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In this research, we reassess the interplay between renewable energy consumption and key economic indicators in Fiji, using data spanning 1991 to 2020. Applying the ARDL bounds test for cointegration, we detect a long-run correlation among renewable energy use, service sector labor productivity, urbanization, ICT exports, and unemployment. Our analysis reveals significant long-term effects: higher labor productivity and unemployment rates encourage renewable energy consumption, whereas urbanization and ICT exports tend to decrease it. At the same time, short-term observations indicate that unemployment is negatively correlated with renewable energy adoption. Our study contributes fresh perspectives on sustainable growth amidst climate change for island countries like Fiji. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of significant environmental changes, the urgency of adopting green innovation has become increasingly apparent as a central mechanism for adjusting industrial structures in China. This transition serves not only as a crucial way to address pressing environmental challenges, but also as a fundamental strategy to improve the ecological efficiency of urban areas. Existing research mainly keeps a close eye on the unidirectional relationship between variables such as technological innovation and environmental protection. There is less relevant literature that has researched the cointegration relationship among green innovation, industrial structure, and eco-efficiency of cities. The essential role of green innovation and industrial structure in reaching a higher eco-efficiency of city are discussed in this research and the relationship among these three variables are analyzed by the evidence from cities in China from 2011 to 2019. The fact that the variables are cointegrated in the long run is evidenced by the results for the full sample. The sub-sample results report that in the eastern region, green innovation, industrial structure upgrading, and industrial structure rationalization could improve urban eco-efficiency. However, in Midwest regions where economic development is relatively backward, green innovation's effect on urban eco-efficiency is not in a significant positive way. The results obtained in this paper have implications for different cities in China to formulate corresponding policies on green innovation, industrial structure, and urban eco-efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to examine how international economic sanctions affect public health responses and outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for effective global health strategies amidst geopolitical tensions. This research empirically examines how economic sanctions affect the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in target countries for the period February 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022. We use a difference-in-differences (DID) estimator and our sample includes 181 countries, 83 of which are subject to economic sanctions. We document evidence that economic sanctions have a significant negative impact on the spread of the epidemic in the targeted countries by increasing daily confirmed cases and deaths. These negative effects are also more pronounced (i) with a longer duration of sanctions and (ii) for Asian countries. Furthermore, we find that the negative effect of economic sanctions is weaker when government responses are more severe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research concerning determinants of climate change mitigation technology (CCMT) development mainly focuses on the role of climate policy, environmental awareness, or R&D intensity. What has been rarely noticed is that the oil price, as an indication of primary energy costs, can make countries with high energy intensity lean toward renewable energy consumption and invest more in the innovation activities of CCMT. Employing a panel investigation of 30 economies from 1990 to 2019, We find strong evidence that rising oil prices promote CCMT performance. The positive effect of increased oil prices on CCMT is imposed by lowering energy intensity, increasing renewable energy consumption, and promoting energy-technology R&D. Such an impact is more pronounced for CCMT related to energy generation and efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and transportation. To obtain more concrete policy implications, we also explore heterogeneities of this promoting effect across different levels of economic development and oil dependence. • Increased oil prices positively affect CCMT's share in green innovation. • A rise in oil prices spurs CCMT innovation related to energy, greenhouse gases, and transportation. • The effect of oil prices on CCMT's share in green innovation is more notable in oil-importing, high-income, and developed economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central bank independence (CBI) is vital for maintaining stable economic expectations. Our work employs a panel of 161 economies during the period 1970–2019 to investigate the relationship between gender equality and CBI. By estimating a two-way fixed-effect model, we find that gender equality improvement promotes CBI. This baseline conclusion is confirmed to be robust to fungible indicators, cross-sectional dependence, and endogenous concern. One of these checks, which has a dynamic model specification, shows that CBI's effect could last for more than three years. Moreover, a set of extended investigations reveals heterogeneity, whereby the positive effect of gender equality on CBI is more profound in economies where there is less political segmentation of the product market, more existing educational resources, and fewer restrictions on accessing information from freely-expressed media. Based on our findings, relevant suggestions are provided for global investors and development banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green finance is a novel financial model that strikes a balance between economic gains and environmental preservation, and it is crucial in encouraging industrial companies to move towards environmentally friendly development. This paper examines the impact of green finance on the green transformation of industrial enterprises using the data of China's A-share listed industrial enterprises from 2009 to 2019. The study adopts a