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Based on non-economic field promotion tournament theory, this study examines the linkage between civilized cities commendation policy (CCCP) and urban green innovation (UGI). Using the panel data of 279 cities in China from 2003 to 2018, the difference-in-differences, propensity score matching difference-in-differences, and difference-in-differences spatial dobbin models are established to verify the hypotheses. The empirical results show that CCCP has a positive effect on UGI; innovation investments and innovation talents significantly mediate the relationship between CCCP and UGI; environmental governance intensity positively moderates the relationships between CCCP and UGI, innovation investments and UGI, as well as innovation talent agglomeration and UGI; and the influence of CCCP on UGI has a spatial spillover effect and a spatial attenuation boundary. These findings provide practical insights towards the improvement of urban evaluation and commendation systems, as well as green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a time of rapid urban growth and development, it is becoming ever more important to monitor the carbon fluxes of our cities. Unlike Canada's commercially managed forests that have a long history of inventory and modelling tools, there is both a lack of coordinated data and considerable uncertainty on assessment procedures for urban forest carbon. Nonetheless, independent studies have been carried out across Canada. To improve upon Canada's federal government reporting on carbon storage and sequestration by urban forests, this study builds on existing data to develop an updated assessment of carbon storage and sequestration for Canada's urban forests. Using canopy cover estimates derived from ortho-imagery and satellite imagery ranging from 2008 to 2012 and field-based urban forest inventory and assessment data from 16 Canadian cities and one US city, this study found that Canadian urban forests store approximately 27,297.8 kt C (− 37%, + 45%) in above and belowground biomass and sequester approximately 1497.7 kt C year−1 (− 26%, + 28%). In comparison with the previous national assessment of urban forest carbon, this study suggested that in urban areas carbon storage has been overestimated and carbon sequestration has been underestimated. Maximizing urban forest carbon sinks will contribute to Canada's mitigation efforts and, while being a smaller carbon sink compared to commercial forests, will also provide important ecosystem services and co-benefits to approximately 83% of Canadian people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat hotspots cause environmental and health problems to residents in urban areas. Green space has been used to reduce the temperature in urban areas. However, the size and location of the green space that can reduce the temperature in those areas are challenging. This study aims to identify the heat hotspot of an urban area and estimate the green space proportion to reduce the heat hotspot. Therefore, the Split Window method (SW) was initially employed to calculate the Land Surface Temperature (LST) data from the Landsat series in the summertime of 2014, 2016, and 2018. The LST data 2018 were used in heat hotspot investigation using Moran's I and Getis-Ord Gi*. The results show the clustering patterns of LST occurring in barren lands, racetracks, and built-up areas in Buriram Municipality. Then, the monthly regression modeling between the green space proportions and LST was analyzed and applied to the hotspot areas. The green space proportions were represented by estimating in regression models showing the ratio of green space and decreasing temperature in hotspot areas. As a result, the green space proportion around 45% of the area is suggested to mitigate the heat hotspot. The explored green space proportion was applied to the 2014 and 2016 data to assess the feasibility of hotspot mitigation. This research presents a simplified technic that will enable urban planners to estimate the green space proportion to reduce the heat hotspots effectively [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periurban agriculture is a form of agriculture practiced around urban areas, where it retains both urban and rural characteristics, and which has multiple roles. It has been gaining an increased attention from researchers, practitioners and decision makers, for the potential contribution it can make in the face of current societal challenges. This paper explores the roles of periurban agriculture in Montenegrin context. Through two surveys carried out in the city of Nikšić as a pilot area, economic, social and environmental roles of periurban agriculture have been assessed. The conclusions indicate that periurban agriculture has a significant social role in the target area, unrealised economic potential and an environmental impact that should be better managed. The results are used to argue that periurban agriculture should be mainstreamed into Montenegrin agricultural policy, for its potential to contribute to the quality of life and environmental protection in periurban areas, as well as to food security on the local and national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to identify main drivers determining the geographical location of craft breweries in Slovakia. The main contribution of the article to the literature is to provide empirical evidence on the location determines of small firms as well as the focus on the Eastern European country both of which are less explored in the literature. The article employs a conditional logit model on a regional panel data dataset of craft breweries and location attributes covering 79 counties in Slovakia for the period 1995–2019. The estimated results suggest that agglomeration economies are key determinants of location choices. However, the agglomeration of small breweries has notably strong effect, while the agglomeration of large breweries and past brewing experience are statistically insignificant in affecting location choices. Further, important drivers of craft breweries location choices are demand factors linked to tourist sector development. Other drivers, such as urban effects, life quality and labour market conditions, seem not to play role or have rather a weaker impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the emerging performance and early development of new establishments considering the role of agglomerations. It creates distinctions between the most commonly observed types of new businesses, namely startups, spinoffs, and new establishments that result from a change in proprietorship. The empirical analysis reveals that new establishments with higher productivity emerge in regions with higher population density, regardless of the foundation type. While at the end of the time period analyzed, new establishments in more densely populated regions still show higher productivity levels than those in less densely populated regions, an agglomeration's role depends on the foundation type. Indeed, while spinoffs in more densely populated regions tend to reflect the higher productivity levels shown in the first time period, the productivity premium of startups in agglomerations diminishes over time. This analysis emphasizes the relevance of location for the setup and early development of new ventures and, more importantly, the varying role of agglomerations conditioned by the characteristics of new businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes stylized facts of three dimensions of population agglomeration and the radiation effects of central cities relating to the evolutionary laws of China's population distribution. We test with decennial census data from 2000 to 2020 to identify determinants of population agglomeration and radiation effects. The results show that the distance to the major ports, central cities, and city centers of central cities determines China's population concentration. Moreover, central cities have apparent radiation effects. The closer to the central cities or the larger the population and economic scale of the central cities, the more the population is concentrated in peripheral cities or counties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technology reshapes the value chain (VC), driving value chain agglomeration (VCA). This study conducted an analysis of East Asia using a data factor flow model. The findings highlight that data researcher flow facilitates VCA while data capital flow restrains it, thus producing a VCA structure with duality. Moreover, the influence of digital technology on VCA is heterogeneous at national and industrial levels. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis employing the cross-term method shows that commodity trade intensity and trade cost have a positive role in data researcher flow on VCA, while regionalization impels the influence of data capital flow on VCA. In this case, the study provides useful insights for breaking the duality of East Asian value chain agglomeration (EAVCA) and offers empirical evidence for emerging economies to strengthen digital-driven development and achieve VC climbing by utilizing EAVCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Park green spaces (PGSs) are an important component of urban natural carbon sinks, while their spatial morphological patterns can affect the carbon sequestration capacity themselves. This study selected six typical urban parks in the central district of Shanghai and analyzed the correlation between spatial morphological indices and CO2 concentration distribution of the PGSs based on ENVI-met and BRT models. It further explored the interaction mechanisms in the carbon cycling process of urban PGSs under the influence of different spatial morphology. The results shows that urban PGSs play the role of carbon sink in diurnal period, and the difference of CO2 concentration distribution in green space is the largest at 11 a.m. The green biomass (Gb) and arboreal area ratio (Ar) are the most important indices affecting the distribution of carbon concentration. The two indices describing spatial patterns, namely, Cohesion (Co) and canopy density (CanopyD) also significantly impact CO2 concentration. These indices have a positive impact on carbon sinks. The parkway area ratio (Pr) is a disturbing index that also has an obvious negative impact on the distribution of CO2 concentration. The moderate herbs area ratio (Hr) and open land area ratio (Or) are conducive to regulating the microclimate environment and enhancing carbon sink capacity. There is an interactive relationship between spatial indices and microclimate environment indices, as well as physical and physiological indices in the carbon sink process of green areas. The study suggested that in green space management aiming at carbon reduction, combined with the influence threshold of Gb on carbon reduction and paying attention to the importance of green amount on carbon sequestration, the vegetation density and allocation ratio should be rationally distributed to form a park green space landscape with efficient carbon fixation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I estimate the role of agglomeration economies and other local factors on productivity differences across Turkish provinces, which are some of the highest seen in OECD countries. Using a novel administrative dataset and historical instruments to deal with estimation concerns, I find that the elasticity of productivity to density is higher than in developed countries. Moreover, using an individual panel at the regional level, I find weak sorting effects for workers, contrasting with evidence from developed countries. These results suggest that urbanization patterns could be operating differently in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tourism Tribune / Lvyou Xuekan is the property of Tourism Institute of Beijing Union University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Boosting oxygen evolution reaction by local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) provides breakthrough opportunities for the promotion of solar energy conversion; the potential of LSPR, however, has rarely been tapped and investigated. Here, we report the precise regulation of commercial Au nanoparticles plasmonic nanomaterial and OER electrocatalysts, viz. the NiCoOx electrocatalytic layer with hole transport ability and photothermal effect is prepared on the surface of Au nanoparticles by photoelectrodeposition. The NiCoOx layer not only increases the transmission distance of holes generated by plasmonic Au nanoparticles, but also reduce the agglomeration of plasmonic Au nanoparticles during long‐time OER reaction, which greatly improves the OER catalytic ability. The current density of NiCoOx/Au anode achieves 16.58 mA cm−2 at 2.0 V versus RHE, which is about 6.5 times of pristine NiCoOx anode (2.56 mA cm−2) and 47 times of pristine Au anode (0.35 mA cm−2). More importantly, with the LSPR and photothermal effect of plasmonic Au nanoparticles, the NiCoOx/Au anode provides additional current density of 7.01 mA cm−2 after illumination, and maintains no attenuation for more than 2000 s. Benefiting from the solution of agglomeration problem of plasmonic Au nanoparticles in the long‐time OER process and the effective utilization of generated holes of plasmonic Au nanoparticles, this design can provide guidance for the application of plasmonic materials in the field of electrocatalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide quantitative results from GIS-based modelling of urban emission functions for a range of representative low- and mid-rise locations, ranging from individual streets to residential communities within cities, as well as entire towns and city regions. Our general aim is to determine whether lantern photometry or built environment has the dominant effect on light pollution and whether it is possible to derive a common emission function applicable to regions of similar type. We demonstrate the scalability of our work by providing results for the largest urban area modelled to date, comprising the central 117 km2 area of Dublin City and containing nearly 42,000 public lights. Our results show a general similarity in the shape of the azimuthally averaged emission function for all areas examined, with differences in the angular distribution of total light output depending primarily on the nature of the lighting and, to a smaller extent, on the obscuring environment, including seasonal foliage effects. Our results are also consistent with the emission function derived from the inversion of worldwide skyglow data, supporting our general results by an independent method. Additionally, a comparison with global satellite observations shows that our results are consistent with the deduced angular emission function for other low-rise areas worldwide. Finally, we validate our approach by demonstrating very good agreement between our results and calibrated imagery taken from the International Space Station of a range of residential locations. To our knowledge, this is