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This research investigates the effect of the expansion of the digital economy on the quality of regional investment introduction in China using city-level data from 2011 to 2019. The findings of the study indicate that the growth of the digital economy can greatly raise the calibre of regional investment, and this conclusion has withstood a number of robustness tests, including endogeneity. The growth of the digital economy primarily draws high-quality foreign investment through enhancing productivity, attracting talent, and increasing return on investment. A region's high-quality development plan can increase the promotion effect of the digital economy on the quality of foreign investment, but the promotion effect of the digital economy on the quality of foreign investment clearly demonstrates regional variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in China is fast growing as the country's urbanization accelerates. WWTPs, part of the high-energy-consumption industry, must use a lot of energy in wastewater treatment. PV projects in WWTPs are viable solutions for energy conservation, but PV project investors, WWTP owners, and government authorities need to conduct rigorous economic and ecological assessments. This article examines the PV potential, financial feasibility, energy savings, and emission reduction effect of large-scale WWTPs in China using the cable-supported system. Furthermore, China's total PV power potential for urban WWTPs has been assessed at 5.6 GW for the first time. According to economic feasibility analysis, 26 of the 31 WWTP-PV projects in China's various regions are economically viable. Moreover, the WWTP-PV projects can assist WWTP in reducing carbon emissions by 10%–40%. Further sensitivity analysis reveals that practically all WWTP-PV projects will be viable in the future, assuming that certain solar resource requirements are met, and appropriate investment strategies are implemented. • China has a total PV power potential of 5.6 GW for urban WWTPs. • The economic feasibility analysis shows most WWTP-PV projects in China are viable. • The WWTP-PV project can help WWTP reduce carbon emissions by 10%–40%. • The PV potential of a WWTP is correlated with its planned wastewater treatment capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents a computational form of the Intelligent Portfolio Theory for investing and trading in stock markets with two multi-factor models and two trend following trading strategies. The Intelligent Portfolio Theory for stock investment goes beyond the classical portfolio theory by using multi-factor models for stock selection and quantitative trading strategies instead of buy-and-hold. In China A-share market, a special multi-factor Model 1 is developed targeting at the food and beverage sector, which is made up of 7 effective and non-redundant factors selected from 20 candidate factors representing 6 categories: valuation, technology, size, profitability, growth ability, and solvency. A more general multi-factor Model 2 targeting at all the stocks in the whole stock market is also developed, which is constructed as a rule-based system integrating fundamental and technical analysis inspired by the empirical approach of CANSLIM. The multi-factor models are used to forecast or rate the future return of each stock in the sector, and then a small number of stocks are selected to form a portfolio. Each selected stock in the portfolio is then traded using a trend following trading strategy. Two strategies are developed, Strategy 1 with the high-low price channel breakout, and Strategy 2 with the parabolic stop and reverse indicator. The first intelligent portfolio trading system integrates Model 1 with Strategy 1, and is tested on an in-sample data of 7 years and also on an out-of-sample data of 2 years. The second system couples Model 2 with Strategy 2 and is tested on a data of 2 years. Both intelligent portfolio trading systems generated significantly useful performance in terms of annual returns and maximum drawdown. The test results confirmed the effectiveness of the Intelligent Portfolio Theory with proposed multi-factor models and trading strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to construct an accounting method for the domestic value-added rate for exports by considering environmental costs and using a developing country, China, as an example, to measure the "positive" and "negative" economic benefits obtained by industrial sectors linking to the global value chains (GVCs), namely the comprehensive rate of return. On this basis, the impact of industrial intelligence on the comprehensive rate of return of the GVCs is further explored. When environmental costs are considered, the comprehensive rate of return of China's industrial sectors linking to the GVCs is reduced by approximately 15%. Industrial intelligence is conducive to improving the comprehensive return rate of China's participation in GVCs. And the accumulation of human capital and the improvement of the competitiveness of export products are important mechanisms for industrial intelligence to affect the comprehensive rate of return of the GVCs. The improvement of industrial intelligence level in pollution-intensive industries has the most obvious promotion effect on the comprehensive rate of return of GVCs, followed by capital and technology-intensive industries, while labor-intensive industries are not sensitive to this effect. • This study calculates the comprehensive return rate of China's participation in GVCs. • The comprehensive return rate is reduced by approximately 15%. • Intelligence development is conducive to improving the comprehensive rate of return. • Human capital and the competitiveness of export products are important mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An efficient hydrometallurgical process for recovering valuable metals was designed. • Technical feasibility from both environmental and economic perspectives was explored. • Local life cycle inventory relating to hydrometallurgical process was established. Waste mobile phones contain significant amounts of valuable metals and non-metallic materials. Consequently, the extraction of valuable materials from discarded phones, which is a more cost-effective method compared with primary mining, is an essential step for maximizing the recovery of secondary resources and minimizing e-waste pollution. We designed a green and efficient path for recovering valuable metals from waste mobile phones and explored its technical feasibility from both environmental and economic perspectives through life cycle assessment and revenue expenditure model. The results showed that the hydrometallurgical process had three characteristics of high recovery efficiency, significant environmental friendliness and economic feasibility. The recovery efficiencies of valuable metals were higher than 90%. Simultaneously, the return on investment was 29%, indicating that the recycling enterprises can achieve self-sufficiency. Thirdly, the environmental benefits were more significant compared to environmental damage released by hydrometallurgical process, representing a significant environmental friendliness. Within the overall recycling process, the core process made the greatest contribution to the environmental burden (45.38–65.68%), followed by manual disassembly process. A comparison of sub-processes in core process revealed that the mechanical crushing and sorting phase had the greatest environmental impacts that were primarily attributed to power consumption. Consequently, future research should focus on the development of energy-efficient pretreatment techniques and energy-saving equipment. The industrial practice of recycling waste mobile phones is