propensity score matching method and a difference-in-difference method (PSM-DID), based on the Green Credit Guidance (2012 Guidance) issued by China as a quasi natural experiment. The results suggest that: (1) Green finance contributes significantly to improving the green production efficiency of industrial enterprises. (2) Although the current impact of green finance on the green innovation of industrial enterprises is not statistically significant, it exhibits a positive influence in the subsequent period. (3) The results of the heterogeneity analysis show that the impact of green finance on the green transformation of industrial enterprises is asymmetric, with more emphasis on state-owned enterprises, enterprises with severe financial constraints, and enterprises with low industrial concentration. As a result, our study makes recommendations on how to best link CSR, green finance, and industrial green transformation. • We investigate the impact of green finance on green transformation of industrial enterprises. • Using the data of China's A-share listed industrial enterprises from 2009 to 2019. • The results suggest that green finance significantly improves industrial green production efficiency. • Our study makes recommendations on how to best link CSR, green finance, and industrial green transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research illustrates the impact of energy insecurity on green innovation based on green patent data from 1970 to 2018 in 40 sample countries. Through the bootstrap-based bias-corrected FE (BCFE) estimator analysis with the advantages of bootstrap-based bias correction in panels with cross-sectional dependence and in high-order dynamics, we first find that increased insecurity of fossil energy has an incentive impact on green innovation. Second, through sub-sample regression, we find that energy insecurity in non-OECD countries has a more significant positive impact on green innovation than OECD countries. Third, energy insecurity under the leadership of the left-wing party has no impact on green innovation, while the right-wing party exhibits a positive effect. Fourth, for oil-exporting countries and importing countries, the impact of energy insecurity on green innovation is significantly different. Finally, this paper examines the mediator role of energy and environmental policies and energy consumption structure through causal inference and confirms the mechanism for the impact of energy insecurity on green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the relationships between stock prices of solar enterprises and the COVID-19 pandemic for 18 enterprises from OECD countries and 3 enterprises from non-OECD countries from January 2, 2020 to March 8, 2021. The empirical results show that there exists a cointegration relationship between the pandemic and solar stock prices. Moreover, the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on solar stock prices exhibit heterogeneity, as the COVID-19 pandemic affects solar stock prices negatively in the full sample and OECD countries, whereas the pandemic negatively affects solar stock prices in both the short run and long run, but the effects are not significant in non-OECD countries. We conduct a series of robustness tests, including changing variables and employing the Markov switching regression for time-series analysis, and the results support our main findings. According to the empirical results, investors should be prudent about investing in solar enterprises, while policymakers should balance pandemic control and maintain economic performance when implementing prevention policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the time-varying correlation as well as long-run cointegration relationship between the carbon prices of the European market and the China market during the period 2013–2020. We adopt the Lagrange Multiplier (LM) unit root and cointegration test based on the univariate unit root test with one structural break and wavelet coherency analysis in the time–frequency domain. Overall, we validate a long-run cointegration among carbon prices of different markets when considering structural breaks. Additionally, there is a significant correlation among the carbon prices in the long term, but a weaker correlation in the short term, as presented by wavelet coherency. Hence, there is a solid foundation for the integration of China's carbon market with the global carbon market. Article Highlights: We investigate the carbon prices of the Europe market and the China market during the period 2013–2020. We find long-run cointegration among carbon prices of different markets when considering structural breaks. There a significant correlation among the carbon prices in the long term. China government should continue to integrate national carbon market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the impacts of three categories of epidemics on crude oil price using both an interaction term as well as a system of simultaneous equations, employing data from throughout the world for the period 1976 to 2018. Our empirical evidence confirms that epidemic strength is a key factor influencing oil price, and that the effect spreads from the stock market due to speculative investor behavior. Considering the wide heterogeneity of national development and income, the contagion channel of the stock market does not exhibit differences among countries based on variation in income level, but the influence of epidemics on oil price and on the contagion channel is significant in OECD countries. One policy implication is that countries should enact synergistic governance to prevent epidemic-based contagion. Moreover, national governments need to increase communication of information and decrease information asymmetry in the stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the influence of natural disasters on technological innovation for a panel of 49 countries. After controlling for endogeneity issues and using several measures of natural disasters (occurrences, deaths, affected people, and economic damages) we find that natural disasters have a significantly negative effect on technological innovation. We also study the disaggregated effects of natural disasters and find that earthquakes, extreme temperatures, floods, and storms influence innovations most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid spread of COVID-19 in 2020 