Search

The digital economy has great potential to sustain China's high-quality economic growth and substantially strengthen urban innovation capacity. This paper developed a digital economy index using city-level data from China and measured the level of urban innovation with patents per capita. We used a spatial econometric model to explore the spatial implications of the digital economy on urban innovation, probed into the mechanism by which the digital economy affects urban innovation, and further measured the spatial spillover distance and threshold of the digital economy on urban innovation. The findings suggest that China's digital economy and urban innovation are characterized by spatial aggregation, and the spatial distribution varies from region to region. The digital economy, with strong spatial spillover effects on the innovation capacity of cities in China, may not only enhance the innovation capacity of one city but also drive a simultaneous growth of the innovation capacity in peripheral cities. The analysis of mechanisms indicates that the digital economy enhances local innovation capacity directly through promoting human resources and increasing science and technology spending and drives the improvement of the innovation capacity in peripheral cities through the spatial spillover of human resources and science and technology spending. The effects of the latter one outweigh those of the former one. The analysis of heterogeneity shows that the central, western, and northern regions, where the digital economy is relatively less developed, have the latecomer advantage, and the digital economy has more prominent effects on innovation capacity. Calculating the spillover distance and threshold demonstrates that the digital economy influences urban innovation within a spatial spillover range and threshold of approximately 500 kilometers. Within 500 kilometers, the positive spatial spillover effects prevail, while beyond 500 kilometers, the negative siphon effect prevails. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the differences in the impact and role of the digital economy on urban innovation from a spatial perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the theoretical knowledge of technological innovation, this paper designs a sensor data value incubation model and a sensor data collection model to collect the original data on green innovation efficiency. In order to explore the spatial and temporal differentiation characteristics of China's provincial green innovation efficiency and the spatial spillover effect of China's provincial green innovation efficiency, the entropy weight TOPSIS model is adopted to measure the green innovation efficiency of China's 30 provinces (cities) from 2005 to 2021 and analyze its temporal and spatial evolution characteristics. This paper uses an exploratory spatial data analysis method to prove the agglomeration phenomenon of China's provincial green innovation efficiency in the ground space. Finally, a spatial econometric model is introduced to study the impact of government R&D investment, green supervision, and green innovation efficiency on spatial spillover effects. The study found the following three conclusions: First, the efficiency of green innovation in China's provinces has been fluctuating in stages, and the overall trend has been increasing year by year. The overall efficiency of green innovation in China's provinces is low, and the overall development is uneven and uncoordinated. Second, from the results of the spatial autocorrelation test, there is a clear and positive spatial correlation between China's provincial green innovation efficiency and agglomeration in the geospatial space. Third, government R&D inputs and different types of green regulations have a significant impact on green innovation efficiency and have significant spatial spillover effects. Along from the eastern region to the central region, then to the northeast and western regions, the degree of effect on green innovation efficiency and the intensity of spatial spillover effects have gradually weakened. It is believed that the government should reduce R&D investment in the eastern region and increase green sewage charges. Instead, the government should raise R&D investment in the central, northeast, and western regions and offer enterprises green innovation subsidies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of high-quality development led by the new development concept in China, it is imperative to change the development mode, optimize the economic structure, and transform the driving force, and industrial upgrading is the necessary way to promote the optimization of the industrial structure and achieve high-quality economic development. Based on data covering 284 prefecture-level cities in China, this paper first calculates the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of each prefecture-level city and then constructs three spatial econometric models (SLM, SEM, and SDM) based on four spatial weight matrices to empirically analyze the impact of industrial upgrading on GTFP. The results show that the GTFP of all cities in China shows a fluctuating upward trend and significant spatial spillover effect. Both full-sample and regional heterogeneity tests show that industrial upgrading can promote growth in GTFP, but the promoting effect on different regions is different. Regarding the control variables, GTFP has an inverted U-shaped relationship with economic development; additionally, human capital and financial development play a driving role in GTFP, while population density plays a restraining role. Finally, based on the empirical findings, we propose a multipronged policy of differentiated industrial policy and a variety of complementary measures to promote GTFP growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stagnation of growth, huge income gap, and excessive ecological environment degradation