Search Results (330)

Against the backdrop of China’s “dual-carbon” goals, the complex interplay between fiscal decentralization and green taxation presents significant challenges for climate governance. This study examines the impact of green taxation on carbon emissions within the context of fiscal decentralization, with a particular focus on spatial spillover effects and multidimensional indicators of fiscal decentralization. Drawing on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces between 2007 and 2022, we apply spatial Durbin and moderating effect models to examine these relationships. Our findings reveal a counterintuitive positive association between green taxation and carbon emissions, indicating the presence of a “green paradox.” Furthermore, the three dimensions of fiscal decentralization—revenue decentralization, expenditure decentralization, and fiscal autonomy—demonstrate heterogeneous relationships with carbon emissions, including inverted U-shaped, U-shaped, and linear patterns, respectively. The interaction effects between green taxation and fiscal decentralization also exhibit notable spatial spillover effects and emission reduction potential. The contribution of this study lies in its integrated analysis of multidimensional fiscal decentralization, spatial econometric methods, and underlying mechanisms, thereby addressing underexplored dimensions of China’s environmental fiscal policy. These findings not only provide policy insights for China but also offer valuable references for other developing and transitional economies striving to align fiscal and environmental governance. Full article

Addressing the challenges of insufficient incentives, weak constraints, and superficial adoption in promoting human–robot collaboration (HRC) in the construction industry, this study develops a tripartite evolutionary game model among government, contractors, and on-site teams under bounded rationality. Lyapunov stability analysis and numerical simulation are employed to conduct parameter sensitivity analyses. The results show that a strategy profile characterized by flexible regulation, deep adoption, and high-effort collaboration constitutes a stable evolutionary outcome. Moderately increasing government incentives helps accelerate convergence but exhibits diminishing returns under fiscal constraints, indicating that subsidies alone cannot sustain genuine engagement. Reducing penalties for contractors and on-site teams, respectively, induces superficial adoption and low effort, whereas strengthening penalties for bilateral violations simultaneously compresses the space for opportunistic behavior. When the payoff advantage of deep adoption narrows or the payoff from perfunctory adoption rises, convergence toward the preferred steady state slows markedly. Based on the discussion and simulation evidence, we recommend dynamically matching incentives, sanctions, and performance feedback: prioritizing flexible regulation to reduce institutional frictions, configuring differentiated sanctions to maintain a positive payoff differential, reinforcing observable performance to stabilize frontline effort, and adjusting policy weights by project stage and actor characteristics. The study delineates how parameter changes propagate through behavioral choices to shape collaborative performance, providing actionable guidance for policy design and project governance in advancing HRC. Full article

In the current soil erosion control efforts, the lack of collaboration among multiple stakeholders is a major problem that restricts governance performance. Based on carbon trading and the Public–Private Partnership model, this paper constructs a tripartite differential game model involving the government, enterprises, and farmers, focusing on the government subsidy and the enterprise–farmer benefit-sharing mechanism. It systematically analyzes the dynamic evolution process of multi-stakeholder collaborative governance behavior under the collaborative mechanism. Through numerical simulation, the impacts of key variables such as benefit-sharing ratio, synergy effect of measures, and unit carbon sequestration on the optimization of enterprise governance measures, effort level, government fiscal expenditure, and tripartite benefits were analyzed. The results indicate that (1) the benefit-sharing ratio has a significant bidirectional regulatory effect on the system, with both excessively high and excessively low ratios weakening the collaborative governance effect; (2) the synergistic effect between governance measures significantly enhances the enthusiasm of enterprise governance and promotes the allocation of resources towards measure with better carbon sequestration benefits; and (3) the unit carbon sequestration significantly affects governance structure and government subsidy strategies, with the government being more sensitive to carbon sink responses of afforestation measures. The research results provide a theoretical basis for optimizing the ecological governance system under the “dual carbon” goal and also provide policy references for promoting the transformation of governance model from “government-led” to “multi-stakeholder collaboration”. Full article

