in the US, but less so than previously reported. • The financial crisis hampered risk sharing through capital markets in the US. • Fiscal policies were the main tool at work during the European debt crisis. • Considering the difference between data is key to compare the two entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper established a three-stage DEA model to measure the innovation efficiency of Chinese listed companies over the period 2008 to 2019, and then tested the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on innovation efficiency with DID model. The results show that: (1) The innovation efficiency of enterprises along the Belt and Road are slightly lower than that of other enterprises, but the former improves faster. (2) The impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on innovation efficiency is mainly spillover and the impact tends to fluctuate upwards year by year. (3) The Belt and Road Initiative has effectively expanded the R&D capital stock, which is an important mediating factor in boosting the innovation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When designing a statistical model, applied researchers strive to make the model consistent, unbiased, and efficient. Labor productivity is an important economic indicator that is closely linked to economic growth, competitiveness, and living standards within an economy. This paper proposes the one-way error component panel data model for labor productivity. One of the problems that we can encounter in panel data is the problem of multi-collinearity. Therefore, multi-collinearity problem is considered. This problem has been detected. After that, the principal component technique is used to get new good unrelated estimators. For the purposes of our analysis, the multi-collinearity problem between the explanatory variables was examined, using principal component techniques with the application of the panel data model focused on the impact of public capital, private capital stock, labor, and state unemployment rate on gross state products. The analysis was based on three estimation methods: fixed effect, random effect, and pooling effect. The challenge is to get estimators with good properties under reasonable assumptions and to ensure that statistical inference is valid throughout robust standard errors. And after application, fixed effect estimation turned out to play a key role in the estimation of panel data models. Based on the results of hypothesis testing, the real data result showed that the fixed effect model was more accurate compared to the two models of random effect and pooling effect. In addition, robust estimation was used to get more efficient estimators since heteroscedasticity has been confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental regulations such as the "dual carbon" target directly act on the restriction of the total amount of dirty capital to reduce carbon emissions. The change in factor endowment will have a range of effects on production and income distribution. To examine the effects of environmental regulations restricting dirty capital endowment on income distribution, this paper presents a general equilibrium model with two sectors and three factors. The unregulated clean capital-intensive sector is imperfectly competitive and features firm dynamics, using labor and clean capital as factors of production, while the regulated dirty capital-intensive sector is perfectly competitive using labor and dirty capital. We show that a decrease in the dirty capital endowment will reduce the output of the dirty capital-intensive sector and expand the clean capital-intensive sector in the long run, making society transition to green production. The tighter the restriction on the use of the dirty capital endowment is, the more firms will enter the clean capital-intensive sector, while the business-stealing effect will reduce the output of individual clean firms. We further show that the rents of both dirty and clean capital will rise while the wage of labor will fall due to the regulation. Changes in factor prices do not necessarily lead to inequality in income distributions. When the factor substitution effect in the regulated sector is large enough, clean production regulation will increase the share of labor income and decrease the share of capital income. • We study the effects of environmental regulations on firm dynamics and factor income distribution. • The tighter the restriction on the use of the dirty capital is, the more firms will enter clean sector. • The business-stealing effect will reduce the outputs of individual clean firms. • Changes in factor prices do not necessarily lead to inequality in income distributions. • Changes in the factor income share under regulation is relevant to the factor substitution effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated assessment models are increasingly used to build prospective life cycle databases. While these models provide projections on an economy-wide scale, they can lack detail, with some industries aggregated at sector level and a technological resolution that tends to be too low for the demands of an LCA. This limitation hinders the accurate modelling of several industries in a prospective LCA. This paper aims to bridge the gap in detail between LCA and Integrated assessment models by means of an econometric model, using the cement industry as a case study. While this model sits outside of the integrated assessment model, it ensures consistency with the integrated assessment model's scenario by using data from the integrated assessment model to build its projections. The