are the three issues worldwide. As China entered the stage of high-quality development, it slowed down the economic growth speed and the government paid more attention to social harmony and environment protection. Inclusive green growth efficiency(IGGE) is used to measure the quality of economic development and the degree of coordination among economic, social, and natural systems. Under this background, this paper employs the Data Envelop Analysis (DEA) model to measure IGGE from 2006 to 2019 in 30 provinces of China. Moreover, the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics are revealed and the key drivers of IGGE are explored by the spatial econometric model. The results indicate that the level of provincial IGGI of China has an upward trend in the statistical period and the characteristics of spatial agglomeration have been enhanced. For the drivers of IGGI, the level of opening-up, human capital, and innovation have significant impact on IGGI in China, while other elements are not very important. Finally, some policy suggestions were proposed to promote IGGE in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper theoretically analyzes the direct impact of environmental regulation on carbon emissions and its indirect effects on carbon emissions through foreign direct investment (FDI), energy consumption, industrial structure, and technological innovation. Then, this paper constructs a spatial lag model to empirically test the dual effects of environmental regulation on carbon emissions based on the provincial panel data of 2003–2017 in China. The results show that the average Moran's I value of carbon emissions during 2003–2017 is 0.2506, passing the significance test at 1% level, and carbon emissions have spatial correlation characteristics. The direct impact of environmental regulation on carbon emissions is significant and positive. Environmental regulation could indirectly influence carbon emissions by influencing FDI, energy consumption, and technological innovation, and meanwhile, FDI, energy consumption, and technological innovation help to reduce carbon emissions under the constraint of environmental regulation, specifically. However, the impact of environmental regulation on carbon emissions through industrial structure is not significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a lot of work has been done in the protection and utilization of intangible cultural heritage in South China, while there are dilemmas such as the variation of inheritance content, the extinction of heritage, and the absence of inheritors, it is urgent to strengthen the protection of intangible cultural heritage with realistic reasons. This paper adopts human geography research methods, based on SPSS mathematical statistics, GIS spatial analysis, and econometric models, to analyze the spatial differentiation characteristics of 10 types of intangible cultural heritage in the region and their influencing factors based on 1,708 intangible cultural heritage data from various regions in South China, according to five regions, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Hong Kong, and Macao. It was found that (1) the intangible cultural heritage in South China is distributed in clusters, with the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong and Guinan in Guangxi being the core areas of high-density intangible cultural heritage; (2) the characteristics of spatial differentiation of intangible cultural heritage in the region are influenced by a combination of factors, among which the pattern distribution is obviously influenced by cultural factors such as the distribution of ethnic minorities and the number of museums. Finally, from the perspective of revitalization, protection, and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, the government should propose dialectical and integrated protection of intangible cultural heritage in South China while continuously enhancing its living and contemporary flavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural mechanization development can promote the high-quality development of agriculture, but the agriculture which faces the huge environmental pressure also needs to transform to the green sustainable development. Based on agricultural panel data of 30 provinces in China from the year 2008 to 2017, this paper measures the level of agricultural green transformation using the Malmquist–Luenberger (ML) index. Furthermore, the spatial panel econometric model is used to empirically investigate the impact of agricultural mechanization development on this green transformation. It concludes that the agricultural green transformation in western China shows an upward trend in fluctuations, with its overall transformation level still lower than the national average level. Besides, the agricultural mechanization operation level in the western region has a positive role in promoting the green transformation of agriculture, while the agricultural mechanization equipment level shows the opposite force. Compared with southwest China, the agricultural mechanization operation level in northwest China has a more positive impact. The improvement of farmers' income and agricultural technology has positive impacts on agriculture green transformation in the whole western region, while agricultural human capital shows an opposite impact on the northwest and southwest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the panel data of 30 provinces (except Tibet) in China from 2012 to 2019, this paper uses the ML index method and spatial econometric model to evaluate the impact and spillover effect of innovation investment on environmental total factor productivity. The study found the following conclusions. (1) Environmental total factor productivity showed a fluctuating upward trend as a whole, and the driving force of environmental total factor productivity growth mainly came from technological progress. (2) There