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The Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis suggests that sustainable economic growth can be achieved in transitional countries after the threshold level of per capita income. And trade openness is also one of the critical factors to help transitional economies reduce carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth simultaneously through the combination of scale, composition, and technique effects. This paper is designed to explore the effect of trade openness on the environmental quality and investigate the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for a panel of CIS countries over the period of 2000–2013. The two-equation model is used to estimate the direct effect of trade openness on CO2 emissions and the indirect effect via per capita income. The instrumental variable techniques are employed to consider for endogeneity of per capita income and trade openness to estimate the indirect effect, and GLS analysis is conducted to estimate the direct effect of trade openness on CO2 emissions. The result shows that trade openness increases CO2 emissions directly while indirectly decreasing it due to its negative effect on per capita income. This study provides multiple policy implications for the sample countries to help them achieve sustainable economic growth while improving environmental quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the global economy has become further integrated, the international production chain has become more sophisticated, with diversified stages of production located in different countries. Economic theorists have argued that the fragmentation of the global production chain is partly attributable to the high growth in international trade over the past several decades. In this study, we examine vertical specialization in China, Japan and Korea, and its contribution to these nations' trade. Using a multilevel model, it is illustrated that vertical specialization has encouraged increases in trade among all three countries. In particular, China's outcome is remarkable considering how recently it became a member of the WTO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how reverse knowledge spillover (RKS) generated through outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) promotes sustainable development in an investment home country. Economic, social, and environmental dimensions are the pillars of sustainable development and their indicators are developed upon the concept of institutional quality. To this end, we use a balanced panel of 30 Chinese Mainland provinces from 2003 to 2016 and employ a simultaneous equation model to analyze the data in order to observe the direct and indirect effects of OFDI-induced RKS on sustainable development. The current study adopts several indicators to capture the economic, social, and environmental aspects of sustainable development. Additionally, we classify RKS into two types, given the investment destinations in terms of developed economies and emerging economies. On the one hand, our findings confirm that OFDI-induced RKS from developed economies facilitates domestic innovation but negatively affects progress on social and environmental development. On the other hand, OFDI-induced RKS from emerging economies is not conducive to domestic innovation, but it directly fosters sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourist loyalty is one of the most crucial aspects in determining the sustainable growth of a tourism destination. In attempting to find an aspect that boosts tourist loyalty for sustainable development of a tourism destination, the role of destination social responsibility (DSR) has begun to attract the attention of researchers and tourism stakeholders. This study empirically examines the structural relationship between DSR, destination image, and tourist loyalty using data collected from international tourists who have visited Hoi An in Vietnam through a self-administrated survey. Also, this study takes the cultural differences between Asians and Westerners into consideration regarding insights on tourism marketing. The results show that the socially responsible behavior of a tourism destination positively affects tourist loyalty by forming a positive image of the destination. And the results of the comparison between the Asian and the Western groups on the structural relationships of the perceived DSR, destination image, and tourist loyalty show that different cultures afford different degrees of importance to the components of DSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As climate is not only a valuable tourism resource but also a factor influencing travel experience, estimating climate volatility has implications for sustainable development of the tourism industry. This study develops the Climate Volatility Index (CVI) using a Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model and estimates the relationship between CVI and Japanese tourism demand in Korea, using a tourism demand model based on monthly data from January 2000 to December 2013. Possible time lags and multicollinearity among variables are considered for the model specification. The results show that an increase in climate volatility leads to a decrease in tourism demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to define destination social responsibility as a multidimensional construct and examine the relationships between destination social responsibility, tourists' emotions and their satisfaction, through the lens of corporate social responsibility. A model is empirically tested with a sample of 359 random foreign tourists visiting Hoi An, Vietnam. The results indicate that all destination social responsibility dimensions, including economic, environmental, legal–ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities significantly enhance tourists' emotions, while only legal–ethical and philanthropic responsibilities directly affect tourists' satisfaction. The findings also confirm the mediating effect of emotions between destination social responsibility and tourists' overall satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]