case study estimates the capital stock required, the fuel mix in the kiln, the most cost-effective kiln type and finally the capital stock composition. This was done for a baseline, moderate and climate stringent scenario, for the EU, USA and Canada. The projections of the model were integrated into a prospective life cycle assessment to determine the global warming potential of clinker production in the future. Results show an increase in alternative fuel use, especially for the EU. The use of natural gas increases for the USA and Canada but remains negligent for the EU. Kilns with carbon capture are adopted, if the carbon tax is high enough and the alternative fuel share is not too high. • Approach to create detailed industry projection that are in line with IAM scenarios. • An econometric cement model is built to complement IMAGE's projections. • Cement projections are integrated in a prospective consequential LCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the macroeconomic gains to Asia-Pacific economies from liberalising foreign investment flows. It first presents an intertemporal theoretical framework to convey, in principle, how higher national income stems from the narrowing of the gap between domestic and foreign rates of return on capital. Using a computable general equilibrium model it then empirically quantifies the impact on investment, the capital stocks, the external accounts and national income of a one percentage point reduction of the rate of return on capital due to further liberalisation of impediments to foreign investment. The results show national income gains for Asia-Pacific economies are on average around 0.3 percent per annum, which compounded through time implies significant long-term improvement in living standards in the region. This suggests APEC should afford greater priority to foreign investment liberalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores memories of children in the upper years of primary school about their transition into the first year of school and the ways in which this transition impacted on their ongoing relationship with primary school. The insights shared by eleven Year four and five students (aged 10–11 years; five boys and six girls) in an Australian primary school contribute to understandings of the strategies children develop and utilise in their educational transitions (transitions capital), not only in the transition to school but also in ongoing educational transitions throughout school. The older children reflected on their younger selves related to transitions expectations, and experiences and illustrated their strategies for self-management of change, positioning them as potential resources within transition programs. Despite this, the participants reported that their expertise and experience generally were not acknowledged, and they were often not invited to contribute to transition programs involving new school entrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a capital accumulation game where the installation costs of investments are lowered by the firm's own capital stock because of learning and by the competitor's capital stock because of spillover effects. To properly understand the impact of the two capital stocks, we consider six information structures which differ in whether a firm takes into account that their competitor's strategy depends only on time or on one or both capital stocks. We find that if firms are aware that their own capital stock makes investments of the competitor more efficient, a firm would invest less. Due to this effect, information only pays off if it is taken into account by both competitors, because otherwise the less informed and therefore less cautious player invests more and has a higher capital stock and revenues in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• China implemented the heavy industry priority development strategy rather than the comparative advantage development strategy in the early years of new China. • A dynamic optimization model including the labor-intensive goods sector, the capital-intensive goods sector, and the final goods sector is constructed to study the rationality of the heavy industry priority development strategy. • The relationship between the total social output per capita and the share of heavy industry capital stock is inverted U-shape. • Heavy industry, as basic industry, provides the necessary material conditions for the subsequent comparative advantage development strategy. Based on the objective fact that new China had a weak industrial base during the planned economy period and the policies implemented, this paper constructs a dynamic optimization model that includes the labor-intensive goods sector, the capital-intensive goods sector, and the final goods sector. The basic conclusion of the theoretical model is that there is an inverted-U relationship between total social output per capita and the share of heavy industry capital stock on the optimal dynamic path of capital accumulation with government intervention, i.e., the relationship is positive until a specific threshold is reached, beyond which it becomes negative. The results of the benchmark regressions and endogeneity tests confirm the inverted-U relationship, although the threshold share of heavy industry capital stock differs among the empirical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study a class of dynamic games consisting of finite agents under a stochastic growth model with jumps. The jump process in the dynamics of the capital stock of each agent models announcements regarding each agent in the game occur