Urban carbon reduction is instrumental in enabling cities to realize their developmental sustainability objectives. However, regional disparities in economic development pose significant challenges to low-carbon transitions. This study utilizes panel data from 282 cities in China spanning 2006–2021, considering the energy saving and emission reduction (ESER) fiscal policy as an external shock. Using a multi-period difference-in-differences approach, we assess how ESER impacts urban carbon emissions. Our findings indicate that ESER significantly reduces municipal carbon emissions by an average of 23.3% compared to non-pilot cities. Mechanism analyses suggest that this effect operates through reduced energy consumption, improved industrial structure, and enhanced green innovation. ESER’s impact exhibits heterogeneity across cities with different levels of economic development, population size, innovation capacity, and industrial composition. Moreover, we find evidence of spatial spillover effects, as ESER benefits extend to neighboring regions. These results confirm the effectiveness of ESER in promoting low-carbon development and offer practical implications for enhancing environmental governance through green fiscal instruments. Full article

This research evaluates the financial sustainability of a basic income (BI) model funded through carbon taxation in Türkiye. Unlike classical BI models that provide unconditional transfers to everyone, this study proposes an income support scheme targeted only at those below the poverty line. The model seeks to balance limited resources with the goal of social equity. In this scenario, sectoral carbon taxation evolves progressively. The tax starts with the energy sector, which has the highest emissions, and subsequently shifts to industry and other sectors. Emissions will be reduced by 1% each year, while a carbon tax that starts at USD 12 per ton will be dynamically converted to TL based on the increasing exchange rate year by year. The simulation looks at 2023–2050 and computes annual revenue and expenditure forecasts for the period. The findings indicate that the revenues from carbon taxation are not only sufficient to cover the prioritized expenditure in the targeted basic income (TBI) scheme but also will lead to fiscal surplus in the long run. The research proposes for the first time a framework which integrates social protection and the environmental taxation of carbon, synergizing policies aimed at alleviating income disparity and climate change within Türkiye’s context. Full article

The growing importance of local governments, alongside the swift development of their bond markets, provides a novel framework for examining the coordination of monetary and local government fiscal policies in China. This investigation contributes a new viewpoint on local fiscal sustainability by emphasizing the role of policy coordination. Empirical evidence derived from regression models and proxy structural vector autoregression (Proxy SVAR) analyses conducted in this study substantiates the presence of coordination between monetary and local government fiscal policies in China; nevertheless, such coordination may pose risks to long-term local fiscal sustainability. Drawing on empirical data, this study utilizes a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model that integrates key features characteristic of the Chinese economy to investigate the coordination of monetary and local government fiscal policies, as well as the effects of this coordination on local fiscal sustainability. The results derived from the baseline model indicate that although monetary and local fiscal policies in China are coordinated, such coordination facilitates the accumulation of local government debt, which ultimately compromises long-term local fiscal sustainability. Furthermore, the baseline model is extended and examined through multiple analytical approaches. When local government competition is introduced, monetary policy and local government fiscal policy become disconnected, which undermines local fiscal sustainability. Conversely, when local government cooperation is introduced, monetary policy and local government fiscal policy become more coordinated, which in turn improves local fiscal sustainability. Moreover, a higher steady-state debt level among local governments promotes greater coordination between monetary and fiscal policies, resulting in stronger fiscal sustainability. However, the imposition of debt constraints on local governments diminishes this coordination and adversely affects local fiscal sustainability. Additionally, in the absence of local financial friction, monetary and local fiscal policies exhibit increased coordination; however, this may potentially undermine long-term local fiscal sustainability. It is therefore imperative for the central government of China to prioritize the harmonization of monetary and local fiscal policies and to consider their implications for local fiscal sustainability, while simultaneously encouraging intergovernmental cooperation and the establishment of an integrated large-scale market. Full article

The effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policy in sustaining growth and facilitating recovery from economic crises is increasingly considered to be significantly influenced by the quality of a country’s institutions. Strong institutions may determine how well macroeconomic policies perform under both stable and turbulent circumstances. This study examines how institutional quality (IQ) moderates the effects of fiscal and monetary policies on economic growth in Thailand from Q1:2003 to Q4:2023. Using a combination of BART and BASAD models, we find that voice and accountability and control of corruption are key institutional factors. Among macroeconomic indicators, exports, household debt, gold prices, and electricity generation emerge as the most important drivers of growth during the study period. The findings showed that IQ stabilizes and enhances the impact of policy interest rates and export growth while mitigating negative shocks from household debt and energy infrastructure challenges. Monetary policy effectiveness varies and depends on governmental institutions. Fiscal policy remains mostly neutral but shifts with institutional conditions. These results highlight that strong institutions improve the efficacy of macroeconomic policies and support sustainable growth. This study empirically examines the moderating role of IQ in economic resilience and policy design in an emerging economy using microdata from Thailand as a focus and the Time-varying Seemingly Unrelated Regression Equation (tvSURE) model. Full article