still in its infancy in China. Future studies should also focus on the comparing different treatment processes, with the aim of providing technical support for the advancement of industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important representation of the evolution of the rural human–land relationship in the process of urban–rural transformation development, labor migration between rural and urban areas has become the core impetus for agricultural transformation in China's traditional farming areas. An in-depth analysis of the internal mechanism of the evolution of agricultural production patterns driven by rural–urban migration at different phases helps to find solutions for ensuring the sustainable development of the countryside. This paper analyzes the relationship between rural–urban migration and the evolution of the rural human–land relationship, then introduces the city power and the rural power in the push–pull theory, and finally establishes an interactive analysis framework for rural–urban migration and agricultural transformation. The results demonstrate that the part-time rural labor and the frequent rural–urban migration in Yucheng City are the normal conditions for the labor to participate in agricultural production; and the low registered population urbanization rate and the return of the elderly labor have become the main features of the rural–urban migration in the new era. Furthermore, the state of rural–urban migration in Yangqiao Village has become the impetus of the farmland use transition and homestead use change at the village level; the arrangement fragmentation of agricultural production and the change in traditional agriculture production modes are the important factors affecting agricultural transformation in Yangqiao Village. In the context of rural vitalization, agricultural transformation in traditional farming areas needs to pay more attention to the future livelihood systems of small peasants. It is important to promote rural transformation to create more employment opportunities based on local conditions and attract rural migrants to return to start businesses in the countryside. • Analysis framework about rural-urban migration and agricultural transformation is established based on 'push–pull' theory. • The effects of rural-urban migration on agricultural transformation in China's traditional farming areas are analyzed. • The low urbanization rate and the return of the elderly migrants become the main feature of the rural labor migration. • Creating employment opportunities and attracting return migrants to start businesses is important for rural vitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selection of suitable locations for rooftop photovoltaic projects (RPVP) is critical for optimizing power generation efficiency and return on investment. However, traditional methods of site selection that rely on subjective assessments of index weights can compromise accuracy, while complex calculations may limit adaptability to changing real-world data. In this study, we proposed a data-driven ensemble learning framework that integrates socio-economic, environmental, climate, and geography factors to optimize RPVP site selection. Using data from 1589 counties in China, we mapped eight criteria to feature variables to facilitate machine learning classification. Furthermore, the K-means algorithm was employed to enhance the model's robustness against outliers. The findings indicate that the proposed stacking model exhibits superior performance in comparison to other classifiers, as evidenced by the higher scores of performance metrics. Specifically, for positive instance prediction, the stacking model achieves the highest Precision scores. According to the rankings of Precision scores derived from the four ensembled models, we categorized counties suitable for RPVP development into five priority tiers. The ensemble learning framework provides a valuable and reusable tool for advancing county-level RPVP site selection and serves as a motivation for selecting other renewable power plant sites. • Ensemble learning is used in site selection of rooftop photovoltaic projects. • Stacking model presents the best performance on minimizing the erroneous selection. • The suitability of power plant siting is divided into several levels. • The proposed site selection tool can adapt to changing real-world environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive system for assessing contaminant emissions, including the dominant contaminant reduction effects, recessive contaminant reduction effects, and contaminant reduction efficiency indexes. The system is used to evaluate the linkage changes in contaminant emissions reduction across different sectors, the ease of regulation, and the returns on emissions reduction efforts. The study's results demonstrate that firstly, COVID-19 initially reduced contaminant emissions across almost all sectors, although this effect waned over time. Secondly, applying conventional regulatory measures to sectors with high reductions in contaminant emissions may not yield the expected results. Thirdly, while some sectors may be more difficult to regulate, they may offer a higher return on investment in terms of emissions reduction. Based on the above results, the paper advocates for timely measures to consolidate environmental gains, prevent rebounding of contaminant emissions, prioritize supervision and management of easily regulated sectors, prioritize upgrading of cleaner production in sectors with high reduction efficiency indices, and increase investment in environmental technology. • Created a new comprehensive system for assessing contaminant emission changes. • Quantified the unique linkage changes of contaminant emissions during COVID-19. • Developed new models to reveal contaminants' regulatory difficulty and return. • The innovative reduction effects of four key contaminant indicators were measured. • Applied WHEM firstly in research across multiple areas of contaminant emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to maximize the return on equity (ROE) of wind-hydrogen system investors, take full advantage of the wind power as well as smooth the wind power output of a wind farm, an optimal sizing model of a coupled wind-hydrogen system (CWHS) is established considering the requirements of wind power grid-connection technology. The fluctuating cost of wind power is calculated by an "equal-kWh following load" method and the chance-constrained programming is introduced to deal with the uncertainty generated by the wind power. The optimal capacity of each unit for a CWHS, including the wind power transmission project, electrolyser, compressor and so on, is acquired and the economic analysis is evaluated under comprehensive aspects, e.g. wind curtailment decisions, hydrogen prices, the correlations between wind power output and system load, and the fluctuation degrees of wind power generation. The simulation is established by the realistic historical data from a wind farm in Fujian, China. When the confidence level is 92%, the capacity of electrolysers increases with the increase of the hydrogen price when it is larger than the equivalent value 4.34 €/kg. In addition, the smaller the correlation between wind power output and load and the bigger the volatility index of wind power output, the less the smoothing benefit of the CWHS, where the smaller capacity of the transmission project and bigger capacities of electrolysers and compressors are required. • An optimized model for a wind-hydrogen system is built from the perspective of system investors. • The smoothing benefit is calculated based on the "equal-kWh following load" method. • The chance-constrained programming is adopted when making wind curtailment