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The Swedish Paradox is a well-known phenomenon related to high research and development (R&D) investment with supposedly low aggregate economic performance owing to economic saturation. The Korean economy has not yet become an advanced economy; however, its R&D performance is negligible. Recently, also the R&D share of the GNP has become much higher, and its contribution to the economic growth rate is rapidly decreasing, implying a negative relationship between R&D activities and economic performance. This study uses slacks-based data envelopment analysis to investigate investment performance at the local government level in Korea. Our findings reveal that the average score for R&D investment performance in Korea is 64%, indicating huge potential for an efficiency enhancement of 36%. Notably, among the 16 local governments examined, Seoul and its surrounding metropolitan areas showed the lowest R&D efficiency, while Gangwon and Gwangju exhibited superior performance. Since these two regions have promoted specific missions, such as the medical hub in Gangwon and the optical fiber strategic platform in Gwangju, precise and accurate differentiation appears necessary to avoid a lack of governance. To determine the workable mechanism of R&D support policies, we further divided R&D productivity into three categories by incorporating the Malmquist Index (MI). The paper productivity of R&D shows an increasing trend over the experimental period from 2016 to 2021. However, overall, the MI shows slightly deteriorating productivity with 0.978, owing to the aggravating effect of patents and commercialization of R&D. The success in the paper comes from the harmonized partnership between the strong push factor of the government and voluntary pull factor of the R&D support receiving universities. Thus, we suggest that the Korean government should not depend on the superficial effectiveness of R&D in the term but on public–private partnerships with stronger performance-oriented responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the nexus between digital financial inclusion and household participation in commercial insurance, utilizing data from the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index and the 2018 CFPS database. Using Probit and Logit models, our research uncovers significant regional and risk -preference variations, emphasizing the influence of governance mechanisms. The study underscores the pivotal role of digital participation in a sustainable governance mechanism in shaping financial behavior, as well as the importance of advocating for regulatory interventions, enhanced financial literacy, and infrastructure development to foster equitable insurance access. Moreover, positive determinants, such as education level and social insurance participation, are identified, while discretionary spending emerges as a barrier. This study advocates for expedited digital financial inclusion initiatives to increase financial literacy with strengthened regulatory oversight and governance mechanisms which would ensure sustainable regional development and insurance market resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy and environmental studies (E&E) have faced a significant turning point due to the lack of reliability of the existing models, as well as the lack of policy governance. Most papers in E&E have adapted data envelope analysis due to its popularity, which is a result of its structure of having multiple inputs and outputs. However, due to its crucial weakness in statistical reliability, diverse new methodologies to gain better reliability have been developed, such as difference-in-difference and computational general equilibrium models, but they are still do not popular because the world has not shown significant progress in the abatement of carbon emissions. This comes not only from the lack of appropriate, precise research models, but also from a worldwide lack of governance. Most countries advocate for the necessity of E&E policies, yet their policies alone are not enough for sustainable performance, due to the lack of reliability and/or weakness of public–private partnerships. This Special Issue shall examine all of these new challenges to the methodologies, as well as the implications and suggestions arising from their empirical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many developing countries have been experiencing the problems of urbanization, particularly regarding carbon emission and polluted air emission mitigation. Is it possible to simultaneously achieve these two different clean and green economic strategies? This study analyzes this paradoxical issue of air pollution in terms of PM2.5 efficiency. To evaluate the performance of regulatory policies on air pollution and to find out the governance factors, this paper adopts the stepwise approach. In the first stage, we evaluate the cross-sectional PM2.5 efficiency of 16 Korean municipalities for the period between 2012 and 2017 and determine whether this performance is sustainable using the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI). We concluded that most local governments lack sustainable governance on regulation policies for clean air. Using the Tobit model in the second stage, this study showed that regional economic development (GRDP) and an patent for clean air technology innovation are the most important strategic factors that promote sustainability in regulation policy performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the ever-increasing pressure of environmental crises stemming from natural disasters, it is worthwhile to analyze the new paradigm of sustainable challenges in the context of green growth policies and green IT strategies in the Northeast Asian region, based on performance-oriented governance. The primary aim of this special issue is to study and identify new conceptual characteristics associated with this revolutionary paradigm shift in the field of innovation in Asia. It is crucial to discuss the theoretical modeling underpinning these green growth and green IT strategy case studies. Diverse comparative studies on these policies and strategies would assist us in understanding the paradigm shift taking place in the area of performance-oriented green growth, an aspect important for the future of global economy and social change. As a workable mechanism, most papers emphasize the leading role of the government to facilitate the governance on the green growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the factors affecting the governance of technological training programs under official development assistance (ODA) for the information and communication technology sector. There are diverse theories explaining the effectiveness of ODA in recipient countries. The most representative theories are based on paradigm shifts over time, starting from classical economic growth support, proceeding to socioeconomic integration, and ending with sustainable governance in the macro perspective. In general, ODA is considered to contribute to the development of recipient countries. However, the question of the effects of ODA still remains unanswered. This may result from methodological bias, which considers all arguments in parallel as independent variables. Inconclusive results may also arise from the missing link between ODA influx and its performance. Using the stepwise approach, the present study identifies this missing link in terms of mediation. Using the partial least squares regression (PLS) model, our empirical research concludes that sociocultural factors could be fully mediated, while sustainable governance factors, in terms of internal capacity and readiness, are partly mediated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study proposed a taxonomy of green governance for sustainable development. • This study proposed the influencing factors of green governance to achieve sustainable