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As an important way to cultivate talents, school-enterprise cooperation is highly praised by the educational and economic circles of all countries. Vocational education spans enterprises and schools, and is an education of cross-border innovation. Vocational schools should make the people they cultivate meet the needs of the market and enterprises, and carry out in-depth school-enterprise cooperation is one of the effective ways. The school-enterprise cooperation between vocational colleges and enterprises makes vocational education more targeted and practical, and plays an important role in the training of skilled talents. It is not only an inevitable requirement for enterprise development and participation in competition, but also an important direction of China's vocational education reform, and is the fundamental outlet for the development of China's vocational education. The performance evaluation of school-enterprise cooperation in vocational colleges is classical multiple-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) issues. Recently, the TODIM and VIKOR method has been used to solve MAGDM issues. The 2-tuple linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy sets (2TLPFSs) are used as a tool for characterizing uncertain information during the performance evaluation of school-enterprise cooperation in vocational colleges. In this manuscript, we design the 2-tuple linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy TODIM-VIKOR(2TLPF-TODIM-VIKOR) method to solve the MAGDM under 2TLPFSs. In the end, a numerical case study for performance evaluation of school-enterprise cooperation in vocational colleges is given to validate the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Under the background of the structural adjustment of national energy strategic, ultra-high voltage (UHV) has been becoming an inevitable trend in the future development of the Chinese power grid. With the change of external environment, such as policy and economy, and the rapid development of the UHV, UHV project management is faced with great challenges and urgently need to establish a set of performance evaluation analysis tools. In this paper, we propose a slacks-based measure (SBM) data envelopment analysis (DEA) method for the performance evaluation and improvement of ultra-high voltage projects. Besides, we also build a set of performance evaluation index for UHV projects. Finally, we employ the preliminary planning UHV projects of a Chinese power grid company to illustrate the proposed method. Results show that our method is valid. Our method can provide an effective tool for decision support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a DEA approach with multiple abatement factors to evaluate CO 2 emission performance and allocate CO 2 emission quotas in Chinese cities. We first consider the difference of marginal abatement costs among cities, and construct the non-radial directional distance function with multiple abatement factors. The total-factor CO 2 emission performance index and its dynamic change index are then proposed to measure CO 2 emission performance. Considering equity and efficiency, we develop a composite index by the hybrid method to allocate emissions quota, which considers CO 2 emissions as well as CO 2 emission performance. Then we conduct an empirical study using inputs and outputs dataset of 71 Chinese cities in 2005–2012. Chinese cities have poor energy efficiency and still have high CO 2 emissions. The eastern region outperforms the central region and the western region performs worst, whereas the dynamic CO 2 emission performance of the central region has the largest increase. The change of CO 2 emission performance is driven mainly by technological advances. As for the CO 2 emission allocation, the composite index method encourages cities to reduce emissions and enhance emission performance through carbon trading market. It also motivates cities with high historical emissions to reduce their emissions by improving technology when they have poor CO 2 emission performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, performance evaluation of coal-fired power generation with high pollution based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) method has become an advanced research hotspot in China. Instead of a single process in previous studies, we divide the production system of coal-fired power plants into the production process and pollutants abatement process, with pollutant intermediates as the link to connect the two processes in the current paper. Then we present a new two-stage network DEA model to evaluate the performance of China's coal-fired power generation by improving the link constraint that different with traditional network DEA approaches. Meanwhile, we conduct an empirical study to verify the applicability of the proposed approach and find that the proposed model is more effective than the previous models in evaluating the inefficiencies of coal-fired power generation. The empirical results also show that: the inefficiencies of the pollutants abatement process bring poor performance of the regional coal-fired power plants; and the efficiency results vary greatly among different areas of China, efficiency is best in the west area but the worst in the northeast area. Finally, some appropriate propositions are present in order to create better conditions for China's sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance national competitiveness, countries are committed to building a National Human Resource Development (NHRD) system to develop talents. However, studies have rarely investigated the internal development process of the NHRD system and the performance at the system and sub-system levels. Thus, this study constructed the performance evaluation model of the NHRD system from a two-stage process efficiency perspective that first cultivates talents and then uses the talents produced to create value. In addition, considering the problem of international talent flow and the time-lag effect, the bad output and the time-lag between inputs and outputs were incorporated into the model. The subjects included 60 countries, including Argentina, China, and OECD member countries. The results reveal that countries that excel at nurturing talents do not necessarily have the ability to effectively use talents to create value. Only having high-efficiency talent cultivation cannot strengthen competitiveness. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted to identify the input that affects talent cultivation and utilization efficiency, which could be used as a reference for competitiveness and NHRD performance improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hotel website service quality evaluation has gained extensive attention. However, previous studies have given little concern about human hesitance and uncertainty in judgments. Moreover, they do not consider hotel managers and customers' psychological behaviors simultaneously. This study explores criteria for evaluating hotel performance and proposes a hybrid evaluation model for the hesitation and uncertainty in the service quality evaluation of economy hotel websites, and applied to the actual economy hotel websites. The model introduces the probabilistic linguistic term sets to describe customers and managers' qualitative assessments and use analytical network process to prioritize hotel website features. Then, it develops an integrated TODIM-PROMETHEE II method to rank alternatives considering both hotel managers and customers' psychological factors. Furthermore, we illustrate the effectiveness of the hybrid evaluation model through a case of economy hotel websites in China. Service competence and customer relationship are the two most important performance features for economy hotel websites. Finally, conclusions and implications are drawn from the results of case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction and operation of air transport systems (ATS) needs huge investment, so its performance is of wide concern. The influences of social and economic factors in different regions must be considered when evaluating ATS performance. In this paper, a model combining data envelopment analysis, stochastic frontier analysis, and bootstrap technique is adopted to evaluate the 