decision. • The optimal sizes of a wind-hydrogen system and transmission project are obtained. • It's not cost-effective for fuel cells to regenerate electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to analyze systemic importance of Chinese financial institutions and its influential factors based on return spillover network. We first investigate the return spillover effects among financial institutions and construct the return spillover networks by Granger causality in vector autoregressive (VAR) models. Then we calculate six network centralities (degree centrality, closeness centrality, betweenness centrality, modified Katz centrality, eccentricity centrality and information centrality) to measure systemic importance of financial institutions. Because different centrality measures are correlated with each other, we use the principal component analysis method to obtain comprehensive information about systemic importance of financial institutions. Finally, we identify the major factors, including market and accounting variables, which affect systemic importance of the financial institutions with panel data regression analysis. We find that financial institutions with larger tail risk of stock return, higher return on equity, lower turnover rate and lower assets growth rate tend to be associated with greater systemic importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract To alleviate the high risks to oil supply caused by high dependency on oil imports, China is actively seeking alternative energy sources to reduce its imported oil (IO). Coal-to-liquid (CTL) is regarded as an option in China. However, few analyses have examined the net energy impact of substituting IO with CTL and determined how effective the substitution would be. Energy return on investment (EROI) analysis, an important index to characterise the viability of a natural resource from an energy standpoint, can provide insights into these issues. This paper first introduces new methods to calculate the EROIs between CTL and IO from a life-cycle perspective. Then, based on the EROI values, a new, simple method is provided to calculate the net energy change resulting from the substitution of IO with CTL. The results show that without considering the environmental inputs, the mean EROI of CTL with/without internal energy inputs is 0.29/1.44, and that of IO is approximately 5.60. When environmental inputs are considered, these values decrease to 0.27/1.09 and 5.07, respectively. In general, IO has a better net energy return than CTL. Moreover, substituting 1 MJ IO with CTL would lead to a net energy loss of 0.3–4.6 MJ. The above results suggest that China should be more cautious in developing the coal liquefaction industry from a net energy perspective. Highlights • New methods are provided to estimate the EROI of IO and CTL from a life-cycle perspective. • This paper considers the impact of the energy inputs to control GHG emissions on EROI. • The EROIs of IO and CTL are about 0.86–1.79 and 4.28–6.50 respectively. • Substituting 1 MJ IO with CTL would lead to a net energy loss of 0.3–4.6 MJ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study conducts a theoretical analysis about effects of China's financial markets on the global commodity prices, and employs ARDL model and SVAR model to test it empirically. Results illustrated that: CNY NDF rate has exerted impact on some industrial metals before the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, while impact of China's stock market on commodity prices is insignificant. We find the influence of China's stock market and CNY NDF market significantly increased after the crisis, which means the fluctuations of China's financial markets do influence the commodity prices. However, such effect is still weak comparing with US stock market and FX market. Highlights • China's financial markets are supposed to influence commodity price through "macro-economy reflection", financial market information transmission and market sentiment contagion channel. • The impact of China's stock market on some industrial metals is significant while the stock market is insignificant before the GFC. • The influence of China's financial market significantly increased after the GFC • Chinese financial markets' impact is still weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Using stock market returns of two stock exchanges in China, this paper employs MF-DCCA to investigate the non-linear cross-correlation between individual investor sentimentand Chinese stock market return. We find that there exists a power-law cross-correlation between individual investor sentiment and Chinese stock market return, and the cross-correlations are significantly multifractal. In addition, the cross-correlation between individual investor sentiment and Shenzhen Component Index (SZSE) return is more anti-persistent than that between individual investor sentiment and Shanghai Composite Index (SSEC) return, implying that individual investor sentiment has a stronger impact on small stocks. Besides, long-range correlations, fat-tailed distribution and extreme value all contribute to the multifractality for cross-correlation between individual investor sentiment and SSEC return, while long-range correlation is the main source of multifractality for the cross-correlation between individual investor sentiment and SZSE return. Highlights • Cross-correlation between investor sentiment and stock return is investigated. • Yu'ebao Sentiment Index and Shenzhen stock market return is more anti-persistent. • The sources of multifractal features are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the influence of hot money on the return and volatility of the Chinese stock market using a nonlinear Granger causality test and a new GARCH-class model based on mixed data sampling regression (GARCH–MIDAS). The empirical results suggest that no linear or nonlinear causality exists between the growth rate of hot money and the Chinese stock market return, implying that the Chinese stock market is not driven by hot money and vice versa. However, hot money has a significant positive impact on the long-term volatility of the Chinese stock market. Furthermore, the dependence between the long-term volatility caused by hot money and the total volatility of the Chinese stock market is time-variant, indicating that huge volatilities in the stock market are not always triggered by international speculation capital flow and that Chinese authorities should further focus on more systemic reforms in the trading rules and on effectively regulating the stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy return on energy invested (EROI) might be considered a measure of net energy, and most current studies focus on standard EROI (EROI ST ). If the energy inputs required to obtain a fuel was extended from a wellhead to the point of use, the energy delivered decreases, and the energy input of delivering the fuel increases. These factors combine to reduce the EROI ST to what is referred to as the point of use EROI (EROI POU ). This study calculates the direct and indirect energy (embodied energy) inputs for energy production sectors (including extraction, processing and delivery) by means of an Input-Output table to calculate China's EROI POU and the net energies from 1987 to 2012. Based on calculations in this study, the EROI POU of China's energy production sector declined from 11.01:1 to 5.26:1 between 1987 and 2012. In 1987, the energy production sectors consumed 1 ton standard coal equivalent (TCE) energy inputs for every 10.01 TCE of produce net energy. However, in 2012, this number declined to 4.25. Additionally, this study simulates and forecast economic Gross Domestic Product (GDP) trends in China using net energy production function. The