at Poisson distributed random times. The aim of each agent is to maximize her objective functional with mean-field interactions by choosing an optimal consumption strategy. We prove the existence of a fixed point related to the so-called consistence condition as the number of agents goes large. Building upon the fixed point, we establish an optimal feedback consumption strategy for all agents which is in fact an approximating Nash equilibrium which describes strategies for each agent such that no agent has any incentive to change her strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies on social capital integrate proxy variables such as cooperation, participation or trust, but very few examine in depth underlying patterns of behaviour and resulting social phenomena. Filling a gap in earlier studies, this paper conducts a long-range study of the stock of social capital in the Basque Country in Spain, with the aim of analysing the values that are at the core of civic engagement in the territory. Secondary data collected from official statistics websites and relevant studies in the field are used to examine the structural and cognitive dimensions. This information confirms the paradox: at the national scale, the Basque Country is a leading community, but region-specific research unveils a less favourable scenario of endogamic relations, institutional distrust, and low participation. Therefore, although numerous public organisations play a remarkable guiding role, further steps are needed to improve the connectivity of the different actors within the Regional Innovation System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The positive promotion of regional economic growth is largely consistent with expectations, while there is also a promotion effect on the economic growth of neighboring regions. In this paper, the individual cognitive term of the particle swarm algorithm is introduced into the bath algorithm, and economic forecasting analysis is carried out based on the improved combination of grey model improvements. The main reason for the negative correlation between government investment and economic growth is that, although OFDI promotes economic growth, industrial upgrading, and optimizes industrial structure, it may also reduce regional export capacity, reduce employment opportunities, and increase agency costs. The estimated coefficients for human capital, labor input, capital stock, and urbanization rate are all positive, indicating that each variable is conducive to promoting regional economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study presents a two-sector Kalecki–Kaldor growth model. • It analyses the interactions of income distribution, technical change, and demand. • Short-run steady state is Kaleckian: wage-, profit-led, and hybrid demand regimes. • Long-run economic growth mechanism is Kaldorian, featuring technical change. • Wage and productivity growth rates between the two sectors differ in the long run. This paper presents a two-sector Kalecki–Kaldor model of income distribution, technical change, and economic growth. The model is Kaleckian in the sense that it incorporates mark-up pricing, investment independent of saving, and excess capacity. It is also Kaldorian, in that labour productivity growth is led by Kaldor's technical progress function. In other words, productivity growth is endogenously realised through the technology embodied in new capital stock, which differentiates our model from previous two-sector models. Our extension drastically changes the standard Kaleckian implications. We find that although the economic activity levels in the short run are led by the demand and income distribution parameters, economic growth in the long run is realised by supply-side (i.e. technical change and the associated productivity and wage growth) parameters. The important implication of our findings is that a two-sector economy faces a trade-off between a high economic growth rate and the local stability of the steady state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Disentangled factor shares allow empirical analysis in a four-factor setting • Economic freedom affects the total labor share through the human capital share • Economic freedom affects the total capital share through the physical capital share • Legal structure and property rights important for both labor and capital shares • Economic freedom affects labor and capital shares at different stages of development This paper examines the relationship between institutions and the income shares of key factors of production across countries. We extend previous work in this area by considering the unskilled labor and human capital components of the total labor share along with the shares of physical capital and natural capital. We introduce a four-factor production framework to derive empirical specifications for these factors. In a cross-section of 75 countries, we find the positive relationship between market institutions and the total labor share is driven by its underlying human capital component—an effect appearing predominantly in lower- and middle-income countries. Market institutions are negatively related to the total capital share and its physical capital component, especially in middle- and upper-income countries. Political institutions have a small or statistically insignificant effect in explaining factor shares after controlling for economic institutions. The results provide insight into the dynamics of factor shares over the development process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Examining the problem of capital allocation