the first such detailed quantitative verification of light loss calculations and supports the underlying assumptions of the emission function model. Based on our findings, we conclude that it should be possible to apply our approach more generally to produce estimates of the energy and environmental impact of urban areas, which can be applied in a statistical sense. However, more accurate values will depend on the details of the particular locations and require treatment of atmospheric scattering, as well as differences in the spectral nature of the sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance is a vital pursuit of firms' strategy and has caused substantial influences on firms' behavior and outcomes. Therefore, exploring how to facilitate the firms' ESG performance is necessary. This paper examines the role of CEOs' hometown identity in facilitating firm's ESG performance. Based on a sample of Chinese listed firms during 2010–2018, we compare the ESG performance of firms with hometown CEO with that of firms without hometown CEO and find that CEOs' hometown identity is associated with significantly higher ESG performance. The benchmark results still hold after instrumental variable regression, placebo test, propensity score matching, lagging, and altering the measurement of CEOs' hometown identity. Additional analysis shows that CEOs' hometown identity exerts a more prominent positive effect on ESG performance among firms with higher financing constraints and SOEs. Our findings reveal a bright side of CEOs' hometown identity: it facilitates ESG performance. Therefore, this paper's conclusion sheds new light on the bright side of CEOs' hometown identity from the perspective of firms' ESG performance and provides insights into how to improve ESG performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the relationship between agglomeration economies (urbanization, specialization, and diversity) and firm‐level performance during a period of deep economic downturn (2011–2018). We use data from the National Survey of Economic Activities for eight Tunisian manufacturing industries to explore which agglomeration externalities matter most for firm performance after the revolution. The analysis considers, in addition, the role played by selected firm‐specific characteristics. The empirical results, based on a multilevel analysis approach, sanction the importance of firm‐specific determinants of productivity and exporting. They also indicate that only specialization externalities have a positive and significant effect on firms' performance. The replicate results during a period of economic stability (1998–2004) show, however, that specialization and urbanization economies are both relevant predictors of firms' productivity and that more productive firms, in particular the smaller ones, are better able to benefit from agglomeration. This finding has not been confirmed for the post‐revolutionary period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current investigation, the influences of waviness and agglomeration factor of nanofillers on wave dispersion of embedded nanocomposite beams reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is investigated for the first time. These beams are supported on Winkler–Pasternak elastic foundation. The effective mechanical properties of nanocomposite beam are estimated by employing a blend of a new form of Halpin–Tsai micromechanical model and rule of mixture. The kinematic and kinetic relations of nanocomposite beam are computed based upon refined higher-order shear deformation theory. Moreover, the governing equations are derived by utilizing the Hamiltonian approach. Afterward, an analytical method is used in order to solve the obtained governing equations. Effects of the wide range of variants such as volume fraction of MWCNTs, slenderness ratio, waviness factor, random orientation factor, agglomeration factor and elastic foundation coefficient on the variation of wave frequency and phase velocity have been illustrated comparatively. Furthermore, the results are thoroughly discussed to obtain the highlights of each figure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a kind of "pro-agricultural" intellectual property, geographical indications have brand value and cultural value, and play a unique role in promoting agricultural economic growth and Rural Revitalization. This paper describes the spatial distribution and spatial trends of geographical indication products in China based on ArcGIS platform, and explores the spatial clustering characteristics of geographical indication products in China by using standard deviational ellipse and exploratory spatial data analysis methods. The results show that: (1) Fruit geographical indication products account for the highest proportion, flowers and handicrafts account for a relatively small proportion, and agricultural geographical indication is the most important component. (2) The province with the largest distribution of geographical indication products is Shandong, and the provinces with the largest number of registered geographical indication products in the fruit category are Shandong and Xinjiang. In terms of spatial trends, Chinese geographical indication products show a relatively smooth arc-shaped trend in the east-west direction and an obvious inverted U-shaped trend in the south-north direction. (3) Chinese geographical indication products have obvious spatial agglomeration characteristics, and tea geographical indication products have the highest spatial agglomeration degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation, coordination, green initiatives, openness, and sharing are now considered to be essential building blocks for achieving high-quality economic development in China. Using a novel index, we investigate the impact of manufacturing agglomeration on high-quality economic development. Our results revealed the following: (1). The overall level of manufacturing agglomeration has been steadily decreasing, and there are significant differences in the spatial and temporal patterns of high-quality development across the country. (2). Manufacturing agglomeration promotes high-quality economic development not only within a region but also in its surrounding areas. However, different regions exhibit different spatial effects. (3). While manufacturing agglomeration simultaneously promotes economic growth, innovation, openness, and sharing between local and neighboring regions, it hinders local coordination and restrains green development in both local and neighboring regions. Overall, our findings provide timely policy evaluations on new policy trends in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes to corporate inventories in China impact the realization of green supply chains and improvements in resource utilization, and thus influence China's capacity to pursue green and sustainable economic development. This study examines how high-speed rail (HSR) impacts the green development of China's economy through a quasi-natural experiment using a differences-in-differences model from the perspective of corporate inventories and identifies the mechanisms involved. The study finds that enterprises' inventory levels decrease significantly after the opening of high-speed rail in cities where they operate; the average inventory holding decreases by approximately 6.0%, which greatly reduces resource waste and energy consumption. The information, innovation, and agglomeration effects generated by the opening of high-speed rail are found to reduce