'real' performance of the air transport system in China. The evaluation results show the ATS performance in different regions. Social and economic factors are proved to pose influences on provincial ATS efficiency. Scale efficiency is the main factor that restricts the efficiency of China's ATS. Technological change has determined the trend of ATS total factor productivity. The research results may implicate that improvements can be gained by modifying airspace limitations and regulatory conditions that impose significant constraints on ATS. The importance of ATS technological development strategy and the legitimacy of air transport modernization policy are also supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the background of the peculiar technology problems with the external insulation of UHV dc equipment in China, caused by high altitude and heavy pollution, this paper presents the pollution flashover performance of full-scale ?800 kV converter station post insulators at actual high altitude area. The tests were carried out according to the solid layer method, and the 50% withstand voltage (U50%) was determined by the up-and-down method. The artificial contamination test results indicated that the shed configuration and the rod diameter had a significant influence on the flashover voltages. Shed parameters of one big and one small alternating shed composite post insulator which had superior dc pollution flashover performance had been recommended. The relationship between U50% and insulation height was approximately linear at actual high altitude area for post insulators. It was found that partial discharges occurred at the top section firstly and partial arcs easily appeared at the parts nearby the connecting fittings during the flashover process. And arc floating phenomenon was significantly serious in actual high altitude area. Furthermore, comparison was made between the U50% values of composite post insulators in fog and in rain. The U50% values in fog of composite post insulators were generally higher than that in rain. Thus, the outdoor insulation design of composite post insulators should primarily consider the U50% value in fog. This work thus provides useful reference for the design, operation and maintenance of UHV dc converter stations outdoor insulators in China. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, the guidance system science as a method using the theory and methods of industrial economics, cooperative learning and the development of economics and other disciplines. Coupling coordination between Chinese construction and economic development, with multivariate statistics as the basis for qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis combine to achieve both research and normative research methods. It emphasizes both general academic basic research, but also focus on the feasibility of practical application. Constructed between the two coupled coordinate evaluation system, coupling and coupling coordination degree evaluation standard model, coupled to judge the degree of coordination between the two, with a view to the construction industry as an entry point to promote the coordinated development of the Chinese economy. The research project will not only enrich the theory of construction and economic development, as well as for the development of China’s construction-related policies and overall economic development, China has become the guiding construction province to promote the optimization and adjustment of China’s economic structure has important reference value. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study investigated and reviewed organizational learning in the Chinese airline industry, which is dominated by state-owned or state-controlled airlines. This empirical research focused on the extensive scale of airline mergers and acquisitions among 12 Chinese airlines for the period of 1996–2014. This research aims to make a contribution towards addressing the general lack of academic reflection on the impact of organizational learning on airline performance during and after the completion of mergers and acquisitions. The empirical findings of this paper suggested that there was, in general, organizational learning experienced by Chinese airlines from their prior operating experience in improving operating costs. However, airline mergers in 2001/02 increased airlines' average operating costs, as most state-owned airlines are notorious for poor cost management. Significantly, the performance improvement among Chinese airlines was found during the post-merger periods in this study, and the increase in Chinese airlines’ operating costs during the post-acquisition periods due to the limited integration of 2010 acquisition compared with the 2001/02 mergers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural land consolidation has been a very important and efficient development tool all over the world for a century and is now an indispensable instrument for rural sustainable development in China. The Chinese central government has devoted large sums of money to rural consolidation projects each year in an effort to help protect cultivated land, to improve agricultural production, to enhance the socio-economic development of rural communities, and to help build rural landscapes. However, little attention has been paid to evaluating the performance of land consolidation projects from the view of community members, which is sorely needed. Household satisfaction with land consolidation projects is a key indicator of consolidation performance. Understanding the factors that influence household satisfaction is an effective way of dealing with problems in the interactions between land restructuring and human behaviors in rural areas and can help improve project performance. This paper examines the performance of land consolidation in terms of rural households’ levels of satisfaction in rural China and analyses the most influential factors of satisfaction. Data were gathered via questionnaires and analyzed with a probit model. Results indicated three significant points. First, overall satisfaction rate was 76.5%, meaning that most rural households in the regions of Hangzhou, Changsha, and Guiyang were satisfied with land consolidation projects. Second, 11 factors significantly affected rural residents’ satisfaction with consolidation. These factors included farmers’ level of education, employment characteristics, family size, input level of agricultural production, agricultural produce transportation methods, level of agricultural mechanization, the characteristics of land transfer in the village and within their own families, the perceived importance of land consolidation, their level of social insurance support, and their participation in rural production cooperatives. Third, six of these factors had positive effects on performance; four had negative effects, and one (employment characteristics) demonstrated a significant influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to investigate the economic performance of a major Chinese biowaste treatment pilot project in Hainan province. Our methodology involved comprehensive on-site survey to collect economic performance data. Performance modelling tools used included net present value (NPV) analysis, internal rate of return, sensitivity analysis and uncertainty analysis based on Monte Carlo methods The results show that (1) weak economic performance in one of China’s most eminent biowaste projects: NPV was found to be negative at RMB – 115,311,390; and (2) sensitivity analysis showed that natural gas prices would need to be subsidized by 2.19 RMB/Nm 3 for the project to break-even; (3) Monte Carlo analysis showed that the project had a probability of 86% to lose money. The policy implications for China are important: (1) capital and operating costs should be minimized in subsequent pilot project iterations; (2) subsidies towards the sale price of biomethane should be increased; and (3) the outputs produced by biowaste treatment plants should be further diversified. These policy implications are especially pertinent given that the surveyed case study is one of the newest and most advanced projects of its kind in China, and may serve as a model for the further development of biogas plants across China. For that reason, it is imperative that the identified economic issues