has brought a profound impact on the global economy and forced countries around the world to adopt different intervention measures. Has COVID-19 and these government interventions affected exchange rate volatility? To answer the question, this research explores the impact of COVID-19 and the relevant government response policies on exchange rate volatility in 20 countries during the period of January 13, 2020 to July 21, 2020 by using system GMM estimation. The empirical results indicate that an increase in confirmed cases does significantly raise exchange rate volatility. The various policies adopted by governments in response to the pandemic, such as closing schools, restrictions on internal movements, and public information campaigns also inhibit exchange rate volatility. Furthermore, the economic response policies implemented by governments during the pandemic, including income support, fiscal measures, and international aid, have a restraining effect on exchange rate volatility. Our findings herein provide valuable information and implications for policymakers and financial investors around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the effect of extreme weather events on green innovation by using unbalanced panel data covering 117 countries from 1971 to 2018 and documents strong evidence that extreme weather has a significantly negative impact on green innovation. We also find among the four extreme weather events such as droughts, extreme temperature, floods, and storms that floods have the most prominent adverse impact on green innovation. Furthermore, the significantly negative effect of extreme weather is manifested in countries with a high level of corruption and low level of trade openness, but not in the countries with a low level of corruption and a high level of trade openness. Lastly, we show that extreme weather events have an adverse impact on green innovation by decreasing economic growth level, hindering financial development, widening income inequality, damaging the accumulation of human capital, and increasing the political risk. • This research investigates the effect of extreme weather events on green innovation. • By using unbalanced panel data covering 117 countries from 1971 to 2018. • Documents strong evidence that extreme weather has a significantly negative impact on green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green innovation is essential for human beings to balance growth and climate change mitigation. The corruption-green innovation nexus has been studied by two existing studies, but the relative weak econometrical work and the lack of exploration in the context of inter-government cooperation on global climate change call for a revisited investigation. Our research robustly tests and confirms that corruption has a significantly negative effect on green innovation, which overturns the opposing conclusion of the previous global examination. Moreover, we find that the signing of international environmental agreements (IEAs) mitigates corruption's negative effect in the short term, whereas IEA's entry into force deteriorates this hindering impact in the long term. Such a divergence may originate from a change in the expectation of economic entities in the government's enforcement quality of environment policies issued for meeting IEA's emission target. Lastly, we provide several suggestions for dealing with climate change more effectively from the perspective of global governance. • We investigate the relationship between corruption and green innovation. • The data span covers 162 countries from 1970 to 2019. • Corruption has a significant negative impact on green innovation performance. • The signing of the IEA remits this negative effect in the short term, while it tends to deteriorate it in the long term. • This divergence originate from a change in the expectation of economic entities in the government's enforcement quality of environment polices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research mainly examines the influence of democracy on forest protection by employing an estimation of generalized method of moments (GMM) and data on 111 countries during the period 1991–2018. The empirical results suggest that democracies tend to do better at forest protection, which is supported when we conduct several robustness tests. If the regimes transform from lower democratic to higher democratic, then this is also beneficial for forest protection. Although liberal democracy, electoral democracy, participatory democracy, and deliberative democracy promote forest protection, egalitarian democracy does not bring about the forest protection. Additionally, better control of corruption strengthens the positive effect of democracy on forest protection, while the utilization of renewable energy, trade globalization, and business freedom weaken it. Finally, parliamentary democracies and majoritarian democracies are more likely to protect forests than presidential democracies or proportional democracies. • This research examines the influence of democracy on forest protection. • By employing GMM estimation and panel data of 111 countries from 1991 to 2018. • The empirical results suggest that democracies tend to do better at forest protection. • Better control of corruption strengthens the positive effect of democracy on forest protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We examine the impact of political ideology on climate change. • Investigating the potential channels by which political ideology affects climate change. • Studying whether the effect of political ideology on climate change varies among different countries. • Investigating the interaction effect of political ideology and democracies on climate change. This research tests the casual link from political ideology to national greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing multinational panel data covering 98 countries during the period 1990–2016. Overall, the baseline results and robustness tests show a political divide on national greenhouse gas emissions, whereby compared to right-wing governments, left-wing governments are more likely to exhibit less carbon dioxide emissions. We further explore this topic from the perspectives of energy efficiency and education. Three-stage OLS regressions suggest that leftist parties increase energy efficiency and spend more on secondary education, which lead to