enterprises' inventory, indicating that the opening of high-speed rail strengthens and improves the efficiency of resource allocation between regions and enterprises and promotes the green transformation of the supply chain and the green development of the economy. Heterogeneity test results also show that the effect of high-speed rail opening on firm inventories is pronounced among non-state-owned, small, and non-exporting firms as well as downstream firms and light industrial firms in the supply chain. The findings of this study provide policy insights that Chinese manufacturing firms can use to utilize high-speed rail infrastructure more effectively to reduce costs, energy consumption, and resource waste, improve efficiency, and advance China's green economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of Broadband Network Infrastructure (BNI) on urban ecological innovation (EI). The implementation of China's "Broadband China" Demonstration City (BCDC) construction policy provides a quasi‐natural experiment for examining the causal effect of BNI on urban EI. Using the difference‐in‐differences method, we find that BNI significantly increases the number of green patent applications in local cities, and that the effect is increasing over time. Examination of the underlying mechanism reveals that BNI promotes urban EI through stimulating entrepreneurship, improving human capital level, and attracting investment agglomeration. This paper contributes to the understanding of why significant innovation frequently occurs in places with relatively perfect infrastructure, such as networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on studying the impact of the establishment of free trade zones on the growth of total factor productivity (TFP) in China's A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2019. The research explores how free trade zones promote TFP through enterprise innovation and resource allocation, particularly emphasizing the significant role of state-owned enterprises in innovation and their long-term positive impact on TFP.

In the process of the high-quality transformation and development of China's economy, one of the issues that needs to be resolved is how to strengthen the ability of finance to serve the real economy and improve the efficiency of financial operations. Pilot Free Trade Zones (PFTZs), highlands of institutional innovation, have played the role of a natural testing ground for China to deepen its financial supply-side reform and improve the efficiency of financial services in the real economy. On that premise, this paper discusses the policy effects and transmission channels for the financial reform of PFTZs to improve the efficiency of financial services in the real economy within China. The findings of the papar are the followings, (1) The reform of PFTZs has significantly improved the efficiency of finance in the real economy, having even achieved a sustainable effect. That is to say, with the extension of the duration of free trade zone construction and the gradual implementation of financial reform measures, the regional impact of financial services in the real economy has shown a year-on-year upward trend. (2) The effects of financial agglomeration, financial transparency, and optimization of financial infrastructure produced by the reform of PFTZs have played a significant regulatory role in the process of improving the efficiency of financial services in the free trade zones. (3) The effect of China's financial reform on PFTZs has fostered noticeable regional diversity; an important reason for the diversity of policy effect rests with the difference in transmission mechanisms. The conclusions of this paper expand the research dimension of the literature evaluating the effect of policy on PFTZs, and provide policy references from the perspective of financial reform in the free trade zones for China to further deepen financial supply-side reform and improve the efficiency of financial services in the real economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbon emission rights trading pilot (CERTP) policy is an important measure to promote low-carbon economic development. This pilot policy also affects the entry and survival of enterprises and is thus related to local government fiscal pressure. The objective of this paper is to examine whether the CERTP policy increases local government fiscal pressure. Based on the quasi-natural experiment of China's CERTP policy, using a dataset from 314 prefecture-level cities in China over the period 2005 to 2019, this paper applies the staggered difference-in-differences (DID) model to examine the impact of the CERTP policy on local government fiscal pressure, and further tests the spatial spillover effects and potential mediation mechanisms of this pilot policy. The results indicate that the implementation of the CERTP policy significantly increases local government fiscal pressure, especially in the eastern regions and regions with low economic development levels, which provides further evidence of a causal relationship between the CERTP policy and fiscal pressure. The results of the spatial spillover effects confirm that the implementation of the CERTP policy in neighboring prefecture-level cities would increase local government fiscal pressure in the local region. The results of the mediation mechanism effect reveal that the CERTP policy aggravates local government fiscal pressure by inhibiting the progress of green technology by enterprises, hindering the emergence of new enterprises, and increasing the number of closures of high-carbon emissions enterprises. This paper recommends that when implementing the CERTP policy, it is necessary to weigh the overall impact of the policy, not just its effect on carbon emissions reduction. The fiscal sustainability of local governments cannot be ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business groups are sets of firms tied together by a centralized control mechanism, and they represent the most common form of business organization worldwide. Business groups have internal labor and capital markets that help them overcome institutional voids. Despite the abundant literature on the location of business groups across countries, little is known about the factors that explain the choice of a location of firms affiliated with (or controlled by) business groups within a country. Building on business group literature and agglomeration economics, we propose in this study that more firms are affiliated with business groups in regions with limited access to strategic resources, finance, and labor. Empirical results based on a large sample of privately held French firms support the idea that business group affiliation is more common in regions with limited access to the workforce. However, we could not find any evidence in support of the argument that the degree of regional financial development influences the likelihood of a business group affiliation. Overall, the study provides evidence that the way businesses are organized, for instance, as business groups, depends on the degree of resource scarcity of the locations in which firms are created. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of reflective p-type Ohmic contact is an effective way to solve current crowding and improve the optoelectronic performance of flip-chip light-emitting diodes (FCLEDs). Here, we investigate the effects of annealing temperature, annealing time, and N2 flow rate on the formation for Ag/p-GaN Ohmic contact and determine the optimal annealing process parameters. After inserting an indium-tin oxide layer between Ag and p-GaN, the specific contact resistance decreases from 6.66 × 10−3 to 1.86 × 10−3 Ω cm2. In addition, we discover the appearance of a "black line" around the edges of the chips after high-temperature annealing. Finite element analysis and experiments show that the "black line" is related to Ag agglomeration under high temperatures due to stress concentration at the edges of the chips. A strategy for manipulating the stress concentration by adjusting the thickness of the TiW diffusion barrier layer is proposed based on insight obtained by modeling the stress distribution at the edge of the chips. The electrical properties of the fabricated FCLEDs show that the proposed stress manipulation strategy solves the problem of "black line" effectively and maintains the performance of the chips well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a household and enterprise energy survey dataset collected within the framework of the PeopleSuN project in Nigeria in 2021. Across three Nigerian geopolitical zones, a total of 3,599 households and 1,122 small and medium-sized enterprises were surveyed. The sample is designed to be representative of rural and peri-urban grid-electrified regions of each zone. Our surveys collect data on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, energy access and supply quality, electrical appliance ownership and usage time, cooking solutions, energy related capabilities, and supply preferences. We encourage academic use of the data presented and suggest three avenues of further research: (1) modelling appliance ownership likelihoods, electricity consumption levels and energy service needs in un-electrified regions; (2) identifying supply-side and demand-side solutions to address high usage of diesel generators; (3) exploring broader issues of multi-dimensional energy access, access to decent living standards and climate vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China has been encouraging enterprises to 'go global' and actively promoting the optimization of industrial structure, it is important to discuss the impact of its outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) considering producer service industry agglomeration. For analysing the mechanism by which the agglomeration of producer services affects China's OFDI, this study uses inter-provincial panel data from 2004 to 2019 and a spatial Durbin model to empirically test the impact of producer service agglomeration on OFDI. We show that the agglomeration of producer services significantly promotes OFDI in a particular region through economies of scale and enterprise productivity improvement. And it also significantly promotes OFDI in its neighbouring regions. The effect of producer service agglomeration on OFDI shows regional heterogeneity. Namely, the agglomeration of producer services in the eastern region promotes the OFDI in this region and it has not had a significant impact on the OFDI in neighbouring regions. Further, the agglomeration of producer services in the central and western regions does not have a significant effect on their OFDI and that of neighbouring regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on electricity consumption patterns. We highlight the importance of decomposing total electricity consumption into consumption by firms and by households to better understand the economic and social impacts of the crisis. While electricity demand by firms has fallen substantially, the demand by households has gone up. In particular, our focus is on Spain where, during the total lockdown, these effects reached –29% and +10% respectively, controlling for temperature and seasonality. While the electricity demand reductions during the second wave were milder, the demand by firms remained 5% below its normal levels. We also document a change in people’s daily routines in response to the stringency of the lockdown measures, as reflected in their hourly electricity consumption patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two spatial equilibria, agglomeration, and dispersion, in a continuous space core–periphery model, are examined to discuss which equilibrium is socially preferred. It is shown that when transport cost is lower than a critical value, the agglomeration equilibrium is preferable in the sense of the Scitovszky criterion, while when the transport cost is above the critical value, the two equilibria cannot be ordered in the sense of the Scitovszky criterion. • Welfare economic properties of a NEG model in a continuous space are investigated. • Agglomeration is preferable when transport cost is low. • Agglomeration and dispersion cannot be ordered when the transport cost is high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article invests in analyzing the impact of economic agglomeration on the technical efficiency of small and medium-sized enterprises: evidence from Vietnam. The stochastic frontier analysis and the general method of moments were employed to analyze data collected from the enterprise surveys of the General Statistics Office of Vietnam in the period 2013–2016. The research results show that technical efficiency and economic agglomeration tend to increase in Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises. Moreover, the economic agglomeration contributes positively to the increase in technical efficiency, while the upstream economic agglomeration has not made a clear contribution to the technical efficiency of small and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam. At the same time, factors such as cost management effectiveness, firm age, and export activities play an active role in improving technical efficiency for Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to develop a typology of firms operating in a peripheral economy. A three-way typology is presented which builds on previous studies, distinguishing between the 'pure agglomeration'," 'industrial complex' and 'social network' models. This typology is refined and applied to the Mersey Dee area, a cross-border region within the UK with a dispersed, segmented economy. Two case studies of firms located in the Mersey Dee are explored to test the typology and examine how these firms related to their places and to other firms and institutions, in the context of rapidly changing market conditions due to COVID-19 and Brexit. The findings confirm the typology and establish a clear contrast between firm types operating in a peripheral economy such as the Mersey Dee, providing relevant insights into the contributions they can make and how balanced regional development policies could support the heterogeneity and richness of their place-based economies. These approaches will differ from the traditional agglomeration or cluster model, typically advocated to build sustainable economic centres. Further research is recommended through comparator case studies of similar regions internationally, within the typology presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Technology Economics is the property of Chinese Society of Technology Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper identifies a new channel through which bankrupt firms undergoing liquidation impose negative externalities on their nonbankrupt peers. The liquidation of a retail chain weakens the economies of agglomeration in any given local area, reducing the attractiveness of retail centers for remaining stores and leading to contagion of financial distress. We find that firms with greater geographic