are resolved quickly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing concern for building energy efficiency, domestic hot water (DHW) supply systems, which have significant energy-saving potential, have drawn more attention from both practitioners and academia. In this study, we conducted a field study on seven centralized hot water supply systems in Beijing, measuring the water temperature and flow rate in primary or secondary pipes and collecting the operating records of hot water usage, gas consumption, and electricity consumption. In addition, we discuss the main problems existing in the current centralized DHW system. Based on measured data, this paper further analyzes energy losses from each link in the hot water supply system. A mathematical model is then proposed for simulating the energy consumption of hot water supply systems under various conditions such as various boiler efficiency, thermal insulation thickness, water pipe network structure, and hot water usage. The model is also used to explore the main factors that lead to low performance of centralized DHW systems in China. Finally, we analyze the applicability of diverse heat sources (e.g., electricity, gas, and heat pumps) in centralized DHW systems in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More and more eco-industrial thermal power plants are established in China to promote the clean and sustainable production of coal resources. This paper presents an effective approach for evaluating performance of emerging eco-industrial plants in China. In general, performance evaluation is a complex multi-criteria decision-making problem, in which multiple requirements and fuzzy conditions have to be taken into consideration simultaneously. By combining concepts of the Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacijia I Kompromisno Resenje and grey relational analysis, a new fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making model is proposed to deal with the performance evaluation of eco-industrial thermal power plants. This model is solved by an effective algorithm, which incorporates the decision-maker's attitude on performance ratings of each criterion, and integrates the objective information as well as subjective opinions in criteria weights determination based on fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process and Shannon entropy. Finally, the applicability of proposed framework is demonstrated by an empirical study of eco-industrial thermal power plants in Shanxi province. The results show that A3 achieves the best performance, criteria affiliated with waste recycle and pollutant emission obtain much more attentions than that of other criteria. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis indicates the robustness and effectiveness of proposed model and evaluation results. The study innovates the weights determination and aggregating function for conventional fuzzy Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacijia I Kompromisno Resenje, which provides an effective means for performance evaluation of eco-industrial thermal power plants involving subjective assessments of qualitative attributes in a fuzzy environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's high-tech industrial development zones (HIDZs) is a key "place-based" policy targeting national innovation-driven development. Despite the extensive research on HIDZs, it remains unclear whether and to what extent the policy has fostered cities' innovation output and quality. Basing our research on panel data of Chinese cities from 2001 to 2019, we employed the PSM-DID model to examine the impact of HIDZs policy on their host cities' innovation output and quality. The empirical results show that: (1) In general, the establishment of HIDZs has a more significant positive effect on fostering urban innovation output compared to its role in promoting urban innovation quality. However, (2) the effect on urban innovation output and quality varies across different cities. For cities with more advantageous locations and policies, HIDZ policy plays a more instrumental role in promoting the quality of urban innovation, while the establishment of HIDZs in other cities is more conducive to increasing the output of urban innovation. Ultimately, we argue that authorities must recognize the importance of integrated development of HIDZs and their host cities and incorporating HIDZs' impact on the host cities into the HIDZ evaluation. It is necessary to understand that HIDZs have multiple development modes due to their specific local conditions. Hence, differentiated guidance must be carried out rather than directly replicating the experience from developed regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance evaluations often convey values promoted by the government. However, it is unclear in the Chinese context what 'performance' means when referring to appraised values because little empirical evidence exists, particularly regarding the relations between values. This study examines Hangzhou, a pioneering case among Chinese municipalities of comprehensive performance evaluation, to analyze the relations between values. We examined 2,422 performance evaluation reports and policies released to the public. After conducting content and social network analyses, we theorized the public values structure were composed of relations of hierarchy, proximity, and causality. Our findings indicate prime values were listed prior to instrumental or market-driven values. The proximity between public interest and quality is demonstrated by the highest correlation coefficients. Each value cluster contains a causal relationship, indicating one value is the means to another. We discuss the values-oriented approach to performance evaluation, the contextual nature of public values studies, and the limits of using public satisfaction in performance evaluation. As an exploratory study, this work identifies values advocated by local governments in China; such findings are absent from existing research. Moreover, this study provides a practical method for empirically studying public values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A submerged tidal energy device with contra-rotating Diffuser Augmented Tidal Turbines (DATTs) has been investigated in this paper. The device is moored to the seabed with a single mooring line, which limit it to operate at mean water depth, but otherwise allows it to float freely with the tidal current, like a kite in the wind, to harness tidal current energy. This research focuses on the evaluation of stability and power generation of the submerged tidal energy device based on 1:5th scaled model tests and the full-scaled prototype sea trials. A 1:5th scaled model had been manufactured and tested in a circulating water channel to observe the power generation performance and working attitude around the designed inflow velocity. A full-scaled prototype was manufactured and tested near the CHU Island in Shandong Province, China. The results show that the device can change its direction automatically to make the DATTs face the tidal inflow, as the tidal current changes direction. The device has a good stability in pitch and roll motions. But the device's stability in yaw motions is worse than the other two, which will significantly affect the power generation performance and introduce more demanding structural requirements. • A submerged tidal energy system with contra-rotating DATTs is presented in this paper. • The connection point position is determined by the drag forces of the DATTs and the buoyancy body. • From results of model tests, the device has a relatively good stability to support the contra-rotating DATTs working. • The full-scale device sea trials seem to prove the feasibility and reliability of the system. • From results of full-scaled prototype sea trials, the full-scaled device has good stability in pitch and roll motions. • In yaw motions, the full-scaled device can orient itself to face the tidal current direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy internet is an effective way to fulfill carbon neutrality, since it has the advantages of high-efficiency energy utilization. As an important part in energy internet market, multi-energy transaction reflects complementarity of multi-energy sources and provides guidance for future development. However, there