is global spatial correlation and positive spatial spillover effect in regional environmental total factor productivity. There is a certain spatial correlation in provincial environmental total factor productivity, and the improvement of environmental total factor productivity in this region will promote the improvement of environmental total factor productivity in surrounding areas. (3) Innovation investment, economic development, and foreign investment level play a significant role in promoting the improvement of environmental total factor productivity, and energy structure and human capital level have a negative impact on the improvement of environmental total factor productivity. (4) Innovation investment, economic development, human capital, and foreign investment have positive spillover effects on the improvement of environmental total factor productivity in the surrounding areas, while the energy structure shows negative spillover effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total factor productivity is not only the core of high-quality economic development but also a core indicator for measuring the quality of economic development. Improving total factor productivity is one of the most critical points in building a modern economic system. Firstly, this paper uses the DEA-Malmquist index method to measure and decompose the total factor productivity of China's 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions from 2001 to 2017 and analyzes the characteristics of its temporal and spatial changes. From a spatial perspective, the regional gap is relatively large. Secondly, we construct the index system of five dimensions and use this index system to comprehensively evaluate the improvement degree of China's modernized economic system. The results show that the overall level of the improvement degree of China's modernized economic system is relatively low, and the differences between provinces are great. Thirdly, this paper uses static and dynamic spatial econometric models to empirically analyze the effect of total factor productivity on the improvement degree of the modern economic system. The results show that the improvement degree of the modern economic system in China has obvious characteristics of time spillover and space spillover. Finally, we put forward countermeasures and suggestions on how to perfect the modern economic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting green urban development has become a common consensus to address environmental pollution and ecological damage, but we know little about the measurement and drivers of urban green innovation efficiency (GIE). In this article, firstly, we established a framework for assessing urban green innovation efficiency through multidimensional data, then used the spatial econometric model to reveal the spatiotemporal evolutionary characteristics of urban GIE, and, finally, analyzed the influencing factors and spatial spillover effects of urban GIE. The results show the following: (1) The overall urban GIE in China was low and had significant spatial agglomeration, mainly concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions with spatial locking characteristics, while the GIE of cities in undeveloped regions does not change much. (3) There was much room for improvement in the input-output system of green innovation, considering that the sources of inefficiency in most cities were insufficient investment in scientific and technological innovation personnel and innovation environment, excessive environmental pollution, and limited technological output. (4) Foreign direct investment, financial development, and manufacturing industry agglomeration had positive effects on urban GIE. These research findings and policy implications are of certain reference value for other emerging developing countries to implement urban governance and green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether airport groups develop synergistically has become a concern for the aviation industry. Existing studies have neglected the dynamic comprehensive evaluation and analysis of influencing factors of synergy degree. Taking the synergistic development of airport groups as the research perspective, we integrate the dynamic comprehensive evaluation model into the traditional synergy model. From two dimensions of airport development and regional economy, we measured the static synergy degree of the Chengdu-Chongqing airport group and the dynamic synergetic development degree on the overall time series. Further, using a spatial econometric model, we construct a distance economy-nested spatial weight matrix so as to explore the influence of each indicator on the synergy degree of the composite system. The results show that the overall synergy of the Chengdu-Chongqing airport group is above 0.5 in terms of static synergy degree. The clustering spectrum shows that the Chengdu-Chongqing airport group can be divided into three categories and basically forms the characteristic of "two main and multiple auxiliary airports." In terms of dynamic synergetic development degree and comprehensive evaluation value, the change speed of synergy degree is relatively smooth in the early stage and fluctuates in the later stage, and the overall dynamic evaluation value of the Chongqing regional airports is high. The effects of the explanatory variables of the airport group composite system on the synergy degree show more direct effects than spillover effects, and the direct effects are all positive feedback effects, while the negative spillover effects of the explanatory variables cannot be ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China enters a new era, the role of consumption as a driving force for the economy has become increasingly prominent. The consumption of rural residents is not only a matter of high-quality economic development but also an important part of realizing people's