results reveal how declining EROI POU for Chinese fossil fuels influence China's GDP growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online Pear-to-Pear lending has developed rapidly recently. In this article, an empirical study was conducted by using public dataset from Paipaidai, the largest online P2P lending in China. We analyze the factors that determine the probability of obtaining the loan in online P2P lending. The result indicates that annual interest rate, repayment period, description, credit grade, successful loan number, failed loan number, gender, and borrowed credit score are significant factors to loan funded successful on Paipaidai platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of fuel cell vehicles can significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas. However, huge investments are needed to construct the hydrogen infrastructure to produce, store and distribute hydrogen fuel to fuel cell vehicles. The present study conducted an analysis of a roll-out strategy to introduce fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen stations in Shenzhen, China between 2016 and 2025. An accurate estimation to develop hydrogen economy in Shenzhen in the near-term was provided. Three different scenarios of fuel cell vehicle penetration rate in the new car sales market were employed to predict the number of fuel cell vehicles and daily hydrogen demand in Shenzhen. The capital investment and operation/maintenance cost of on-site steam methane reforming hydrogen fueling stations was estimated. For a station with 100, 500 and 1000 kg/day capacity, the capital investment is $1.04, 4.15 and 7.84 million, respectively, while the corresponding hydrogen fuel price at 20 years of return on investment (ROI) is 7.7, 7.0 and 6.8 $/kg, respectively. A roll-out strategy of ten hydrogen stations in Shenzhen by 2020 was proposed, taking into consideration the population density, average income, locations of grocery stores and shopping malls, and locations of existing gas stations. The total capital investment required to construct 10 hydrogen stations is $19.7 million. The fuel costs and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of hydrogen, gasoline and electricity vehicles were assessed to justify the benefits of introducing fuel cell vehicles in Shenzhen. Local industry and government can use the results to make decisions about possible future H 2 utilization and infrastructure construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy-intensive firms are confronted with increasing pressure to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption. This paper explores the relationship between the energy efficiency and financial performance of a sample of firms in China based on a panel dataset for the period 2010-2014. Six financial indicators representing the benefits of different stakeholders are used in the analysis. Our empirical results show that energy efficiency is positively related to return on equity, return on assets, return on investment, return on invested capital and return on sales but has no significant relationship with Tobin's q. In addition, we examine the interaction effect between energy intensity and firm growth and find that firm growth helps to enhance the positive relationship between energy intensity and financial performance. Our findings provide incentive for firms to be proactive in their efforts towards energy conservation and emissions reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the largest shale gas resources holder in the world, China has set ambitious goals for its shale gas development. To better understand the environmental impacts and the net energy return of shale gas development in China, this paper develops a hybrid life cycle inventory (LCI) model to estimate the energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of China’s shale gas development, and presents an energy return on investment (EROI) analysis for estimating its net energy return. Results suggest a total average energy use per well of 123 TJ (range: 74–165 TJ) and total average GHG emissions per well of 9505 tCO 2 e (range: 5346–13551 tCO 2 e). Most of the energy use and GHG emissions are indirect impacts embodied in fuels and materials. Energy use and GHG emissions from the drilling stage comprise the largest share in both totals due to large amounts of diesel used as fuel in the well drilling process and the materials used in the well casing process. The EROI of China’s shale gas is estimated to be about 33 (range: 31–42), which is higher than China’s conventional oil & gas but lower than U.S. shale gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines trends in energy input and output in China's crop production. Trends are also observed in energy use efficiency and economic return on energy use from 1991 to 2012. The results indicate that energy input increased from 3647.1 PJ to 7919.5 PJ and energy output increased from 7222.0 PJ to 10954.0 PJ between 1991 and 2012. Given the growth in the sowing area, energy input and output per unit of area sown also increased during this period. Energy use efficiency was estimated at 1.98 in 1991 and 1.38 in 2012, with an average annual decrease of 1.69%. The economic return on crop production in China increased from 1991 to 2012 whereas agricultural labor input decreased; consequently, the economic return on energy use, sowing area, and labor all increased stably. Given a larger growth rate and higher production of high-value and low-energy crops when compared with low-value and high-energy crops, an increase in the economic return on energy use occurred but so did a decline in energy use efficiency. This phenomenon indicates the need to increase investments in technological development and technological innovation, adopt new policies to optimize China's crop production structure, and establish sustainable production systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we advocate the provincial TV audience rating as the novel proxy for the provincial investor sentiment (PIS) and investigate its relation with stock returns. The empirical results firstly show that the PIS is positively related to stock returns. Secondly, we provide direct evidence on the existence of home bias in China by observing that the provincial correlation coefficient is significantly larger than the cross-provincial correlation coefficient. Finally, the PIS can explain a large proportion of provincial comovement. To sum up, all these findings support the role of the non-traditional information sources in understanding the “anomalies” in stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a carbon reduction technology, CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage) is an important way to achieve the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" in China. In order to change the situation of slow commercialization and large-scale development of CCUS, this paper proposes to establish a CCUS cooperative alliance. Taking alliance organizers, institutional investors, upstream operators and downstream operators as research objects, the evolutionary game model is developed to reveal the dynamic evolution mechanism of CCUS cooperative alliance and analyze the impact of exogenous variables on the strategic choices of alliance members. The results show that: (1) establishing a strong market-oriented alliance can promote the large-scale deployment and commercialization of CCUS, (2) when return on investment is greater than or equal to 6%, it can effectively promote the investment of institutional investors in CCUS field, (3) when the government subsidy rate is greater than or equal to 75%, the willingness of downstream operators to operate independently is significantly enhanced. This study reveals