exposure to bankrupt retailers are more likely to close stores in affected areas. We further show that the effect of these externalities on nonbankrupt peers is higher when affected stores are smaller and are operated by firms in financial distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although constructing innovative cities stimulates innovation, it may further widen regional innovation differences. Based on panel data from 275 cities in China from 2003 to 2020, the difference-in-differences method was used to examine the impact of the innovative city pilot policy on urban innovation convergence. The study finds that the pilot policy not only improves the innovation level of cities (basic effect) but also promotes innovation convergence among pilot cities (convergence effect). However, in the short-term, the policy slows the innovation convergence of the entire region. The results reveal the innovative city policy's multiple effects and dual character and capture the spatial spillover and regional heterogeneity of policy impact, highlighting the risk of further marginalizing some cities. This study supplements the evidence that government intervention affects regional innovation patterns based on the place-based innovation policy in China, providing theoretical support for expanding the follow-up pilot scope and the coordinated development of regional innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle industry is of great significance for China to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 and enhance the international competitiveness in the new energy vehicle industry. We propose a framework to evaluate the leading position in the innovation network of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and analyze the influential factors of the leading position. First, we construct China's hydrogen fuel cell vehicle innovation network and its two sub-networks through 3528 patents registered in China and applied by 254 Chinese and foreign innovators. Second, the positions of Chinese and foreign innovators in the network are evaluated. Last, the influential factors of the leading position are tested through regression analysis. The main results show that (1) China has formed a hub-and-spoke mode of innovation cluster in hydrogen fuel cell vehicle innovation network, but the inter-provincial innovation cooperation has not been formed in the industrial chain. (2) Universities and research institutes are important innovators in China's hydrogen fuel cell vehicle innovation network. Firms obtain knowledge through collaboration with them, which form an industry-university-research cooperation mode. (3) The number of Chinese leaders in hydrogen fuel cell vehicle network is increasing. Foreign innovators occupy the leading position in fuel cell sub-network, while Chinese innovators are the leaders in hydrogen infrastructure sub-network. (4) The leading position of Chinese innovators in hydrogen infrastructure sub-network is promoted by the patent applications of the universities, the development of equipment manufacturing, the government subsidies, and the competition of electric vehicles, while they are hindered by the scale of traditional automobile industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although equity is an important aspect of sustainable development, equity research has mainly focused on income and economics while paying insufficient attention to ecological equity. Therefore, aiming to improve our understanding of equity and promote environmental protection, this study introduced natural capital to measure regional ecological equity and analyze its driving factors. Based on ecological footprint (EF) and ecosystem service value (ESV), we constructed evaluation indexes and drew an "ecological Lorentz curve bundle" to analyze ecological equity in the Jing–Jin–Ji urban agglomeration (JUA) from 2009 to 2020. The results showed that economic development in JUA resulted in the severe depletion of natural capital, especially biological and energy resources, and the supply and demand of natural capital was in a low-level equilibrium state. Based on JUA's population base, natural capital utilization in the region had exceeded ecological equity, and the Gini coefficient of EF based on population was close to the international warning value of 0.4. Although economic development in JUA has promoted economic equity, it has also led to environmental inequity. Large cities such as Beijing and Tianjin, as well as industrial cities such as Tangshan and Handan, have had the greatest effects on ecological equity. Moreover, the excessive consumption of natural capital stock and energy-dependent industrial structures threaten ecological equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aléria was the main city of the island of Corsica in ancient times. Archaeological excavations in the area where ancient Aléria once stood began between the 1950s and 1960s and brought to light numerous inscriptions mainly carved on slabs of white marble; they constitute an important source of knowledge of the city's institutions, urban topography, society, and economy. The provenance of the marbles, on which the inscriptions were carved, can add important information about the history of the city. A first visual examination of the slabs or slab fragments allows us to state that Carrara is probably the provenance of most of the marbles used. Practical reasons lead us to believe that the provenance of these marbles can be traced back to two main quarry areas: Carrara, or somewhere in Corsica. The determination of the stable isotope composition of these marbles could solve this problem. Carrara marble, in fact, has a narrow range of isotopic variability, with values typical of marine carbonates, that allows for a strong characterization. The petrographic method of investigation was used, as a second step, on a reduced number of marble inscriptions to evaluate the effectiveness of the isotopic characterization of Carrara. The results of the analysis confirmed that most of the gray and white marbles studied have Carrara as their quarrying area; they also revealed that in Corsica the presence of ancient local marble quarries is uncertain, even in Roman times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aggregation kinetics of settling particles is studied theoretically and numerically using the advection–diffusion equation. Agglomeration caused by these mechanisms (diffusion and advection) is important for both small particles (e.g., primary ash or soot particles in the atmosphere) and large particles of identical or close size, where the spatial inhomogeneity is less pronounced. Analytical results can be obtained for small and large Péclet numbers, which determine the relative importance of diffusion and advection. For small numbers (spatial inhomogeneity is mainly due to diffusion), an expression for the aggregation rate is obtained using an expansion in terms of Péclet numbers. For large Péclet numbers, when advection is the main source of spatial inhomogeneity, the aggregation rate is derived from ballistic coefficients. Combining these results yields a rational approximation for the whole range of Péclet numbers. The aggregation rates are also estimated by numerically solving the advection–diffusion equation. The numerical results agree well with the analytical theory for a wide range of Péclet numbers (extending over four orders of magnitude). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the contemporary world, finance is crucial to economy and financial agglomeration has a lasting effect on the economic growth. The areas of financial agglomeration will influence the economy of the local parts throughout agglomeration effect, and have an impact on its spatially related parts. Based on Chinese inter-provincial panel data from 2007 to 2018, this study constructs an indicator system of financial agglomeration and measures provincial agglomeration levels to examine its impact on regional economic growth. The results show that, first, the level of financial agglomeration has a trend of steady change and presents a ladder-decreasing agglomeration pattern. Second, financial agglomeration could effectively promote the economic growth of local and spatially related regions. The development of the financial industry depended more on geographical distance, and the diffusion effect of financial agglomeration in the eastern, central, and western regions are in different stages. Finally, by summarizing the research conclusions, this study put forward some suggestions for China's regional economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slope climbing of urban land expansion (SE) has become an increasingly prevalent phenomenon, and it has resulted in unique characteristics in terms of urban form, landscape, and governance with challenges for sustainable urban development worldwide. However, relatively little concern has been given to the SE with a long time series worldwide. On the basis of urban entities extracted from Suomi National Polar‐Orbiting Partnership Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite‐like (SNPP‐VIIRS‐like) data, we attempted to quantify and evaluate global SE with the help of slope spectrum analysis from different scales (e.g., global, continental, national, and city scales) during the period of 2000–2020. Our study proves that urban entities not only identify physical scopes but also reflect the intensity differences of socioeconomic development, which can provide an accurate approach to evaluate the SE. We found that global urban entities increased from 157,733 km2 in 2000 to 470,632 km2 in 2020, representing a 1.98‐fold increase. The global average slope of urban entities was on an upward trend, from 0.85° by 2000 to 0.96° by 2020, an increase of about 0.11°. Asia, Africa, and South America have experienced an evident SE process, while North America has exhibited a slow SE trend. A remarkable phenomenon has been found in China, where rapid SE has occurred due to the country's unprecedented urbanization process. The change value of the upper limit slope of urban land and the average slope climbing index of urban land have also experienced a volatile growth trend at global, continental, national, and city scales. Our study suggests that sustainable urban development should take the SE phenomenon into considerations, and that reasonable governance policies and strategies should be formulated to address its potential impacts. Plain Language Summary: The slope climbing of urban land expansion (SE) can profoundly change the three‐dimensional spatial distribution pattern of urban land distribution, thus potentially resulting in some eco‐environmental problems. Most previous studies examined urban land expansion from an urban physical scope perspective, but a comprehensive understanding of SE is still lacking globally. This study identified urban entities using remotely Sensed nighttime light data from 2000 to 2020, and then evaluated the slope spectrum of urban entity characteristics at different scales, and further analyzed the SE differences of types and modes. The results show that urban entities identify not only physical scopes but also differences in socioeconomic intensity, allowing for accurate SE evaluation. Global urban land expansion presents an uneven slope climbing trend, and high‐intensity slope climbing and edge slope climbing are probably the most common phenomena in the world. This study can provide a benchmark for measuring and evaluate spatiotemporal characteristics of hillside urbanization and their environmental impacts in hill and mountain areas. Our findings also provide new insights for sustainable development goals of the economy, society, management, and ecological environment. Key Points: We present a novel view of slope climbing of urban land expansion from a urban entity perspective based on nighttime light dataThe global average slope of urban entities represents an upward trend, from 0.85° in 2000 to 0.96° in 2020Global urban land expansion presents an uneven slope climbing trend [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One main motivation of attracting inward foreign direct investment (FDI) for emerging economies is to obtain knowledge spillovers from developed countries and promote domestic innovation. The effects of FDI on innovation include both the direct effects from FDI on targeted domestic firms and indirect effects from foreign ownership on other foreign and domestic firms' innovation. Applying a design with a two-stage randomization procedure that allows for both direct and indirect effects of FDI on innovation and allows these two effects to vary with the share of foreign firms in a well-specified cluster, we empirically investigate the effects of inward FDI on Chinese firms' innovation using patent filings as a proxy for innovation. Our findings indicate that the potential innovation of firm varies with the share of foreign firms in the cluster. The approach used in this paper can help researchers and policymakers to better understand the benefits of inward FDI promotion programs, agglomeration and regional policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well-established that firms leverage both internal and external resources for their innovation activities. Even though the role of agglomeration economies in shaping the external resources available to firms has been particularly well-studied it is still unclear whether it is diversity or specialisation within agglomerations that drives firm innovativeness. We suggest that both do but that their relations with firm innovativeness are moderated by managerial industry experience. Using data from four South-East Asian economies we find that managers with more industry experience are better able to make the most of where they are, leveraging the opportunities afforded by their geographic environment. This finding is most pronounced in rural areas where firms with inexperienced managers almost never innovate, whereas half of the firms with experienced managers do. This suggests that future agglomeration research should be attentive to firm-level idiosyncrasies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Research suggests that multinational enterprises (MNEs) are attracted to locations with concentrated firms from the same home country to benefit from interactions with market forces, but it remains an open question whether such agglomeration facilitates MNEs' interactions with nonmarket actors such as the host government. We submit that since country‐of‐origin agglomeration can enable collective actions and create collective gains, colocation with compatriot firms will help MNEs navigate an adverse institutional environment. In line with this reasoning, we hypothesize that MNEs are more attracted to locations with country‐of‐origin agglomeration when MNEs face an exogenous shock that increases their regulatory burden in the host country. Our analysis offers corroborative evidence. The study adds to research on agglomeration, institutional environment, and location