still lacks an effective index system for multi-energy transaction evaluation and a reliable method to flexibly handle the subjectivity and vagueness during the evaluation process. In this paper, an effective index system and its extraction method and a comprehensive evaluation approach are proposed to reliably assess the multi-energy transaction performance of the energy internet market. Firstly, an interval type-2 fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (IT2F DEMATEL) method and λ-adversarial interpretive structural modelling (λAISM) approach are combined to extract a 14-indicator index system, the proposed method not only investigates the interrelationship between the indicators but also calculates the influence degree between them. Secondly, to control the vagueness and uncertainty involved in expert judgement, a novel non-deterministic method, combining fuzzy comprehensive evaluation and credibility-based analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with variable rough precision theory, is developed to evaluate the multi-energy transaction performance. Finally, two real-world demonstration projects in northern and southern China are investigated for case studies. The evaluation score of the multi-energy transaction in DZZ town has improved by 25.77 from 2018 to 2021, reaching a "good" performance of 78.09; while the score of XB town has improved by 19.34, reaching an "excellent" performance of 84.32 in 2021. Comparative analysis shows that the extracted index system contains the minimum required information, and the proposed evaluation method can effectively handle the linguistic imprecision and cognition vagueness caused by expert judgements. [Display omitted] • A 25-indicator comprehensive index system is established for the multi-energy transaction evaluation of energy internet market. • An IT2F DEMATEL-λAISM method is proposed, and 14 key indicators are extracted considering causality and influences between the multi-energy transaction evaluation indicators. • A novel integrated fuzzy performance evaluation approach is proposed for multi-energy transaction evaluation. • Judgement credibility and variable rough precision theory are considered to deal with the subjectivity and uncertainty of evaluation through flexible fuzzy boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, cleaner production (CP) has attracted more attention from developing countries because of its various advantages. However, due to the lack of management constraints, CP activities often cannot keep efficient for long. To alleviate this problem, we put forward the cleaner production management (CPM) system and applied it in China. Based on our previous research, this paper constructed a comprehensive performance evaluation system to effectively supervise the implementation effect of CPM system. By analysing the flows of material, energy and information, a multi-level index system integrating the CPM requirements and sustainable development needs was established. And the quantification of performance was realized by combining the analytic hierarchy process and grey relational degree operation, which reliability was confirmed by sensitivity analysis. The case study in Chinese steel enterprise showed that after implementing CPM system for three years, the overall performance level increased by about 25%. It has confirmed that the application of CPM mode could obviously promote the sustainable green development of the steel enterprise and provide the directions for carrying out CP plans in the next step, such as strengthening innovation of management system and improving employees' awareness of CP activities. In the context of enterprises seeking sustainable development, CPM system and performance evaluation possess broad application value. [Display omitted] • Quantitative evaluation of a new management system integrating cleaner production. • Case study of the cleaner production management system applied in steel enterprise. • An index system focused on the green sustainable development benefits. • A performance evaluation method combining AHP and grey relational analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BIM application in the construction industry is still low in China, mainly due to the lack of effective measures for BIM application evaluation. Therefore, this study takes BIM application as the research object to propose a three-stage network DEA approach for performance evaluation. The BIM application performance evaluation indicators are determined based on the balanced scorecard method and Delphi method, and a three-stage network DEA model is established to optimize the BIM application performance. The three-stage network DEA model established in this study can solve the problem that the traditional DEA model treats the internal structure as a "black box". The model is then applied to the actual case of 9 construction projects, including relaxation value analysis and path optimization, to identify the critical path for the reallocation of resources. This paper studies the performance evaluation of BIM application, which is conducive to the further improvement of the theory of BIM management, and also can effectively improve the performance of construction projects and bring practical benefits to construction enterprises. • BIM application is taken as the research object to propose a three-stage network DEA approach for performance evaluation. • The BIM application performance evaluation indicators are determined based on the Delphi method. • A three-stage network DEA model is established to optimize the BIM application performance. • The established three-stage DEA model is combined with the actual case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The open-air burning of the massive generated crop straw in rural areas has been a troubling problem in China in recent decades, and the utilization and valorization of crop straw have provided promising solutions to it. However, due to the limitations in straw resources, economic, social, and technological conditions, different regions vary greatly with each other in the technological pathways and performance of straw utilization. By taking ten counties and districts of Xinyang City in Henan Province of China as examples, it analyzed the spatial distribution of straw yields and the adoption of five pathways of crop straw utilization in Xinyang City, and summarized three typical combination modes. In addition, it also provided the integrated model of FBWM-TOPSIS-PROMETHEE to evaluate the performance of crop straw utilization in the ten counties and districts, to provide local decision-makers with the pathways for promoting the utilization and valorization of crop straw. The results indicated that: (1) The endowment of straw resources and the straw utilization pathways in the ten counties and districts of Xinyang City vary greatly with each other; (2) Returning crop straw to the fields as fertilizer after being crushed is the mainstream mode of resource utilization of crop straw, although five technological modes have been adopted in Xinyang City; (3) Among the 10 counties, Huaibin and Xixian have the best performance of resource utilization of crop straw, and Shangcheng is the worst performer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the global economic situation and the development of the international shipping industry have been deeply affected by COVID-19. Since 2021, China has gradually recovered its international shipping supply chain industry with the help of government policy support, and its GDP has grown by 8.1% year by year. Under this favorable macroeconomic background, the Yangtze River waterway transportation, with its good waterway conditions, has led to the continuous increase in transportation demands. However, while pursuing rapid economic growth, ensuring the navigation safety and rescue of ships in the waterway has been one of the key issues of concern for maritime divisions along the Yangtze River. Therefore, combined with the network date envelopment data (DEA) model, this study intends to construct a new set of performance evaluation models in line with their safety supervision and rescue capability based on the daily work characteristics of the Changjiang Maritime Safety Administration (MSA). The occurrence of disasters in their port areas has been taken into