Although it is generally accepted that economic freedom stimulates economic growth, its effects in transitional economies are still up for debate. More empirical research is needed to examine the long-term effects of economic freedom on growth in the Western Balkans, a region characterised by uneven reform trajectories, fiscal pressures, and institutional fragility. This study examines the effects of seven fundamental factors on real GDP per capita growth (annual percentage change) in six Western Balkan nations between 2013 and 2023. These factors include property rights, government spending, government integrity, business freedom, monetary freedom, trade openness, and education spending. Importantly, in order to better capture macroeconomic constraints, it takes into account two fiscal burden indicators: the public debt and the government budget deficit. A triangulated analytical framework is used: Random Forest regression identifies non-linear patterns and ranks the importance of variables; Bayesian Vector Autoregression (VAR) models dynamic interactions and inertia; and the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) handles endogeneity and reveals causal relationships. The GMM results show that while government integrity (β = −0.0820, p = 0.0206), government spending (β = −0.0066, p = 0.0312), and public debt (β = −0.0172, p = 0.0456) have negative effects on growth, property rights (β = 0.0367, p = 0.0208), monetary freedom (β = 0.0413, p = 0.0221), and the government budget deficit (β = 0.0498, p = 0.0371) have positive and significant effects on growth. Although the majority of economic freedom indicators are statistically insignificant, Bayesian VAR confirms strong growth persistence (GDP(−1) = 0.7169, SE = 0.0373). On the other hand, the Random Forest model identifies the most significant variables as property rights (3.72), public debt (5.88), business freedom (4.65), and government spending (IncNodePurity = 9.80). These results show that the growth effects of economic freedom depend on the context and are mediated by the state of the economy. Market liberalisation and legal certainty promote growth, but their advantages could be offset by inadequate budgetary restraint and difficulties with transitional governance. A hybrid policy approach, one that blends strategic market reforms with improved institutional quality, prudent debt management, and efficient public spending, is necessary for the region to achieve sustainable development. Full article

This study models a three-level supply chain (farmer–retailer–government) incorporating farmer risk aversion. Under land capacity and fiscal budget constraints, it analyzes two subsidy strategies: area-based subsidies to farmers (SF) and volume-based subsidies to retailers (SR). Key findings include that when farmer land capacity exceeds a critical threshold and the fiscal budget is constrained, SF yields superior performance to SR. Conversely, with sufficient budgets, SR outperforms SF under high land capacity. Under moderate land capacity and unlimited budgets, both strategies exhibit equivalent effects. When land capacity falls below a critical threshold, government subsidies become unnecessary. The SF strategy demonstrates greater resilience against output uncertainty compared to SR. Under constrained budgets, SF is preferable; SR becomes more advantageous with abundant budgets. Critically, increasing risk aversion significantly reduces social welfare under both SF and SR strategies. This indicates neither subsidy mechanism effectively mitigates the adverse effects of farmer risk aversion. Full article

The rapid conversion of cropland into construction land in China poses an increasing threat to national food security. Using high-resolution (30 m) land-use data from 2000 to 2020, obtained from the Resource and Environment Science and Data Center, along with spatial analytical methods such as land-use transition metrics and centroid-based migration models, this study identifies the spatio-temporal evolution and spatial migration patterns of construction land expansion and cropland loss. Combined with multi-source data, including socioeconomic, environmental, and topographic variables, this study employs a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to explore the spatially heterogeneous driving mechanisms of two key indicators: the dependency of construction land expansion on cropland (DEP) and the contribution of cropland loss to construction land (CON). The results reveal that cropland has generally increased in the west and decreased in the east, reflecting expansion in underdeveloped areas and shrinkage in wealthier regions. In contrast, construction land expansion shows polycentric and stage-specific characteristics. Both DEP and CON remain high in major grain-producing areas like the North China Plain. Among the influencing factors, the non-grain production rate strongly inhibits DEP, while chemical fertilizer use significantly promotes CON. The urbanization rate shows a southwest-to-northeast increasing inhibitory effect on DEP and a northeast-to-southwest increasing promoting effect on CON. Local fiscal expenditure and land degradation demonstrate spatially heterogeneous effects. These differences highlight the conflict between low-cost land development priorities and cropland protection policies. Full article