the operation mechanism of the alliance, provides theoretical and methodological support for the operation and management of the alliance, and is of great significance to promote the cooperative operation and development of the alliance. • A CCUS cooperative alliance with commercial characteristics is proposed. • An evolutionary game model is developed to reveal evolution mechanism of alliance. • ROI of 6% or more can promote institutional investors' investment in CCUS. • Subsidy rate of 75% or more can urge downstream operators to operate independently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares the forecast performance of volatilities between two types of hybrid ANN and GARCH-type models. The findings show that EGARCH-ANN model performs better than other models to forecast the volatilities of log-returns series in Chinese energy market, and there are significant leverage effects in Chinese energy market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As an aggregate measure of the variations in individuals, the analysis of mobility provides a substantial and comprehensive perspective into the complexity of socio-economic systems. In this paper, we introduced the ranking mobility index to measure the ranking variations of the stocks in Chinese stock market over time. Using the daily data of 837 constituent stocks of the Shanghai A-Stock Composite Index from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2012, we examined respectively the dependence of ranking mobility with respect to the absolute return, trading volume and turnover ratio on the sampling time interval. The scaling property is observed in all three relations. The fact of long relaxation times gives evidence of long memory property in the stock ranking orders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Marine ranching have attracted wide attention in the marine fishery in recent years owing to numerous benefits for sustainable development. However, existing research efforts on marine ranching risk management are very limited, and no prior in-depth research has focused on studying the risk interdependencies in marine ranching from the perspectives of multiple risks. This paper begins by identifying 29 marine ranching risks using a systematic literature review and experts propose. Next, the cause-effect diagram and hierarchical network model of marine ranching are obtained using the combined DEMATEL - ISM method, which clearly confirms the interdependent relationships among various risk factors. It also identifies the most critical factors, which enables the operators of the marine ranching to make decisions to reduce risks. Then the hierarchical network model is mapped to a BN and expert judgments are further transformed into the conditional probability distribution by software Netica, in order to quantify the strength of the interdependent relationships among the marine ranching risk system, and determine main paths resulting in risk occurrence. According to the research results, the risk occurrence probability of marine ranching is high, with a probability of 85.1%，and the most approximate cause path leading to the occurrence of risk are determined—namely, X 27 (Long construction cycle) → X 10 (Financing difficulties) → X 15 (Safety hazards) → X 11 (Investment return risk) → Y(Marine ranching risk) and X 9 (Lack of technical talent) → X 8 (Monitoring failure) → X 2 (Habitat destruction) → X 26 (Large preinvestment) → X 10 → X 15 → X 11 (Investment return risk) → Y. Through the established risk analysis model, the key risk factors in the implementation process of marine ranching can be obtained, which is helpful for in-depth understanding of the risk information of marine ranching and more effective risk management of marine ranching. • The risk factors of marine ranching in China are identified. • DEMATEL, ISM and BN are used in the research of risk assessment of marine ranching. • The hierarchical relationship of risk factors of marine ranching is figured out. • The most approximate cause path leading to the occurrence of risk is determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of sectoral diversification on the Chinese banks’ return and risk using panel data on 16 Chinese listed commercial banks during the 2007-2011 period. We construct another new diversification measure, taking systematic risk of different sectors into consideration by weighting them with their betas and compare the results with those of more conventional measure HHI. We find that sectoral diversification is associated with reduced return and also decreased risk at the same time, which however, contradicts existing findings in developed countries and also in emerging economies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We investigate the cross-correlation between price returns and trading volumes for the China Securities Index 300 (CSI300) index futures, which are the only stock index futures traded on the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX). The basic statistics suggest that distributions of these two time series are not normal but exhibit fat tails. Based on the detrended cross-correlation analysis (DCCA), we obtain that returns and trading volumes are long-range cross-correlated. The existence of multifractality in the cross-correlation between returns and trading volumes has been proven with the multifractal detrended cross-correlation analysis (MFDCCA) algorithm. The multifractal analysis also confirms that returns and trading volumes have different degrees of multifractality. We further perform a cross-correlation statistic to verify whether the cross-correlation significantly exists between returns and trading volumes for CSI300 index futures. In addition, results of the test for lead-lag effect demonstrate that contemporaneous cross-correlation of return and trading volume series is stronger than cross-correlations of leaded or lagged series. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Taking 187 high-tech listed companies in China as samples, using the Cox model, an empirical test on the influence factors of high-tech enterprise credit risk is carried out. The empirical results show that, the financial situation has significant effect on credit risk of high-tech enterprise, especially the current ratio, accounts receivable turnover, total assets turnover ratio, return on equity, etc; and also the independent innovation capacity has significant effect on credit risk of high-tech enterprise, the stronger the independent innovation capacity is, the lower high-tech enterprise credit risk becomes. However, the influence of regional factor on credit risk of high-tech enterprise is relatively limited, the influence of growing factor is not obvious, as well as enterprise scale, and the influence of industry factor should be further examined. Particularly, this paper provides evidence that there is a significant negative correlation between independent innovation capacity and credit risk of high-tech enterprise; this will contribute to financial institutions to increase the credit support for independent innovation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As a country that has chosen nanotechnology as one of its priority investment areas to facilitate leapfrogging in science and technology, China has already seen a return on investment in the exponential rise of scientific papers originating in Chinese nanotechnology labs. There has also been an increasing number of patents filed by Chinese inventors as well as fierce competition among Chinese localities for a prime position in the twenty-first century nanotechnology revolution. Based on fieldwork in China and secondary research, this paper examines the commercialization of nanotechnology in China from the intertwined perspectives of academia–industry relations, government support and policy, role of venture capital, and international connections, while also taking into account the views of Chinese nanoscientists. The results show that despite tangible success in publishing, patenting, and the creation of dedicated nanotechnology science parks, China's effort to commercialize nanotechnology has been much slower than anticipated by nanoscientists and political leadership. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Fifteen Chinese H-shares listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong are cross listed as ADRs on the NYSE. We empirically determine the role of security specific liquidity associated with those ADRs and their underlying H-shares on return spreads, differences between the returns on ADRs and their corresponding H-shares after controlling for ADRs and H-shares excess market returns and their respective price inverses denoting conditional betas. We use three proxies for liquidity, trading volume, turnover, and illiquidity () and find that only trading volume and turnover are consistent determinants of return spread for the majority of Chinese ADRs with primary listing in Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK). We use a switching regression model and find that the model parameter estimates are not stationary and change, often drastically between pre and post 2000 and 2003. Further tests using Bai Perron indicate return spreads data as non-stationary with multiple regime changes during the sample period. Further the causes of non-stationarity seem to be largely security specific and not driven by broad market swings in either market. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the paper, firstly, we fit the returns series with GARCH-EVT method, construct dynamic correlation coefficient matrix of elliptical copulas with DCC method, then analyze the dynamic dependency between stock index returns, finally calculate the CVaR of QDII funds through Monte Carlo simulation. Empirical study indicates that: while compared with dynamic Copula method, the static Copula model assuming the correlation between the assets is unchanged has overestimated the risk. CVaR value calculated by dynamic t Copula method is smaller than the one calculated via dynamic Gaussian Copula method. Accordingly, to optimize the investment portfolio, QDII fund manager should decrease the investment proportion in the developed market and emerging market while more money should be invested in Chinese A shares and the Hong Kong market.Kewords: QDII Fund; Dynamic Copula; CVaR [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: From the perspective of financial engineering, this article conducts empirical tests towards the impact of China''s A Stocks’ Reform (unlocking the non-tradable stocks) using event study method and finds positive and negative abnormal returns under different conditions. Such reform has a great effect on individual stocks. However, it is difficult to predict bullish or bearish solely on ‘style’, such as industries, market capitalization, unlocking ratio and the size of the shareholders. A hedge portfolio based on shareholders and unlocking ratio does not bring significant abnormal returns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper uses unique data on the shareholdings of both institutional and individual investors to directly investigate whether institutional investors have better stock selection ability than individual investors in China. Controlling for other factors, we find that institutional investors increase (decrease) their shareholdings in stocks that subsequently exhibit positive (negative) short- and long-term cumulative abnormal returns. In contrast, individual investors decrease (increase) their shareholdings in stocks that subsequently exhibit positive (negative) short- and long-term cumulative abnormal returns. These findings indicate that institutional investors have superior stock selection ability in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Financial volatility refers to the intensity of the fluctuations in the expected return on an investment or the pricing of a financial asset due to market uncertainties. Hence, volatility modeling and forecasting is imperative to financial market investors, as such projections allow the investors to adjust their trading strategies in anticipation of the impending financial market movements. Following this, financial volatility trading is the capitalization of the uncertainties of the financial markets to realize investment profits in times of rising, falling and side-way market conditions. In this paper, an intelligent straddle trading system (framework) that consists of a volatility projection module (VPM) and a trade decision module (TDM) is proposed for financial volatility trading via the buying and selling of option straddles to help a human trader capitalizes on the underlying uncertainties of the Hong Kong stock market. Three different measures, namely: (1) the historical volatility (HV), (2) implied volatility (IV) and (3) model-based volatility (MV) of the Hang Seng Index (HSI) are employed to quantify the implicit volatility of the Hong Kong stock market. The TDM of the proposed straddle trading system combines the respective volatility measures with the well-established moving-averages convergence/divergence (MACD) principle to recommend trading actions to a human trader dealing in HSI straddles. However, the inherent limitation of the MACD trading rule is that it generates time-delayed trading signals due to the use of moving averages, which are essentially lagging trend indicators. This drawback is intuitively addressed in the proposed straddle trading system by applying the VPM to compute future projections of the volatility measures of the HSI prior to the activation of the TDM. The VPM is realized by a self-organising neural-fuzzy semantic network named the evolving fuzzy semantic memory (eFSM) model. As compared to existing statistical and computational intelligence based modeling techniques currently employed for financial volatility modeling and forecasting, eFSM possesses several desirable attributes such as: (1) an evolvable knowledge base to continuously address the non-stationary characteristics of the Hong Kong stock market; (2) highly formalized human-like information computations; and (3) a transparent structure that can be interpreted via a set of linguistic IF–THEN semantic fuzzy rules. These qualities provide added credence to the computed HSI volatility projections. The volatility modeling and forecasting performances of the eFSM, when benchmarked to several established modeling techniques, as well as the observed trading returns of the proposed straddle trading system, are encouraging. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We perform return interval analysis of 1-min realized volatility defined by the sum of absolute high-frequency intraday returns for the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (SSEC) and 22 constituent stocks of SSEC. The scaling behavior and memory effect of the return intervals between successive realized volatilities above a certain threshold are carefully investigated. In comparison with the volatility defined by the closest tick prices to the minute marks, the return interval distribution for the realized volatility shows a better scaling behavior since 20 stocks (out of 22 stocks) and the SSEC pass the Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) test and exhibit scaling behaviors, among which the scaling function for 8 stocks could be approximated well by a stretched exponential distribution revealed by the KS goodness-of-fit test under the significance level of 5%. The improved scaling behavior is further confirmed by the relation between the fitted exponent and the threshold . In addition, the similarity of the return interval distributions for different stocks is also observed for the realized volatility. The investigation of the conditional probability distribution and the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) show that both short-term and long-term memory exists in the return intervals of realized volatility. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To realize the high-quality development of China's marine economy, it is important to vigorously promote blue finance and increase the support of science and technology finance for the innovation development of the marine industry. Based on the existing literature research, this paper uses two-step empirical evidence to investigate the role of science and technology finance on the innovation efficiency of the marine industry by combining the development status of science and technology innovation, science and technology finance in the marine industry. The results of the study show that government financial investment in science and technology finance has a significant contribution to the innovation efficiency of the marine industry; The innovation efficiency of marine industry is positively but not significantly affected by the investment of enterprises' funds in science and technology, and the innovation efficiency is inhibited by the investment in entrepreneurial risk management. In addition, there are still large differences in the efficiency of innovation in the marine industry among different regions. Moreover, we propose the government support the marine industry science and technology innovation fully, optimize risk investment and improve the investment return guarantee mechanism, and unblocked the indirect financing channels of the financial market for the sea-related science and technology innovation enterprises, and give policy recommendations to develop the marine industry science and technology innovation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we explore the impact of a feed-in tariff (FIT) reduction in combination with the introduction of a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) on the development of distributed photovoltaic generation (DPVG) in China. This is done using system dynamics models that can simulate a DPVG's return on investment, installed capacity, levelized cost of electricity, and grid parity for multiple scenarios. The results show that the FIT reductions have a short-term negative effect on the DPVG installations. However, they can be performed in China without sacrificing the grid parity goal. In fact, FITs could be completely cancelled within the next 2–3 years. It is more effective to simply cancel the FITs after maintaining the current FITs for several years compared to a slow FIT reduction every year. After the FITs are cancelled, an RPS can effectively help continue the trend towards grid parity. However, we also need to consider the relation between the RPS quota, the installed capacity, and the tradable green certificate-supply/demand/price. The DPVG industry has already realized the demand-side grid parity, while residential- and commercial-DPVG are expected to reach the supply-side grid parity within 4–7 years and 5–8 years, respectively. • Development of a system dynamics model of China's distributed PV generation. • Simulation and cost/investment analysis with different scenarios. • Effect of feed-in tariff reductions and introduction of renewable policy standard. • Grid-parity analysis of residential and commercial distributed PV generation in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Franchising is a strategic partnership formed by the franchisor and the franchisee, and consequently partner selection between the franchisor and the franchisee is critical to the long-term success of a franchise. However, the literature has primarily taken the viewpoint of franchisors, but failed to explore the perspective of the potential franchisees. As China represents a significant growth opportunity for international hotel franchisors, this study examines the perspective of China''s domestic hotel operators regarding franchising and analyzes a mix of factors that may affect such perspective. The study of 182 Chinese hotel general managers shows that China''s hotel practitioners have considerable interest in franchising and are knowledgeable about the concept as it pertains to hotels. The findings indicate that the length of work experience and educational background of Chinese hotel operators may influence their franchising preferences. Hotel chains that have strong brand awareness, supportive centralized reservation systems, and offer relatively high returns on investment at relatively low franchise fees, are most attractive to potential Chinese franchisees. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper divides Chinese A-Share IPO initial returns into the initial return in the primary market and in the secondary market. Our empirical evidence shows that the initial abnormal return in the secondary market is significantly positive. This study also finds that 1) the initial return in the primary market is negatively related to the subscription or lottery ratio; 2) the initial return in the secondary market is positively related to the market return, and negatively related to IPO offering prices; 3) the initial turnover is negatively related to the offering size; 4) the initial turnover has no impact on the initial return in the secondary market but the latter has a significantly positive influence on the initial turnover. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study investigates the link between macro and non-macro explanatory factors and Chinese hotel stock returns. Macro variables include growth rates of industrial production and imports, discount rates, yield spread and inflation rate. In addition, growth rate of total foreign tourist arrivals () was introduced as another critical macro factor that may affect Chinese hotel stock returns, considering a tremendous growth of tourism in China. Empirical results indicated that the impact of was positive, but insignificant. Thus, Chinese hotel stock returns were more sensitive to general macro variables. Non-macro events that could significantly impact Chinese hotel stock returns encompass financial crises, natural disasters, wars, terrorist attacks, political events, and sports mega-events. Discussions and conclusions are provided to guide hospitality investors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Although variable-air-volume system (VAVS) can save much energy compared with other kind of HVAC system (e.g. constant-air-volume system (CAVS), fan-coil system (FCS)), it demands more investment. The rate of return of variable-air-volume system, which is closely related to the energy-saving rate of the system, ought to be taken into account by the engineers in the course of design. China has a wide territory and different climates that will impact on the energy-saving rate of variable-air-volume system. To help the engineers have a good idea of the rate of return of variable-air-volume system in different areas of China, it is necessary to establish such program that can evaluate the energy-saving rate of variable-air-volume system compared to constant-air-volume system and fan-coil system. In this paper, the specific energy models of the primary equipments in HVAC system are established, and the evaluation program for the energy-saving of variable-air-volume system compared to constant-air-volume system and fan-coil system are expounded. The parameters in the energy models, which may impact the validity of the evaluation program, can be obtained from the field-testing data or the