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Systematic and comprehensive understanding of stakeholder relationships is the key component for achieving social sustainability of brownfield regeneration (BR), which has not been recognized by existing researches. Based on the widely acknowledged idea of social networks, this paper proposes a systematic research framework for the analysis of stakeholder relationships, with a focus on the dynamic and networked nature of relationships. The relationship network of stakeholders in BR is considered from three aspects: identifying the stakeholders and relationships among them, quantifying stakeholder relationships, and analyzing relationships network structure. The proposed stakeholder relationships analysis framework uses empirical methods (i.e., interviews and surveys), rationalistic methods (i.e., fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and social network analysis (SNA)) to analyze stakeholder relationships. To demonstrate the usability of the proposed framework, we apply it to the BR in China. The results show that: (1) it is feasible to mine the relationships of stakeholders from the social network perspective; (2) from the individual network aspect, the government, developers, government are at the core of the network with the highest network centrality during the recycling and contamination treatment stage, the construction stage and the use stage, respectively; (3) from the local network aspect, different cohesive subgroups with strong linkages are formed throughout the life cycle of BR; (4) from the overall network aspect, the highest density of the use stage means that there is good cohesion among stakeholders at this stage; the centralization of the construction stage is the highest, indicating that the stakeholders have relatively concentrated network power and loose relationships. The paper puts forward suggestions for improving the network structure of stakeholder relationships, including strengthening the network relationship between the government and environmental non-government organizations (ENGOs), improving the monitoring efficiency and network status of news media, establishing a construction consulting platform that effectively serves the public and end-users, forming the alliances among end-users, the public and ENGOs and enhancing the relationship network stability. Overall, this study helps to clarify stakeholder relationships by providing a systematic framework to encourage better stakeholder engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of environmental information disclosure on firm pollution behavior by leveraging an exogenous shock which allow Chinese environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) to disclose pollution information. Using a difference-in-differences approach comparing firms in disclosed cities versus undisclosed cities, we find ENGO information disclosure significantly reduces manufacturing firm COD emissions. We explore several potential mechanisms and find that the reduction effect was primarily driven by "higher-level government supervision" rather than "public supervision." Heterogeneous analysis reveals significant effects only for firms facing high reduction pressure, low governance costs, weak local protection, and in heavy-polluting industries. Our findings provide insights into supplementing inadequate regulations with informal institutions to achieve environmental aims within a decentralized economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies have extensively investigated the impact of environmental non-governmental organization (ENGO) on the environmental management and environmental condition. However, an often-ignored issue is how environmental condition inversely affects the ENGO development. Instead of unidirectional impact, ENGO development and environmental condition are affected by each other. Therefore, in order to reduce the bias in conventional research focusing on the unidirectional impact and advance the understanding of China's state-NGO relationship, this paper empirically examines the mutual influences between the ENGO development and environmental condition in China, with simultaneous equations model and a newly built ENGO database during 2003–2017. The result shows that the development of ENGO could improve the environmental condition, while the deterioration of environmental condition would inhibit the development of ENGO. This indicates Chinese ENGO can made substantial contribution to the country's environmental improvement, but when the environmental condition deteriorates, the state propensity for repressing the fermentation of negative information and public complaint still hinders the functioning of ENGO. Therefore, from the perspective of state-NGO relationship, for better environmental condition, a more inclusive polity for more invigorated ENGO development is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the efficiency of ecological environment governance and strengthen the construction of an ecological civilization society, it is necessary to stimulate the efforts of all sectors of society, including social organizations. However, the previous literature has paid less attention to the importance of social organizations in stimulating public participation in ecological and environmental supervision. Therefore, from the perspective of "behavior demonstration" and "publicity and education," based on the data of 1041 questionnaires from various provinces in China, this paper constructs a moderated mesomeric effect model to analyze the impact of environmental protection organizations, industry associations, schools, foundations and other social organizations on the willingness of public participation in ecological environmental supervision and conducts robustness tests and heterogeneity analysis. The research finds that: (1) The "behavior demonstration" and "publicity and education" incentive activities of social organizations significantly enhance the public's willingness to participate in ecological environment supervision. (2) Environmental supervision cognition plays a part of intermediary effect in the relationship between the "behavior demonstration" and "publicity and education" incentive activities of social organizations and the public's willingness to participate in ecological environment supervision. (3) In the regulatory effect, the impact of "behavior demonstration" and "publicity and education" activities of environmental protection organizations, schools and foundations and the "behavior demonstration" activities of industry associations on the public's willingness to participate in ecological environment supervision are all regulated by environmental attitudes. The process of "publicity and education" activities of industry associations affecting the public's willingness to participate in ecological environment supervision is not regulated by environmental attitudes. (4) The results of heterogeneity analysis show that the incentive activities of social organizations in coastal areas have a stronger effect on the public's willingness to participate in ecological environment supervision than those in inland areas; the willingness of students, the government and the public in public institutions to