consideration as the key undesirable variable. This study hopes to screen out worthy pacesetter representatives, and further suggests more targeted improvement options for inefficient maritime authorities to facilitate more effective safety supervision in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When economy of China step into the period of new normal, problems such as scant demand and excess supply in the development emerge, which bring a serial of development difficulty for many industries. Especially, coal industry is the key industry which has excess supply. It is necessary to analyze efficiency performance of coal firms in China. DEA, as an efficiency evaluation tool, is often used. In this paper, we introduce the context-dependent DEA approach and apply this method into evaluating the efficiency performance of 24 coal firms in China. One input index and three output indexes are adopted. Through our analysis and discuss, meaningful and useful findings are summarized including that which strategy is fit to adopt for a specific coal firm. Compared with previous related researches, our data is newer and traditional DEA models are abandoned. We believe that our work is important and valuable for coal companies, managers and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hotel industry is deeply embedded in local regional conditions, though the influence of regional factors is seldom investigated. Three key hotel industry metrics, Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR), Average Room Rate (ARR), and rooms rented, were examined for their determinants using ordinary least squares and negative binomial regression models on key endogenous and exogenous (regional) factors, including Destination Attractiveness and Capacity, Business and Commercial Environment, Image and Openness, and Tourism Professional Specialization. Using China as a case study, and at different hotel star designations (2- to 5-star hotels), the results show that RevPAR is determined mainly by labor quality and Tourism Professional Specialization. Particularly, regional factors significantly affect ARR and rooms rented. The influence and sophistication of regional factors increases with higher star designations. This paper highlights links between the hospitality industry and regional economic development, which should be considered by both the hotel industry and tourism policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transfer of embodied exergy from one industry to another can be modeled using a network to help understand industrial characteristics and resource features of a specific area. In this paper, we build a weighted directed network of embodied exergy flows between Chinese industries based on the 135-sector input–output table from 2007. The density, connectedness and degree distribution are used to describe the overall performance of the network. The results show that the network has a low density and a high connectedness, indicating that the network has little influence on specific industries while individual industries have a strong impact on each other. The degree, weighted degree and betweenness centrality are used to determine the main industries in the network. Key industries are characterized by large degrees that play a key role in the network, of which the mining and washing of coal, the production and supply of electric and heat power, construction, and the rolling of steel have stronger influences on the network. Moreover, the production and supply of electric power and heat power, the manufacture of automobiles and farming are the intermediaries of the network. Finally, we use a block-modeling method to decompose the collection of 135 Chinese industries into seven communities. The community of coal-related industries is the core of the network, which transfers embodied exergy to every other community, whereas the community of steel-related industries is also important, forming the base of the rest of the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building construction is a leading industry in China's economy and is also important in the fight against climate change mitigation. This paper fills the research gap by investigating the relationship between CO 2 mitigation potential and energy performance in the building construction industry using a counterfactual analysis approach. A commonly used method is adopted to calculate energy-related CO 2 emissions in the building construction industry and a newly proposed total-factor non-radial directional distance function is conducted to calculate energy performance. Further, they are connected through a logarithmic mean Divisia index decomposition analysis. The empirical results show that: (i) CO 2 emissions in China's building construction industry are increasing rapidly and electricity consumption has become the main source of emissions. (ii) Energy intensity decline is the major contributor to CO 2 mitigation. (iii) There exists a large room for energy intensity decline and more than 10% of the CO 2 emissions could be reduced if the average energy intensity could achieve the level of the best performing provinces. (iv) The coastal regions show better energy performance than the interior regions and there is a significant tendency towards divergence of energy performance among provinces. It is thus necessary to encourage technology diffusion and mandate minimum energy performance standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy transition is an important factor when dealing with climate change and energy crisis under resource constraints. The performance evaluation of it is significant for improving and promoting the process of energy transition. This paper explores the application of the support vector machine improved by the artificial bee colony algorithm (IABC-SVM) method in the energy transition performance evaluation process. It provides an intelligent evaluation tool for the evaluation of the regional energy transition performance. Firstly, the evaluation indicator system of energy transition is constructed from five dimensions: energy supply, demand, efficiency, institution, and environment. Then, the technique for order preference by a similar to ideal solution improved by a combination weighting (CW-TOPSIS) method and IABC-SVM are constructed. After that, according to the evaluation values of 30 provinces in China calculated by CW-TOPSIS, 10-fold cross validation is used to compare the errors of support vector machine (SVM), support vector machine optimized by the artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC-SVM), and IABC-SVM, which proves the effectiveness and accuracy of IABC-SVM in evaluating the performance of energy transition. Finally, the IABC-SVM is used to evaluate the energy transition performance of 30 provinces in 2016. Through a comparative analysis, the relevant suggestions of energy transition are put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of information resources industries is becoming increasingly important for improving the competitiveness of individual economies. As a result, effectively evaluating the performance of individual information resources industries becomes a critical problem that needs to be adequately addressed. This paper presents an improved Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach for evaluating the performance of provincial information resources industries in an objective manner in China. The concept of information entropy is appropriately used for determining the objective weighting of the evaluation criteria in the evaluation process. The Mahalanobis distance is adequately adopted for better reflecting the relative distance between individual alternatives and the idea solution in determining the overall performance of individual alternatives across all the evaluation criteria. This leads to the determination of consistent performance evaluation outcomes, which are better accepted by all the stakeholders in the evaluation process. An example of evaluating the competitiveness of provincial information resources industries in China is presented. The result shows that the improved TOPSIS approach is effective for evaluating the competitiveness of information resources industries in the real‐world setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal power has accounted for the major part of the