performance data provided by the product manual. One small office building is taken as an example, the year-round energy simulations of the three kinds of HVAC systems (variable-air-volume system, constant-air-volume system and fan-coil system) of the same building have been made, and the energy-saving of the variable-air-volume system has been evaluated in six cities of China by the program. The evaluation program can also be used to analyze the energy-saving of variable-air-volume system in medium and big office buildings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examines the effects of executive gender diversity (EGD) and board gender diversity (BGD) on hotel financial performance in China based on the framework of the gender role, agency, and resource dependence theories. This research documents a negative effect of EGD and no significant effect of BGD on hotel financial performance. Moreover, the effect of EGD on hotel financial performance captured by return on equity (ROE) exhibits a U-shaped curve, with the profitability measure bottoming out at 21%. Our analysis also shows that a critical mass of 40% of EGD serves as a positive moderator for the EGD-ROE relationship. Beyond this point, gender-balanced executive groups evade negatives rooted in the gender role theory, enjoy positives drawn in the agency and resource dependence theories, and generate superior financial performance compared to all-male executive groups. This research offers important implications for human resource management and policy and regulation formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China continues to focus on renewable energy in its future development, the energy performance of biofuels has become a hot research topic. However, existing bioenergy assessments have used diverse indexes and inconsistent system boundaries, hindering the comparative analysis of different technologies. Generally, improvements in energy quality (e.g., from solid to gaseous fuel) are accompanied by increases in nonrenewable energy investment. To quantify this trade-off, this study examined the energy return on investment (EROI) of typical biomass conversion systems in China—namely, biomass compression, biodiesel, bioethanol, biogas, biomass gasification, and biomass power generation. Various feedstocks were considered, including first-generation (e.g., corn), second-generation (e.g., corn straw), and third-generation (e.g., algae) feedstock options. The system boundaries of previous biomass footprint calculations are unified to make the results comparable. The results showed that converting raw biomass feedstock to solid fuel had the highest EROI (8.06-24.13), followed by biomass power (2.07-16.48), biogas (1.24-11.05), biodiesel (1.28-2.23), second-generation bioethanol (1.18-9.90), first-generation bioethanol (0.68-3.12), and biomass gasification (1.12-1.57). Compared with fossil fuels (e.g., gasoline, diesel), biofuels had a higher average EROI, indicating obvious energy-saving benefits. Among all biomass conversion pathways, pyrolysis gasification had the highest EROI opportunity cost for both straw and wood residues. This study's findings highlight the need for consistent system boundaries in bioenergy technology deployment to quantify the EROI opportunity cost of each biomass conversion pathway, and recognize the importance of energy efficiency promotion to enhance the economic feasibility of biomass energy industries. Image 1 • Energy return on investment (EROI) of biomass conversion systems in China was estimated. • System boundaries from previous studies were unified for biofuels' EROI estimation. • Bioenergy typically has a higher average EROI than its referenced fossil fuel. • Energy costs of biofuels increase with the improved energy quality. • Economic and energy costs of different biomass energy systems are aligned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Two key hydrology-related open issues on the "Sponge City" program in China are discussed. • The trade-off between the investment for the SCP and its potential benefits can be used to determine proper VCRAR. • Nonstationarity of rainfall data should be considered for estimating proper rainfall threshold, to achieve the VCRAR. For managing the worsening urban water disasters in China, the Government of China proposed the concept of " Sponge City " in 2013 and initiated the strategy in 30 pilot cities from 2015. Despite the promise of the concept, there have been many challenges in implementing the "Sponge City" program (SCP). In this manuscript, we discuss the hydrology-related challenges in implementing the SCP. In particular, we consider two key challenges: (1) Determination of the " Volume Capture Ratio of Annual Rainfall " (VCRAR), as controlling urban stormwater runoff is one of the core targets of the SCP; and (2) Estimation of a proper rainfall threshold, which influences the layout of green-infrastructures in the SCP to achieve the core VCRAR target. To discuss these challenges, we consider the city of Beijing, the capital of China, as a case study. Our analysis shows that the trade-offs between the investment for the SCP and its potential economic benefits should be considered by undertaking a proper determination of VCRAR. The VCRAR estimated for Beijing from the present analysis is 0.73. This value is more reasonable than the empirical value of 0.80 that is presently used, as it can guarantee the positive rate of return on the investment. We also find that the nonstationary characteristics of rainfall data and their spatiotemporal differences are important for the estimation of the rainfall threshold in SCP. For instance, even using the daily rainfall data over a period of 30 years (1983–2012) in Beijing, as required by the National Assessment Standard, the estimated rainfall threshold of 27.3 mm underestimates the reasonable rainfall threshold that should at least be larger than 30.0 mm. Thus, the former cannot ensure the VCRAR target of 0.80. Based on these results, we offer proper approaches and key suggestions towards useful guidelines for delivering better SCP in the Chinese cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the largest coal and the second largest crude oil consumer in the world, China has urgent task to develop its renewable energy industry quickly. By now, there are over 80 renewable energy companies listed in China's stock exchanges. Thus to manage the market risk and achieve better investment returns of renewable energy stocks in China is of great value for policy makers and investors. The aim of this paper is to introduce an innovative portfolio allocation approach, robust portfolio, to improve portfolio performance of renewable energy stocks in China by considering the parameter uncertainty in the process of portfolio optimization. Furthermore, to make the conclusions more robust, we classify the stock market into three commonly recognized statuses: bull market, bear market and steady market, respectively, and compare the performances of robust portfolio method with traditional Markowitz approach. The empirical results indicate that the robust portfolio method can produce better performance of the renewable energy stock portfolio than Markowitz approach in various market statuses with much more flexibility in handling the problem of parameter uncertainty. This paper provides an alternative but very effective strategy other than Markowitz method for the portfolio allocation of renewable energy stocks in China. • Renewable energy stocks in China are analyzed in a portfolio allocation framework. • Robust portfolio method is utilized to improve the portfolio performance. • Both in-sample and out-of-sample performances of the renewable energy stocks are evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]