aspirations for a better life. This study contributes to the literature by establishing an econometric model based on the construction of a theoretical model for optimizing the utility of household consumption, using panel data from China's 31 provinces, eliminating endogenesis by using instrumental variables, taking  2SLS and dynamic  GMM. The results show that the relationship between income uncertainty and rural residents' consumption varies in the same direction, stimulating consumption when real income exceeds psychological income and reducing consumption when real income does not reach psychological income. The quantile model shows that income uncertainty has a greater impact on the middle-high-consumption groups and a smaller impact on the lower-income groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, economic data of power supply is often analyzed through the count regression model due to the type of empirical data in the decision-making process. However, in reality, it is difficult to use count data model for data with autoregressive features. The main reason is that the time series features and autoregressive attributes cannot be controlled through the count regression model, which violates the assumptions set by the model. Therefore, there may be errors in the empirical analysis results. This letter firstly describes the characteristic of the count regression model and the problem, and then we refine the multiplicative autoregressive count model for dynamic count data. The model has desirable theoretical properties and is trivial to incorporate into existing models for the count data. In this study, the multiplicative autoregressive counting model for dynamic counting data is improved. The model has ideal theoretical properties and can be easily incorporated into existing economic models of counting data, especially for power supply policy analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial development is often considered one of the main drivers promoting household consumption. As a form of financial development, whether digital financial inclusion can promote household consumption has been a concern for researchers and policymakers. Considering geographical connectivity characteristics, we examine the effects of digital financial inclusion on household consumption by applying spatial econometric models and using data from 31 provinces in China from 2013 to 2018. The impact of digital financial inclusion is further disaggregated into direct, indirect, and total impacts. The results show that if digital financial inclusion is improved by 1%, household consumption will correspondingly increase by 0.2207%. The spatial spillover effect on neighboring areas is negative: a 1% increase in the level of digital financial inclusion of nearby provinces leads to a 0.1289% decrease in household consumption in the local province. For policymakers, it is necessary to balance the development of digital financial inclusion and view different areas as a whole when making policies to promote consumption. Further analysis based on subsamples finds that the effect of digital financial inclusion on household consumption is more considerable for rural households than for urban households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the review of previous studies and the analysis of the dynamic changes of misallocation of capital and labour in China during 2003–2017, this study has adopted the Dynamic Panel Econometric Model to investigate the effects of land finance on resource misallocation at national, regional, and urban tier levels. The results show that resource misallocation has a significant feature of temporal dependence, while the misallocations of capital and labour in China have experienced different dynamic changes during the investigation period. In addition, land finance has aggravated resource misallocation at the national level, while spatial heterogeneity is established at regional and urban tier levels, which deserves much more attention in further studies. The conclusions will not only provide a relatively scientific and accurate reference for the effective allocation of production factors but also be conducive to the coordinated and sustainable development of China's economy in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a spatial approach for the macrolevel traffic crashes analysis based on point-of-interest (POI) data and other related data from an open source. The spatial autoregression is explored by Moran's I Index with three spatial weight features (i.e., (a) Rook, (b) Queen, and (c) Euclidean distance). The traditional Ordinary Least Square (OLS) model, the Spatial Lag Model (SLM), the Spatial Error Model (SEM), and the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) were developed to describe the spatial correlations among 2,114 Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZs) of Tianjin, one of the four municipalities in China. Results of the models indicated that the SDM with the Rook spatial weight feature is found to be the optimal spatial model to characterize the relationship of various variables and crashes. The results show that population density, consumption density, intersection density, and road density have significantly positive influence on traffic crashes, whereas company density, hotel density, and residential density have significant but negative effects in the local TAZ. The spillover effects coefficient of population density and road density are positive, indicating that the increase of these variables in the surrounding TAZs will lead to the increase of crashes in the target zone. The impacts of company density and hotel density are just the opposite. In general, the research findings can help transportation planners and managers better understand the general characteristics of traffic crashes and improve the situation of traffic security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]