Economic systems face critical challenges, including widening income inequality, unemployment driven by automation, mounting public debt, and environmental degradation. This study introduces Economocracy as a transformative framework aimed at addressing these systemic issues by integrating democratic principles into economic decision-making to achieve social equity, economic efficiency, and environmental sustainability. The research focuses on two core mechanisms: Economic Productive Resets (EPRs) and Economic Periodic Injections (EPIs). EPRs facilitate proportional redistribution of resources to reduce income disparities, while EPIs target investments to stimulate job creation, mitigate automion-related job displacement, and support sustainable development. The study employs a theoretical and analytical methodology, developing mathematical models to quantify the impact of EPRs and EPIs on key economic indicators, including the Gini coefficient for inequality, unemployment rates, average wages, and job displacement due to automation. Hypothetical scenarios simulate baseline conditions, EPR implementation, and the combined application of EPRs and EPIs. The methodology is threefold: (1) a mathematical–theoretical validation of the Cycle of Money framework, establishing internal consistency; (2) an econometric analysis using global historical data (2000–2023) to evaluate the correlation between GNI per capita, Gini coefficient, and average wages; and (3) scenario simulations and Difference-in-Differences (DiD) estimates to test the systemic impact of implementing EPR/EPI policies on inequality and labor outcomes. The models are further strengthened through tools such as OLS regression, and Impulse results to assess causality and dynamic interactions. Empirical results confirm that EPR/EPI can substantially reduce income inequality and unemployment, while increasing wage levels, findings supported by both the theoretical architecture and data-driven outcomes. Results demonstrate that Economocracy can significantly lower income inequality, reduce unemployment, increase wages, and mitigate automation’s effects on the labor market. These findings highlight Economocracy’s potential as a viable alternative to traditional economic systems, offering a sustainable pathway that harmonizes growth, social justice, and environmental stewardship in the global economy. Economocracy demonstrates potential to reduce debt per capita by increasing the efficiency of public resource allocation and enhancing average income levels. As EPIs stimulate employment and productivity while EPRs moderate inequality, the resulting economic growth expands the tax base and alleviates fiscal pressures. These dynamics lead to lower per capita debt burdens over time. The analysis is situated within the broader discourse of institutional economics to demonstrate that Economocracy is not merely a policy correction but a new economic system akin to democracy in political life. Full article

We investigate whether China’s Value-Added Tax (VAT) Credit Refund policy influences firms’ sustainable development capability (SDC), which reflects innovation-driven growth and green development. Exploiting the 2018 implementation of the VAT Credit Refund policy as a quasi-natural experiment, we employ a difference-in-differences (DID) approach and find causal evidence that the policy significantly enhances firms’ SDC. This suggests that fiscal instruments like VAT refunds are valued by firms as drivers of long-term sustainable and high-quality development. Our mediating analyses further reveal that the policy promotes firms’ SDC by strengthening artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and facilitating intelligent transformation. This mechanism “AI Capability Building—Intelligent Transformation” aligns with the socio-technical systems theory (STST), highlighting the interactive evolution of technological and social subsystems in shaping firm capabilities. The heterogeneity analyses indicate that the positive effect of VAT Credit Refund policy on SDC is more pronounced among small-scale and non-high-tech firms, firms with lower perceived economic policy uncertainty, higher operational diversification, lower reputational capital, and those located in regions with a higher level of marketization. We also find that the policy has persistent long-term effects, with improved SDC associated with enhanced ESG performance and green innovation outcomes. Our findings have important implications for understanding the SDC through the lens of STST and offer policy insights for deepening VAT reform and promoting intelligent and green transformation in China’s enterprises. Full article