development based on the existing literature. • A case study was conducted to evaluate whether a country needs to adopt a green governance policy to achieve sustainable growth. • This study provides some practical implications based on the findings of the paper. It is undeniable that our environment is constantly evolving and citizens are facing new issues and challenges related to the environment around the world. Green governance is essential to achieve the goals agreed upon by local and global governments. The concept of green governance makes it possible to understand the integration of the actors of each governance form during decision-making. In this article, we identify the research gap and propose a taxonomy of green governance for sustainable development. We used factor analysis to construct the taxonomy of green governance. We also proposed the critical influencing factors of green governance to build sustainable development. To evaluate the importance of green governance for reducing CO 2 emissions and other energy-related consumption, this study conducted two case studies with empirical analysis on the OECD Indian dataset of green growth indicators. The Indian green growth indicators are predicted using a machine learning technique that employs linear digression, support vector machine (SVM), and Gaussian process. The analysis shows that the taxonomy of green governance—global governance, adaptive governance, climate governance, ecological governance, self-governance, energy governance, and information technology (IT) governance—are related to each other and can work on the same objective by pursuing different activities. In addition, the case study analysis shows that the SVM is the superior technique in terms of predicting the time series data in this study. Based on the analysis, this study suggest that green governance is vital for achieving global sustainable goals for future growth, and policy-makers should keep this in mind when making environmental policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the concept of Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) has evolved into a widely used analytical framework for sustainable economic development. But in reality, the RIS does not seem to be workable due to the lack of governance. To reduce this operational risk, the emphasis on the structure as well as network management of the system should be merged into a more market-oriented as well as performance-oriented governance. In Korea, there are seven RISs among 14 regions nationwide. Empirically, they are not very sustainable. Thus, the article proposes the role of metamediary for the facilitation, network service provision, and collaboration of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 14 Korean airports shows low efficiency (0.323) during the period (2014 to 2018). • International airports show a much higher average efficiency (0.515) than domestic airports (0.131). • Airport efficiency is strongly related to the regional economic performance. • Korean airports exhibit many labor-intensive characteristics. This study examines the operational efficiency of 14 Korean airports on the local economy using a slack-based model data envelopment analysis. The average efficiency score of the 14 airports during the period (2014–2018) is 0.323, which implies there is a 0.677 potential improvement. International airports show a much higher average efficiency (0.515) than domestic airports (0.131). Among international airports, the three airports of Kimpo, Kimhae, and Jeju show better performances, while Muan (0.068) and Yangyang (0.037) show the worst performances. For domestic airports, only Gwangju Airport shows a slightly higher efficiency from the average (0.373), while all other domestic airports show a value less than 0.2. To investigate the governance link between airport efficiency and the nearby local economies, we conduct a panel regression at the second stage. Results show that airport efficiency is strongly related to the local economic performance, with a coefficient value of 1.39. We then calculate input elasticity based on Morishima elasticity to investigate which input investment should be carried out to fulfill the missing links on the governance of airports. Results show that Korean airports exhibit labor-intensive characteristics on average, implying that a facility-oriented expansion plan may not be the sustainable choice for local economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapidly growing economies of the countries in Northeast Asia have greatly affected the global community. The performance-oriented mechanisms for collaboration networking demonstrated by the governments and leading companies in these countries may deserve credit for their successful economic performance. The papers in this special issue seek to identify sustainable mechanisms and successful factors based on diverse sustainable development policies and sustainable management strategies. They emphasize the commitment of leadership, cultural adaptability, and procedural intermediation for performance-oriented e-governance in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue consists of selected papers from the 2019 Sustainable Asia Conference (SAC), an annual international conference held at the Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu, China, in June of 2019, and the 12th Sustainable Asia Conference held at Inha University, Incheon, Korea, in October of 2019. SAC is one of the leading international conferences for presenting novel and fundamental advances in sustainable development issues for Asia. Evidently, sustainable development urgently requires public and private cooperation for the challenges faced across diverse fields of activities because of the complex procedure of enactment. Northeast Asian countries are very sensitive to this matter because of the strong leadership of their governments, and thus, it is of utmost importance to develop sustainable governance mechanisms. Government-led political regulations could be much more important in Asia, but without the strong support of the private sector, they cannot be sustainable. We have already seen many policy failures in Asian countries during this initial stage of ecological civilization. Therefore, this Special Issue proposes the workable mechanism for sustainable development in diverse perspectives. This Special Issue focuses on diverse yet unique issues for sustainable development and its governance under the Paris regime in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northeast Asia is one of the most dynamic regions in the global economy in its dynamic change in the economic scape as well as in the challenge of environmental issues. In particular, many countries in Asia have experienced transitional challenges from a quantitative, GDP-oriented economic development toward environmental-friendly, sustainable development. The quality of the life became much more important for government policies, also fueled by the demand from the private sector. Nonetheless, these countries are experiencing much more severe and sarcastic skepticism in response to government policies, resulting in a lack of effective governance. The Sustainable Asia Conference (SAC) has promoted the importance of these challenges for 10 years since its inauguration in 2009. The major consensus on sustainable development reached at the conference may come from innovation in the positive-sum game approach to environmentally friendly development and sustainable governance in order for the initial innovation to be put into effect. Moreover, due to the complicated and complex process of solving environmental challenges, the countries in this region should cooperate with strong partnerships as well as open connectivity. Therefore, all the countries should participate in the project not as helpers, but as partners to create and share value through regional cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]