participate in ecological environment supervision are generally higher than that of employees in enterprises and other professions; the analysis of heterogeneity in psychological preferences shows that the public with altruistic preferences is more willing to participate in ecological environment supervision under social organization incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal environmental regulation, represented by public participation, has an increasingly significant role in environmental governance. This paper utilizes panel data of 285 cities in China from 2003 to 2017. It examines the difference-in-differences (DID) and instrumental variable method (IV) to investigate the causal effect of public participation represented by Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations(ENGOs) on regional carbon emissions. The empirical results show that public participation reduces regional carbon emissions, which still holds after a series of endogeneity and robustness tests. This paper proves an inverted U-shaped nonlinear relationship between the intensity of public participation and regional carbon emissions. Furthermore, this paper demonstrates that regional green technology innovation and strengthening formal environmental regulations are the primary mechanisms for public involvement in promoting regional carbon emission reduction. Finally, this paper discusses the heterogeneity governance effect among cities and finds that the governance effect of the sample is more pronounced in eastern cities, non-resource-based cities, large cities, and provincial capitals. The results reveal the importance of public participation in regional carbon emission reduction and provide an empirical basis for promoting informal environmental regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective prevention and control of agricultural non-point source pollution is a major challenge faced by the Chinese local government in the context of rural revitalization, and clarifying the game relationship between stakeholders in agricultural non-point source pollution control actions will help achieve multiple co-governance better. Accordingly, this paper discusses the interactive decision-making relationships between local government and livestock and poultry breeding enterprise (LPBE) under the participation of Environmental non-government organizations (ENGOs) and public, by constructing an evolutionary game model, as well as analyzing evolutionary cooperative stability strategies and realizing the simulation of evolution processes in different scenarios by MATLAB. The results show that government subsidy has an incentive effect on LPBE to adopt the purifying strategy, yet reduces the enthusiasm of local government for supervision. Improving the participation degree and right space of ENGOs is conducive to the realization of multiple co-governance models. Furthermore, the impact of public participation on multiple co-governance of agricultural non-point source pollution is related to the local government's investigation rate and the public reporting fairness; strengthening the local government's supervision capacity and improving the public reporting fairness can achieve better collaborative governance effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal environmental regulation plays an important role in green innovation, which is of great significance to realize the win-win situation between environmental protection and economic development. However, few studies have focused on the incentive effect of informal environmental regulation on innovation motivation. Based on the panel data of 286 cities from 2003 to 2018, the DID (difference-in-differences) model is used to investigate the impact of pollution Information Transparency Index (PITI) published by ENGOs (Environmental Non-governmental Organizations) on substantive green innovation. The results show that PITI disclosure has a significant positive and robust effect on substantive green innovation in China. Additionally, heterogeneous analysis shows that key environmental protection and highly innovative cities benefit more from PITI disclosure. The effect in the second stage is stronger than in the first stage. Mechanism analysis shows that PITI disclosure enhances substantive green innovation through FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) and human capital channels. Based on the above conclusions, three policy implications are put forward in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although essential to successful environmental governance, public participation has been sporadic and fragmented in China. Drawing on in-depth interviews conducted in the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, this paper explores how environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) have carried out 'civilian river chiefs' projects as novel approaches to water governance. We propose a framework of 'double embeddedness', within which ENGOs have built political and social legitimacy, reciprocity, and networks that enable their sustained participation in water governance. Our findings suggest that new patterns of state–community–non-governmental organization relationships are key to understanding public participation in China's future environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green technology is the solution to address the dichotomy between environmental conservation and economic growth. How to stimulate the expansion of green technology innovation output is an essential agenda highlighted by firms, governments, and environmental non-governmental organizations. This research investigates the impact of stock liquidity on green technology innovation and its mechanism, using the data of listed new energy green firms in China from 2007 to 2019. The empirical findings reveal that the enhancement of stock liquidity considerably supports the green technology innovation of new energy firms. Whereas expanding R&D investment and decreasing financial risk are two economic mechanisms that stock liquidity promotes green technology innovation of new energy firms. In addition, our study demonstrates that both government subsidies and analyst attention may strengthen the impact of stock liquidity in supporting the green innovation output of new energy enterprises. The conclusion of this article might give reference to green economic development and structural transformation of emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrialization and increased energy use are leading to a greater influence of environmental and climate challenges on human existence and progress. China's emissions in 2023 totaled 12.6 gigatons, representing 35% of global emissions, establishing it as the top carbon emitter globally. Combined with China's industrial structure, it is essential to investigate carbon reduction in the building sector due to its significant contribution to carbon emissions. This study introduces a third-party organization into the relationship between stakeholders, based on traditional government regulation. It constructs a three-party dynamic evolution model involving the government, environmental protection organization, and construction enterprise. The study analyzes the evolution process of