efficiency in China from the perspective of air pollution. • Constructing a new indicator of capital allocation efficiency, measured using actual capital productivity over potential capital productivity. • Constructing a mechanism for air pollution to affect capital allocation efficiency in terms of innovation activities and human capital accumulation channels. • The effect of air pollution on capital allocation efficiency and its heterogeneity are empirically analyzed. As China seeks to transition to a high-quality economic development model, improving its capital allocation efficiency serves as a means to revitalize the capital stock and facilitate a shift from an investment-driven growth approach to an innovation-driven one. By exploring the relationship between air pollution and capital allocation efficiency, new avenues for promoting high-quality economic development can be identified. This paper develops a theoretical analysis framework that posits the mechanisms by which air pollution affect capital allocation efficiency through innovation activities and human capital channels. Based on the data from prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2019, this paper introduces an innovative method to evaluate capital allocation efficiency. Further, using a panel two-way fixed-effects model to examine the impact of air pollution on capital allocation efficiency and its mechanisms. The findings show that ① the intensification of air pollution reduces capital allocation efficiency and the above findings pass the robustness tests. ② The results of heterogeneity analysis show that there is significant heterogeneity in the effect of air pollution on capital allocation efficiency. The intensification of the air pollution significantly inhibits capital allocation efficiency in inland areas, small and medium-scale cities, after 2013, and in areas with high foreign economic dependence. ③ The results of mechanism analysis shows that the intensification of the air pollution will inhibit capital allocation efficiency by suppressing innovation activities and human capital accumulation channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biocapacity of a region exhibits spatial differences owing to the limitations of regional scale and natural conditions. Based on the multi-scale perspective, we comprehensively studied and analyzed the temporal and spatial differences of the biocapacity of a region in an attempt to establish the groundwork for optimizing urban development and its utilization framework. By adopting the ecological footprint model along with multi-scale difference evaluation method, the municipal and county scales are incorporated into a unified analysis framework in this paper, thereby facilitating the exploration of the temporal and spatial differences in the biocapacity of Shenyang—a city in China—from 2005 to 2019. The results demonstrated that: 1) At the municipal scale, the biocapacity per capita fluctuated between 1.35 hm2/person and 2.22 hm2/person. It revealed an "up-down-up" trend, which appeared consistent with the Kuznets cycle; at the county scale, the biocapacity depicted spatial differences, while those of downtown and surrounding districts/counties developed a two-level ascending hierarchical structure. 2) The time series of footprint size and depth first ascended and then declined, and can be classified into four types: closed type, inverted U-type, S-type, and M-type. Among them, S-type and M-type have the phenomenon of over-utilizing the stock capital. 3) For a long time, the regional difference of biocapacity has mostly dwelt on two scales with an evident scale effect, and the biocapacity of Liaozhong District was the worst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corruption has been shown to affect a variety of observed human capital inputs, such as health status, school enrollment, and student dropout rates. However, to the best of our knowledge, the question of how corruption affects unobserved skills has received little attention. This study investigates the effect of corruption on unobserved human capital, measured from the earnings of immigrants, using the U.S. census data for the period 1980–2000. In the human capital model built in the paper, corruption enters the budget constraint of an individual as a cost of the accumulation of unobservable skills. Using data on immigrants and the theoretical model motivating an empirical analysis, the study reveals how corruption impacts the stock of human capital across countries. According to the prediction deriving from the empirical analysis, corruption has a negative effect on the stocks of human capital. The counterfactual findings using the calibrated model suggest that the elimination of corruption increases aggregate output by 18–21% on average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Three lake ecosystems with different trophism were investigated. • Matter and energy flows in lake ecosystems were evaluated. • Emergy and eco-exergy methods were jointly applied. • Natural capital value resulted higher for the eutrophic lake. • The eco-exergy/emergy ratio showed a better efficiency of the mesotrophic lake. Healthy ecosystems are capable of maintaining their structures and functions, ensuring the generation and maintenance of natural capital stocks delivering ecosystem services flows vital for human well-being. The development of ecosystems can be investigated by using different ecological goal functions. Among them, emergy and eco-exergy can be used to unfold the role of matter and energy flow exchanges in the functioning of ecological systems. In this