strategy. Managerial Summary: Why do multinational enterprises (MNEs) locate near compatriot firms in a foreign location? The commonly recognized benefits include resource access and knowledge spillover from interactions with market forces such as suppliers and customers. We submit that colocation with compatriot firms can also help MNEs navigate an adverse institutional environment by generating "stronger‐together" benefits. Colocation can enable collective actions and create collective gains for MNEs in their interactions with the host government. We find that after a diplomatic dispute, Korean MNEs are more attracted to locations in China that already have a cluster of Korean firms, whether in the same/related industries or in unrelated industries; this is particularly the case for small MNEs and in locations with weak institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we use the spatial econometric model with panel data to investigate the mechanism and effect of economic growth on public health in Western China. The research results show that the spatial agglomeration effects are significant on the public health performance in Western China. Economic growth significantly promotes local public health status during the range of our sample data, leading to reduced human mortality. Environmental pollution significantly increases human mortality not only in local province but also in neighboring provinces. As GRP per capita of a province continues to increase, the impact of environmental pollution on increasing human mortality has diminished gradually. Moreover, improving the level of technological progress and healthcare services significantly improve public health. Interestingly, as GRP per capita of a province continues to increase, the impact of technological progress and healthcare services on decreasing human mortality has gradually weakened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green growth refers to the economic growth strategy, which is less detrimental to natural assets, predominantly the environment. Therefore, the main motive of investment and innovation activities should be to attain economic growth while sustainably utilizing natural assets. In this regard, we aim to explore whether ICT diffusion and financial development matter for attaining green economic growth in BRICS economies. The long-run autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) results show that internet development exerts a positive influence on green growth in four BRICS economies excluding India. However, the long-run estimates of mobile cellular subscriptions are positive only in Russia and China. On the other side, the increase in bank credit and insurance premium also contributes to the long-run green economic growth in almost all BRICS economies. Policymakers should focus on the increased use of ICT in the economy that would replace the physical resources in the economy with information resources. Besides, financial services should be provided to individuals and small and medium enterprises involved in green consumption and production activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using fixed, mediating, and moderating effect models, we explored the impact of the digital economy on carbon emission intensity and its mechanisms based on panel data of 100 cities in 6 Chinese urban agglomerations from 2011 to 2019. The results show that (1) the digital economy development in the urban agglomerations can significantly reduce carbon emission intensity. (2) The digital economy in the urban agglomerations can indirectly reduce carbon emission intensity through the channels of green technology innovation and the information communications technology (ICT) industry. Furthermore, a higher degree of marketization in the urban agglomerations leads to a more pronounced effect of the digital economy on reducing carbon emission intensity. (3) The impact of the digital economy on the carbon emission intensity in the urban agglomerations is regionally heterogeneous. When the carbon emission intensity is at different quantiles, the effects of the digital economy on reducing carbon emission intensity are different. (4) The digital economy development has different impacts on carbon emission intensity when different urban agglomerations are approved. The digital economy development in the urban agglomerations can better reduce carbon emission intensity than that in other cities. Currently, China is in a significant period of rapid digital economy development and energy conservation and emission reduction. We revealed some new features of the digital economy and carbon emission intensity in urban agglomerations, providing a reference for promoting the construction of urban agglomerations, developing the digital economy, and reducing carbon emission intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased global demand for lithium is rapidly depleting the lithium ore reserves. Therefore, attention has turned to the recovery of lithium from aqueous solutions, such as lithium-containing brine. Compared with other methods of lithium recovery, adsorption is energy efficient and simple to implement, increasing demand for selective lithium adsorbents. In this study, a selective lithium-ion adsorbent, H4Ti5– x La x O12, was synthesized via the sol–gel method, followed by heat treatment and acid washing. The effects of the temperature and degree of lanthanum doping (x) on the crystalline phase, morphology, lithium-ion adsorption capacity, and lithium-ion selectivity of the ion sieve were investigated, and the optimal synthetic conditions were determined. We found that doping with La3+ cations (x = 0.01) increased the lithium-ion adsorption capacity (23.96 mg g−1 at 25 °C at pH = 12; 8.2% higher than before doping), rate, and selectivity. In addition, the ion sieve could be used over multiple adsorption–desorption cycles with only a minor reduction in the lithium-ion adsorption capacity (22.88 mg g−1). Overall, these results suggest that doping with La3+ cations stabilized the H4Ti5– x La x O12 crystal structure, alleviated particle agglomeration, expanded the lithium-ion channels, and decreased the resistance to lithium-ion migration, thus improving adsorption performance. The findings suggest that the proposed ion sieve has practical applications in the selective recovery of lithium from aqueous solutions containing a mixture of metal ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers agglomeration economies. A new firm is planning to open a plant in a country divided into several regions. Each firm receives a positive externality if the new plant is located in its region. In a decentralized mechanism, the plant would be opened in the region where the new firm maximizes its individual benefit. Due to the externalities, it could be the case that the aggregate utility of all firms is maximized in a different region. Thus, the firms in the optimal region could transfer something to the new firm in order to incentivize it to open the plant in that region. We propose two rules that provide two different schemes for transfers between firms already located in the country and the newcomer. The first is based on cooperative game theory. This rule coincides with the τ -value, the nucleolus, and the per capita nucleolus of the associated cooperative game. The second is defined directly. We provide axiomatic characterizations for both rules. We characterize the core of the cooperative game. We prove that both rules belong to the core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]