less greenhouse gas emissions. We also introduce the interaction between political ideology and economic performance as well as globalization to test the moderating effects of economic performance and globalization. The study further looks into the interaction effects of political ideology and democracies on greenhouse gas emissions by dividing the whole sample into two sub-samples. The results indicate that the ideology effect on greenhouse gas emissions varies among countries with different economic performances or different degrees of political globalization, as well as between democracies and non-democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We have developed a nanoprobe-based colorimetric method for single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping. [•] The only equipment involved in the assay is a standard thermal cycler, allowing for easy deployment and cost-effective genetic testing. [•] The method is successfully used to gauge three SNPs that are associated with warfarin sensitivity. [•] The warfarin sensitivity assay kit has been validated with 249 human genomic DNA samples in four independent institutes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This research robustly investigates and verifies the impact of science-technology intermediary (STI) on regional innovation for panel data covering 31 provinces in China from 2000 to 2019. Overall, we find that STI's effects on regional innovation are positive, no matter in the static or dynamic model, reflecting that more innovation-related entities may be motivated to plug into a STI-centered network due to increasingly positive externality, which in turn strengthens STI's innovation-enhancing effect over time. Giving consideration to both development and transaction costs in innovation activities, this study explores three mechanisms of the STI-innovation nexus. (1) STI reduces transaction cost, which then stimulates collaborations of innovation. (2) STI facilitates specialization in innovation-related resources' optimal redistribution, improving regional capacity to successfully convert existing elements into innovation outputs. (3) STI strengthens the capacity to absorb the knowledge spillover from neighboring provinces and foreign countries. All arguments herein are supported for the case of China. • We investigate the relationship between Science-Technology Intermediary and innovation. • The data span covers 31 provinces in China from 2001 to 2019. • Both STI's static and dynamic effects on regional innovation are positive. • Three channels, transaction cost, reallocation, and spillover, that mediate the STI-innovation relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents cross-country evidence on whether and how legal origins affect technical innovation. Using panel data on 120 countries between 1996 and 2019 and the Least Square Dummy Variable (LSDV) approach, we find that common law countries generally perform better in both technology innovation inputs and outputs than their civil law counterparts. Interestingly, we further present that French civil law countries exhibit the worst innovative performance, whereas German and Scandinavian civil law countries might even exceed common law countries in technical innovation. At least, there is no solid evidence to show that common law countries outperform German and Scandinavian civil law countries in technical innovation. Our findings further show that legal origins affect technical innovation via the political channel and the adaptation channel, and that legal origins' actual role in technical innovation correlates with their impacts on financial development and private property protection. Our study offers new insight into legal origins' economic consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We explored the impact of health innovation input on disease burden. • For 70 countries spanning 2001–2016 by panel fixed effects model. • The health innovation could generate a relieved and non-linear lagged impact on disease burden. • We provide the differentiated evidence of health innovation inputs on disease burden. Increasing healthcare costs and aging demographics have attracted widespread attention from around the world. This research thus utilizes two measurements of proportion of R&D expenditure on health to GDP and health researchers per million inhabitants for 70 countries spanning 2001–2016 by panel fixed effects model. We incorporate GDP, education, corruption, pollution, urbanization, unemployment and current health expenditure as control variables to investigate the impacts of health innovation on disease burden. The conclusion illustrates that the health innovation could generate a relieved and non-linear lagged impact on disease burden. Next, we provide the differentiated evidence of health innovation inputs on disease burden from life cycle perspective. Furthermore, we carry out sub-samples of the Red Cross, religious and high welfare to examine the heterogeneity of utility of health innovation inputs on disease burden. Additionally, the evidence proves that right-wing parties and efficient governments tend to use health innovation resources effectively. Overall, alternative beneficial implications are offered in accordance with our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies the new heterogeneous panel cointegration technique to re-investigate the long-run comovements and causal relationships between tourism development and economic growth for OECD and nonOECD countries (including those in Asia, Latin America and Sub-Sahara Africa) for the 1990–2002 period. On the global scale, after allowing for the heterogeneous country effect, a cointegrated relationship between GDP and tourism development is substantiated. It is also determined that tourism development has a greater impact on GDP in nonOECD countries than in OECD countries, and when the variable is tourism receipts, the greatest impact is in Sub-Sahara African countries. Additionally, the real effective exchange rate has significant effects on economic growth. Finally, in the long run, the panel causality test shows unidirectional causality relationships from tourism development to economic growth in OECD countries, bidirectional relationships in nonOECD countries, but only weak relationships in Asia. Our empirical findings have major policy implications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]