the three-party strategy selection using evolutionary game theory. We analyze the elements influencing decision-making for the three parties through simulation analysis and provide appropriate recommendations. The study's findings indicate that low-carbon construction in China's construction sector is an intricate system involving several stakeholders, each guided by their own interests when determining their behavioral methods. Government penalties and financial subsidies can influence construction enterprises to adopt low-carbon production practices to some degree, but excessive rewards and punishments may not support system stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental consciousness has grown over time, and businesses have been increasingly forced to adhere to international treaties and rules. In response to international environmental concerns and increased community expectations for corporate social responsibility (CSR), firms have begun to recognize the importance of environmental protection as part of corporate social responsibility. The present study assumes, based on the Green Theory (GT), that environmental CSR favorably impacts the environmental performance of the organization by using pro-environmental behavior and green corporate image as mediators and CEO's environmental commitment as moderator. The present study collected data from 314 employees of various international corporations operating in China utilizing a standardized questionnaire and a suitable sampling strategy for empirical investigation. Data were analyzed by using Smart PLS. The findings of this study indicate that environmental CSR has a beneficial effect on a company's environmental performance. Results also revealed that pro-environmental behavior and green corporate image mediate the association between environmental CSR and the environmental performance of a company. The data also demonstrate that CEO environmental commitment moderates the association between pro-environmental conduct and an organization's environmental performance. The studies also demonstrated that the CEO's environmental commitment does not mitigate the association between a company's green corporate image and its environmental performance. The present study has substantial implications for practice, theory, and management. Based on these findings, this study adds empirical research on environmental CSR and business environmental performance to the existing literature. Environmental CSR initiatives can enhance an organization's efforts to maintain a positive rapport with its internal and external stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study decomposes nonprofit–government relationship into two dimensions, process and structure, and examines their contingent impacts on Chinese environmental nongovernmental organizations' (eNGOs) revenue diversification, advocacy engagement, and advocacy effectiveness. Data from a nation-wide survey of 89 eNGOs and in-depth interviews with eNGO leaders are analyzed. Empirical findings show that in China, participating in government-organized activities enables eNGOs to diversify their revenue sources and engage more in policy advocacy. Furthermore, government intervention and restrictive policy context motivate, rather than suppress eNGOs' advocacy engagement. Resorting to flexible strategies, eNGOs have managed to mitigate influences of government's meddling and persist in advocating for a political environment that they prefer. Yet meanwhile, eNGOs' advocacy activities are more likely to be effective in a more supportive policy context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The greening building and construction (B&C) sector is an emerging research topic in the energy and environment field. Employing China's provincial panel data during 2008–2017 and the SBM-DEA model and regression methods, this study develops a conceptual model to explore the relationships between two types of environmental regulations and green construction. The moderating role of China's national sustainable community (CNSC) intensity and state-owned enterprise (SOE) intensity is considered based on China's characteristics. We obtain three major findings: (1) both traditional environmental regulations (command-and-control) and demand-side environmental regulation are positively correlated with green construction, which emphasizes the effectiveness of demand-side environmental regulation. (2) CNSC intensity negatively moderates the relationships between these two types of environmental regulations and green construction, which reflects the shortage of CNSCs in the building and construction sector. (3) SOE intensity negatively moderates the relationship between traditional environmental regulations and green construction while positively moderating the relationship between demand-side environmental regulation and green construction. Regarding this result, we conduct a comparative explanation from the perspective of "addition and subtraction of economic interests". Based upon the above findings, policy-makers are provided with the following recommendations in this study for realizing sustainable development goals in the B&C sector: (1) adjusting the regulation stringency of market-based environmental regulation on the B&C sector; (2) encouraging the development of environmental organizations; (3) investing more effort into the green public procurement of works (GPP-works); (4) adding green construction evaluation indicators to CNSC certification standards; and (5) balancing GPP-works' resource preferences for different ownership construction enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the growing literature on legal mobilization under authoritarianism, the variations of legal mobilization in authoritarian regimes have been less studied. Drawing on a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis of 175 environmental public interest litigations from 2009 to 2019, as well as in‐depth interviews with environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) representatives, this is the first article to present how organizational, political, legal, and social forces (which are demonstrated by six conditions: capacity, political embeddedness, political endorsement, access, legal stock, and alliance) combine to explain the variations of NGOs' environmental legal mobilization through the use of strategic and nonstrategic litigation in authoritarian China. Although the state's policy to pluralize regulatory actors to improve environmental governance has set up a relatively friendly institutional backdrop for environmental legal mobilization, this study finds that political forces such as the relationship between NGOs and the state and the ambivalent attitudes towards environmental protection between central and local government have significantly influenced the behavioral patterns of NGOs' legal mobilization. Moreover, this study uncovers four types of legal mobilization of Chinese environmental NGOs: allied mobilization, progressive mobilization, steered mobilization, and symbolic mobilization. This study enriches the understanding of the behavioral patterns of nonstate actors in legal mobilization in authoritarian regimes and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]