electricity generation over recent several decades in China. It plays an important role in supporting China's economic development while it also brings great pressure to the environment protection because of a large amount of pollution generated during its production. In order to solve or alleviate the environmental problem caused by thermal power firms, efficiency evaluation is the first important step. As thermal power firm is a complex system with multiple inputs and multiple outputs, usually including fuzzy data and undesirable outputs in the productions, in this paper, we build an integrated Enhanced Russell measure model based on data envelopment analysis for evaluating the performance of decision making units in the presence of the undesirable outputs in fuzzy circumstance. Then, this new model is applied to analyze the environmental performance and provide the benchmarks for the thermal power firms in China which can guide the decision makers to make suitable future production plans for improving their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is now the world leader in wind power with total installed capacity and its strong policy support. In this paper, we take the 610 wind farms located in China as an example and explore the relationships between a wind farm’s operational performance and several key factors, i.e., resource area, regional location, and scale. Our empirical results imply that policy and approval of wind farms may affect performance of wind farms, leading to large difference on performance of wind farms in different provinces of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By reviewing researches on environmental performance evaluation of current eco-city construction, this paper analyzed characteristics and deficiencies of the evaluation methods and index systems, and took Haizhu Eco-city for example to assess the environmental performance of eco-city construction from the perspectives of land, water environment, regional weather, and biodiversity. On this basis, a scientific, objective and feasible evaluation method and index system was basically formed so as to demonstrate the efficiency of eco-city construction, and to provide scientific support for the dynamic adjustment and optimization of eco-city construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the food waste collection and transportation (C&T) system in a pilot project in Suzhou by using a novel performance evaluation method. The method employed to conduct this analysis involves a unified performance evaluation index containing qualitative and quantitative indicators applied to data from Suzhou City. Two major inefficiencies were identified: a) low system efficiency due to insufficient processing capacity of commercial food waste facilities; and b) low waste resource utilization due to low efficiency of manual sorting. The performance evaluation indicated that the pilot project collection system's strong points included strong economics, low environmental impact and low social impact. This study also shows that Suzhou's integrated system has developed a comprehensive body of laws and clarified regulatory responsibilities for each of the various government departments to solve the problems of commercial food waste management. Based on Suzhou's experience, perspectives and lessons can be drawn for other cities and areas where food waste management systems are in the planning stage, or are encountering operational problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The building envelopes are exposed to the hot-humid climate with high humidity in hot summer and cold winter zone (HSCW) of China. The moisture transfer may severely influence the conduction loads through exterior walls. In this paper, a coupled heat and moisture transfer model is developed and validated to investigate the thermal performance of exterior walls. The conduction loads through a typical exterior wall are used to evaluate the effect of moisture transfer on the thermal performance of exterior walls in HSCW zone of China. The results show that the peak cooling and heating loads are overestimated by 2.1–3.9% and 4.2–10.1%, respectively, when ignoring moisture transfer. In cooling season, the sum of the latent load accounts for 14.3–52.2% of the sum of the total load and the yearly latent load accounts for 4.9–6.1% of the yearly total load when considering moisture transfer. The total cooling, heating and the yearly load are underestimated by 9.9–34.4%, 1.7–4.0%, and 5.2–6.8%, respectively, when ignoring moisture transfer. The results indicate that ignoring moisture transfer causes significant discrepancy in predicting the conduction loads. A detailed model considering moisture transfer in building envelope is essential to accurately evaluate the building energy performance in HSCW zone of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the level of bus service, a field study was undertaken to develop a combined bus comfort model. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the different ways to predict the bus comfort, in addition to the variable experimental techniques used. It was found some environment parameters like noise, vibration, thermal comfort and the acceleration would affect the passengers’ experience. In this model, both the measurement of objective physical parameters and subjective questionnaire survey were conducted to gather the practical environment date, as well as to distribute questionnaires on board city buses during the same trips. By comparing the subjective views of bus passengers to objective physical parameters, a combined bus comfort model was established. This model helps to calculate the concrete value of passengers’ perceived bus comfort. An effective approach integrated the comfort model, measuring instrument and the driver monitor could greatly improve the bus service quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the impact of ESG screening on the portfolio value of four risk weighting models in the Chinese stock market from July 2012 to June 2019. Using a novel ESG rating data of CSI 300 composite stock, we show that: (i) ESG screening undermines the portfolio value of the equal-weighted (EW), value-weighted (VW), minimum variance (MVP), and reward-to-return (RRT) model. Portfolio models in the High-ESG group have the lowest out-of-sample return, Sharpe ratio, and cumulative wealth. (ii) After adjusting for asset pricing models, portfolio models in the High-ESG group generally produce the lowest out-of-sample risk-adjusted return per IVOL. (iii) ESG screening harms portfolio value by excluding stocks with favorable risk-return characteristics, leading to a conservative investment style, which is costly both for non-ESG-motivated and ESG-motivated investors. Our findings reveal that although ESG investment is becoming a significant trend, portfolio managers should be aware of the opportunity cost to apply ESG screening in emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been reported that systematic bias exists in gauge measurements, which are usually used as the evaluation benchmark, so it is crucial to investigate the impacts of gauge data bias on the evaluation of satellite precipitation products. Six satellite precipitation products (IMERG, CMORPH, GSMaP, PERSIANN, PERSIANN−CCS, and PDIR−Now) and gauge data are collected from 2003 to 2015 in the arid region of Northwestern China. A daily correction for precipitation biases from wind-induced undercatch, wetting loss, and trace error is made for gauge measurements. The changes in metrics, including four continuous and four categorical metrics, are calculated to illustrate how the gauge data bias impacts the evaluation of six satellite precipitation products. The results show the following: The overall performances of six satellite precipitation products are undervalued by the gauge bias. Compared to other satellite products, the performance of IMERG is the best, whether before or after bias correction. However, the performances of all six satellite products are still not good enough even after bias correction and need to be improved. The impacts of gauge bias on the evaluation of the satellite precipitation products also differ by subregion, season, satellite precipitation product, precipitation intensity, and precipitation phase. In conclusion, the impacts of the gauge bias on the