Population aging poses significant challenges to the sustainability of pension systems. This study presents an integrated methodological approach that uniquely combines actuarial life-cycle modeling with agent-based simulation to assess the potential of Reverse Mortgage Loans (RMLs) as a dual lever for enhancing retiree welfare and supporting pension system resilience under demographic and financial uncertainty. We explore Reverse Mortgage Loans (RMLs) as a potential financial instrument to support retirees while alleviating pressure on public pensions. Unlike prior research that treats individual decisions or policy outcomes in isolation, our hybrid model explicitly captures feedback loops between household-level behavior and system-wide financial stability. To test our hypothesis that RMLs can improve individual consumption outcomes and bolster systemic solvency, we develop a hybrid model combining actuarial techniques and agent-based simulations, incorporating stochastic housing prices, longevity risk, regulatory capital requirements, and demographic shifts. This dual-framework enables a structured investigation of how micro-level financial decisions propagate through market dynamics, influencing solvency, pricing, and adoption trends. Our central hypothesis is that reverse mortgages, when actuarially calibrated and macroprudentially regulated, enhance individual financial well-being while preserving long-run solvency at the system level. Simulation results indicate that RMLs can improve consumption smoothing, raise expected utility for retirees, and contribute to long-term fiscal sustainability. Moreover, we introduce a dynamic regulatory mechanism that adjusts capital buffers based on evolving market and demographic conditions, enhancing system resilience. Our simulation design supports multi-scenario testing of financial robustness and policy outcomes, providing a transparent tool for stress-testing RML adoption at scale. These findings suggest that, when well-regulated, RMLs can serve as a viable supplement to traditional retirement financing. Rather than offering prescriptive guidance, this framework provides insights to policymakers, financial institutions, and regulators seeking to integrate RMLs into broader pension strategies. Full article

This study employs k-means clustering to group 30 Chinese provinces into four CO₂ emission patterns, characterized by increasing emission levels and distinct energy consumption structures, and captures their dynamic evolution from 2000 to 2021 using a discrete endogenous Markov chain approach. While Shanghai, Jiangxi, and Hebei retained their original classifications, provinces such as Beijing, Fujian, Tianjin, and Anhui transitioned from higher to lower emission patterns, indicating notable reversals in emission trajectories. To identify the determinants of these transitions, GDP growth rate, population growth rate, and energy investment are incorporated as time varying covariates. The empirical findings demonstrate that GDP growth substantially increases interpattern mobility, thereby weakening state persistence, whereas population growth and energy investment tend to reinforce emission pattern stability. These results imply that policy responses must be tailored to regional dynamics. In rapidly growing regions, fiscal incentives and technological upgrading may facilitate downward transitions in emission states, whereas in provinces where emissions remain persistent due to demographic or investment related rigidity, structural adjustments and long term mitigation frameworks are essential. The study underscores the importance of integrating economic, demographic, and investment characteristics into carbon reduction strategies through a region specific and data informed approach. Full article

Amid intensifying global ESG regulations and the expanding influence of green finance, China’s digital economy policies have emerged as key institutional instruments for promoting corporate sustainability. Leveraging the implementation of the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone as a quasi-natural experiment, this study utilizes panel data of Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2023 and applies multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) and Spatial DID models to rigorously identify the policy’s effects on corporate ESG performance. Empirical results indicate that the impact of digital economy policy is not exerted through a direct linear pathway but operates via three institutional mechanisms, enhanced information transparency, eased financing constraints, and expanded fiscal support, collectively constructing a logic of “institutional embedding–governance restructuring.” Moreover, disruptive technological innovation significantly amplifies the effects of the transparency and fiscal mechanisms, but exhibits no statistically significant moderating effect on the financing constraint pathway, suggesting a misalignment between innovation heterogeneity and financial responsiveness. Further heterogeneity analysis confirms that the policy effect is concentrated among firms characterized by robust governance structures, high levels of property rights marketization, and greater digital maturity. This study contributes to the literature by developing an integrated moderated mediation framework rooted in institutional theory, agency theory, and dynamic capabilities theory. The findings advance the theoretical understanding of ESG policy transmission by unpacking the micro-foundations of institutional response under digital policy regimes, while offering actionable insights into the strategic alignment of digital transformation and sustainability-oriented governance. Full article