paper, the emergy and eco-exergy accounting methods were integrated to investigate three forest lake ecosystems characterized by a different trophism (oligotrophic, mesotrophic, and eutrophic) and located in the Tuchola Forest UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve (Northern Poland). In particular, emergy was used to account for the work of nature invested to generate natural capital stocks, while eco-exergy was used to characterize the development stage of lake ecosystems reflecting their trophic and health state. The eutrophic lake showed the highest emergy investment (4.36∙1012 sej m−2) for the generation of natural capital stocks, mainly due to the high convergence of nutrient flows. The eutrophic lake also showed the highest value of eco-exergy density (1.38∙106 KJ m−2) mainly due to the high ß value of macrophyte and aquatic birds. Finally, the eco-exergy / emergy ratio was calculated to assess the efficiency of the three lake ecosystems. The mesotrophic lake showed the highest value of the ratio (1.43∙10−3 J sej-1), highlighting a better efficiency in maintaining and developing ecosystem structure and organization. Overall, the outcomes of this study were consistent with the different trophism of the investigated lakes, confirming how external driving forces can orient the development and complexity of lake ecosystems. In conclusion, integrated assessments adopting an ecosystem and holistic perspective can result in a promising approach to investigate lake ecosystems worldwide, providing useful scientific information to policy makers committed to ensure the sustainable management of surface water ecosystems. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development emphasizes the sustainability of natural resources and the environment. Under the background of resource scarcity and environmental constraints, it is of great significance to explore the impacts of the ecological footprint on the resource-rich but unbalanced China's Yangtze River Economic Belt from two perspectives of flow capital occupation and stock capital occupation. This study uses a fixed-effect regression model to investigate the impacts of ecological footprint breadth and depth on sustainable development by the panel data of 108 prefecture-level cities in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2006 to 2018. Further combining the panel threshold regression model results, we identify ecological footprint breadth and depth as having inverted N-shaped and inverted U-shaped relationships with sustainable development. Firstly, there is a double threshold effect between ecological footprint breadth and sustainable development. Then, there is a single threshold effect between ecological footprint depth and sustainable development. When ecological footprint breadth is within the threshold of (0.2802, 0.7997), it is conducive to sustainable development. When ecological footprint depth is less than 2.5404, it is conducive to sustainable development. Secondly, ecological footprint breadth improves sustainable development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt by rationalizing and advancing industrial structure. Ecological footprint depth achieves sustainable development through rationalizing industrial structure. Thirdly, the mechanism of the ecological footprint on sustainable development has regional heterogeneity. Finally, this paper proposes several policy implications for achieving China's sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circular flow diagram, whether in its limited form in macroeconomics, or broader form in ecological economics, depicts a duality of flows – physical resources in one direction with financial transactions in the opposite. Biophysical models of the economy can be constructed based on the physical flows and their associated stocks. In previous work, I demonstrated how the accumulation of wealth – measured by the capital stock – can be established using a biophysical model. With capital, energy use, and the distribution of labour determined by biophysical economics, here I investigate the range of potential distributions of wealth – profits versus wages – that follow in the political economy. The analysis is conducted using a four-sector model of Great Britain's economy from 1760 to 1913, including agriculture, coal mining, construction & materials, and production of goods and services. Energy price is a key variable in the model, influencing the distribution of income between different sectors. Taking the price of coal at historically observed values, the distribution of total factor income per worker is plotted as a trade-off between annual wages and profits per worker for example years of 1761, 1817, and 1871. The plots reveal how possible alternative distributions of income might be achieved under different political-economic regimes, subject to the same biophysical constraints. Conclusions are framed in the context of the grand challenges faced by ecological economists of developing environmentally sustainable economies with a just and equitable sharing of resources. [Display omitted] • The paper frames the challenge of wealth distribution subject to biophysical constraints. • Prices, wages, and profits are added to a biophysical model of the Industrial Revolution. • The distribution of total factor income per worker is posed as a trade-off between wages and profits per worker. • Changes in energy price are shown to impact the distribution of income between and within sectors. • The influence of the political economy on the biophysical economy is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]