performance assessment of satellite products are obvious over the study region, implying that bias correction for gauge measurements is needed to obtain an accurate understanding of the performance of satellite precipitation products if choosing the gauge data as the evaluation benchmark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Gansu Province, China, Wuwei City is an ecologically fragile migration area at the intersection of the Loess Plateau, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the Mongolia-New Plateau. Using the Triangular Fuzzy TOPSIS method and the obstacle factor diagnostic model, the implementation performance and follow-up support issues of the Ecological Resettlement Project were analyzed from the perspective of the eco-migrant and the public value theory. In contrast to traditional performance appraisal methods, Triangular Fuzzy TOPSIS breaks through the ambiguity of complex environments and subjective information and effectively quantifies the fuzziness of evaluator language variables to improve the validity. The overall performance of the Ecological Resettlement Project in Wuwei is good; the average closeness degree of process is higher than outcome. Migrants rated the fairness of the project as the highest, followed by support, economic outcome, and satisfaction. Gulang County's performance in the Ecological Resettlement Project is the best, followed by Tianzhu County and Liangzhou District. Project obstacles were mostly related to the outcome dimension, especially the ecological restoration and management, the return to poverty risk, and industrial development on the resettlement site. The main obstacle to the process dimension is migrant satisfaction with government subsidies. Research results provide case study support and experience inspiration for migrant relocation models and their long-term livelihood improvement in the context of rural revitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The task demands of summarization are closely related to the characteristics of source texts, and genre is an essential characteristic. This paper reports an empirical study that examines how text type (genre) affects test takers’ performance on summarization tasks. A sample of 86 students was drawn from an undergraduate program in a Chinese university. The students first wrote summaries of a narrative text and subsequently wrote summaries of an expository text. Genre effects were examined from three perspectives: students’ summary scores, summary scripts, and perception of these effects as reflected in questionnaire surveys and post-test interviews. MFRM analysis showed that participants performed better on expository writing than on narrative text summarization overall. The difficulties of the rubric components differed, with several differing significantly across the tasks. However, the participants generally considered the narrative text summarization to be easier than the expository task according to the results of the questionnaire surveys and interviews. Factors that led to this contradiction between performance and perception were explored by examining the participants’ summaries and their accounts of the task difficulty and test-taking processes. Implications are discussed with reference to summarization task design, summarization teaching, and the relevance of genre effects in the creation of equivalent versions of tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In order to alleviate the limitation of traditional statistical models utilizing only structured data, this paper proposes a new fore- casting method, which is able to take full advantage of domain knowledge and avoid many kinds of biases and inconsistencies inherent in subjective judgments. The new method is applied to forecasting the container throughput of Guangzhou Port, one of the most important ports of China. In order to test the effectiveness of the new method, we compare its performance with that of the frequently-used ARIMAX model. The results show that the new method significantly outperforms the ARIMAX model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recently numerous studies have applied complex network based models to study the performance and vulnerability of infrastructure systems under various types of attacks and hazards. But how effective are these models to capture their real performance response is still a question worthy of research. Taking the Chinese railway system as an example, this paper selects three typical complex network based models, including purely topological model (PTM), purely shortest path model (PSPM), and weight (link length) based shortest path model (WBSPM), to analyze railway accessibility and flow-based vulnerability and compare their results with those from the real train flow model (RTFM). The results show that the WBSPM can produce the train routines with 83% stations and 77% railway links identical to the real routines and can approach the RTFM the best for railway vulnerability under both single and multiple component failures. The correlation coefficient for accessibility vulnerability from WBSPM and RTFM under single station failures is 0.96 while it is 0.92 for flow-based vulnerability; under multiple station failures, where each station has the same failure probability fp, the WBSPM can produce almost identical vulnerability results with those from the RTFM under almost all failures scenarios when fp is larger than 0.62 for accessibility vulnerability and 0.86 for flow-based vulnerability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Currently one of the most promising power solutions for remote rural areas and isolated islands which are far away from utility grid is the stand-alone solar photovoltaic (PV) renewable energy system or hybrid solar–wind power system. This paper presents the investigation results of a real remote solar PV project on an island in Hong Kong. The stand-alone PV system, rated at 19.8kWp, is established on a remote island for power generation to local residents. Power on this island was originally supplied by diesel generators and this new solar energy system has significantly reduced fuel costs and alleviated environmental pollution. The on-site entire system’s operating data was collected for one whole year in 2011, and the energy performance of the PV array, inverters, battery bank and the entire PV system were analyzed in terms of daily energy balance, normalized performance parameters and overall system energy utilization ratio. The results from this long term system monitoring and its evaluation enables a detailed inspection of system operating performance with respect to the technical issues, which provides a useful reference for future applications of solar photovoltaics in remote islands. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In recent years, several major fires occurred in high-rise buildings involving rapid fire spread upon the exterior walls and facades, and caused severe damage and loss. The extensive use of combustible insulation materials without proper fire protections and barriers were believed to contribute to the uncontrollable fire spread in the high-rise buildings. This paper reviews the current code and standard environment regulating the fire safety of exterior wall claddings in China. Three high-rise building fire cases involving rapid exterior wall fire spread are also discussed by analyzing the fire causes, propagation mechanisms and problems. The recent research progress and regulation development on the fire protection of exterior wall claddings are also presented. It was suggested that limiting the combustibility of insulation materials used in the exterior wall cladding associated with building heights, as well as proper fire protections and barriers would provide acceptable fire safety performance of exterior wall claddings in high-rise buildings. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Asia-Oceania Association for Fire Science and Technology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A Coarse-Grained Parallel Genetic Algorithm (CGPGA) is utilized to search for near-optimal solutions for land use allocation optimization problems in the context of multiple objectives and constraints. Plans are obtained based on the trade-off among three spatial objectives including ecological benefit, accessibility and compatibility. The Multi-objective Optimization of Land Use model integrates these objectives with the fitness function assessed by reference point method (goal programming). The CGPGA, as the first coupling in land use allocation optimization problems, is tested through the experiments with one processor, two processors and four processors to pursue near-optimal land use allocation scenarios and the comparison to these experiments based on Generic Genetic Algorithm (GGA), which clearly shows the robustness of the model we proposed as well as its better performance. Furthermore, the successful convergent (near-convergent) case study utilizing the CGPGA in Tongzhou Newtown, Beijing, China evinces the capability and potential of CGPGA in solving land use allocation optimization problems with better efficiency and effectiveness than GGA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Chinese calligraphy is a Chinese traditional cultural symbol, acting as an art form unifying literature, history, and painting. Calligraphic landscapes are common attractions in China''s tourism destinations. The purpose of this study was to explore how tourists'' attitudes towards calligraphy impact perceptions of authenticity. This paper further develops Kolar and Zabkar''s (2010) model by adding attitude variable which differs from motivation into the model, and amending the relationship between various variables in the structural model. A confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were performed using LISREL 8.51. This research concludes that public ignorance of traditional culture affects perceptions of authenticity and leads tourists to attribute importance to the aesthetics and form of the objective material, rather than to focus on the inner experience found in the traditional Chinese calligraphic arts. Thus tourists remain stuck in the shallow level of heritage and cultural tourism experiences. The managerial and marketing implications of authenticity within this and other contexts are then discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper looks at carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the point of view of production theory and proposes a new total factor CO2 emissions performance index. This is done using directional distance function followed by stochastic frontier analysis techniques in order to estimate the index. Based on this, it studies on CO2 emission performance, emission reduction potential and influences of regulatory policies in Chinese provinces. The main conclusions include the following: (1) CO2 emission performance in each province is high in southeastern coastal areas but low in central and western inland regions with differences increasing rapidly after 2001. (2) The relationship between CO2 emission performance and emission reduction potential can be divided into four types; high performance-high potential, high performance-low potential, low performance-high potential and low performance-low potential. (3) Regulations concerning emission reduction do not sacrifice efficiency but actually facilitate long-term CO2 emission performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Due to the large scale highway construction and fuel tax reform, the Chinese government is suffering from serious difficulties in the Trunk Highway (TH) management (similar to arterial highways in the US). Most concerns are related to the misappropriation of funds and over-staffing. To solve these problems, an effective approach is to employ an appropriate Finance and Personnel Management Institutional Structure (FAPMIS). This paper proposes a quantitative method to evaluate the performance of FAPMIS. FAPMISs are classified into three types based on their differences: vertical management structure (VMS), regional management structure (RMS), and hybrid of vertical and regional management structure (HVRMS). These three types are represented by three different graphical structures. Based on these structures, the authors propose three measures, i.e., graph entropy (GE), time efficacy entropy (TEE) and quality entropy (QE) to evaluate the performance of FAPMIS. When comparing the numerical results among the measures, we found that HVRMS got the minimum TEE and GE values, which indicates its inefficiency in combating the misappropriation of funds and over-staffing in TH management. Thus, HVRMS is not recommended for real-life applications in China. However, VMS attains a higher GE and TEE value than RMS, indicating that VMS will theoretically lead to relatively lower risk of misappropriation of funds and over-staffing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: By focusing on Kunshan, an economically advanced county-level city in the Yangtze River Delta, this paper aims to answer how, why, and under what circumstances the territorial power of Chinese urban entrepreneurial states is created in response to the dynamics of spatial economic development in the context of market transition and globalization. Although Kunshan is merely a county-level authority administratively, its economic performance in 2011 was better than that of several poor provinces, such as Hainan, Tibet, Qinghai, and Ningxia. Kunshan’s successful urban entrepreneurialism presents a unique ‘mismatch’ between ‘low’ administrative rank and ‘great’ economic performance (a big foot in a small shoe, dajiao chuan xiaoxie). I argue that Kunshan has developed several new local state powers through flexible administrative restructuring that explains the ‘mismatch’ puzzle and includes the following characteristics: (1) reclassification of Kunshan from county to county-level city, (2) relational adjustment by officially or informally raising Kunshan’s place rank and the cadre rank, and (3) boundary revision by virtual enclave enlargement. I conclude that the Chinese party-state system plays a role in Chinese county-level urban entrepreneurialism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A cover with capillary barrier effects (CCBEs) is a promising final cover for controlling water infiltration into a waste containment system. A CCBE consisting of a layer of fine soil and a layer of coarse soil relies on the particle size contrast of the two soils. Although CCBEs have been successfully used in dry climate, their performance under high precipitation intensities and high evaporation conditions (e.g., in South China) is still unclear. This paper aims to evaluate the performance of the CCBE in high-precipitation areas and propose appropriate combinations of local soils for constructing a CCBE in South China. Several combinations of lean clay, clayed sand, and silty sand with gravel are examined using saturated/unsaturated seepage analysis. Two contrasting conditions, i.e., a drizzle lasting for a long time and an intense storm lasting for a short time, are applied to the covers. The covers perform well when subject to prolonged small rainfall at an initial maximum suction of 150kPa. When subject to a short-time heavy rainfall, breakthrough occurs in the cover consisting of clayed sand overlying silty sand with gravel. Of the three covers, a CCBE consisting of lean clay overlying silty sand with gravel performs well under both prolonged light rainfall and short time heavy rainfall conditions. This CCBE has the longest period of time before breakthrough and the least amount of percolated water under prolonged heavy rainfall. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Hydraulic Control Rod Drive Technology (HCRDT) is a newly invented patent of the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University which owns HCRDT’s independent intellectual property rights while the integrated valve made up of three direct action solenoid valves is the key part of this technology. Therefore, the performance of the solenoid valve affects the integrated valve and the HCRDT directly. In this paper, firstly, we improve particle swarm optimization (PSO) by Cloud Model and the improved PSO is called CloudPSO. Then, the method is used to optimize the parameters of the direct action solenoid valve. At last, the results are verified by the experiments. The results prove that the method is feasible and accurate to obtain the key parameters of the solenoid valve in order to achieve the biggest electromagnetic force. Besides, the algorithm is analyzed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]