Enabling Strategies and Policies toward a Sustainable Environment

Sanitary requirements, geopolitical crises, and other factors that increase price volatility have an impact on the organization of markets and changes in investment policies and business strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the trade of chicken meat, due to the drastic reduction in the circulation of goods, interrupted the supply of production chains, changed consumption habits, and made it difficult to reorganize business due to the slow resumption of operations by suppliers of inputs and in distribution logistics. The magnitude of these impacts has not been studied despite the high relevance of this economic dimension and the managerial implications for sector governance and trade management. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the production costs and competitiveness of the Brazilian chicken meat production chain. The methodology consisted of the detailed collection of information and data on private and social prices carried out using the Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) method. The competitiveness coefficients and policy effects in the Brazilian broiler production chain before (2015) and during (2022) the COVID-19 pandemic were quantified and compared. Generally, the significant increases in the production costs of chicken meat (30.49%) caused a decrease in total factor productivity (−19.54%), a reduction in gross revenue, and lower tax collection. The pandemic has reduced the profitability of the chicken production chain in Brazil by 32.31%, reduced the competitiveness of exports, and worsened other economic indicators of the production chain. To the best of our knowledge, no other study has investigated the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the competitiveness of the Brazilian chicken meat production chain. The PAM method allows for prices paid and received to be updated in real terms in projects representative of Brazil, the world leader in exports. This information is important for both national and international stakeholders. Additionally, this model is applicable to other meats traded in the international market, as it provides greater precision in business management and can estimate the impacts of risks on the availability or quality of food and health crises with robust results. Full article

Owing to a long-term, extensive development model and inadequate industrial development planning, cases of atmospheric environment pollution frequently occur in Hebei province. By using such approaches as the Spatial Gini Coefficient, the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index and location entropy, this paper analyzes the spatial-distribution characteristics of atmospheric pollution-intensive industries such as the thermal power industry in Hebei province. As shown, atmospheric pollution-intensive industries, such as the thermal power industry in Hebei province, excessively cluster. As industrial agglomeration continuously intensifies, the spatial imbalance becomes increasingly prominent. Taking the number of days with excellent air quality as a benchmark, this paper divides prefecture-level cities of Hebei province into four types of industrial management and designs targeted strategies for the optimization of atmospheric pollution-intensive industries, such as the thermal power industry. In terms of policies, Type I and Type II cities are advised to strengthen the transfer of atmospheric pollution-intensive industries such as the thermal power industry, and Type III and Type IV cities are advised to improve capacities in atmospheric self-purification and green-technology innovation in a bid to help government departments to scientifically manage atmospheric pollution-intensive industries such as the thermal power industry. Full article

Urban lake wetlands play an essential role in providing ecological services, promoting urban sustainability, and enhancing the quality of urban life. This study quantitatively assesses the ecosystem services value (ESV) of the Zhangdu, East, and Ziyang urban lake wetlands in Wuhan, China, based on primary survey data and methodologies, including the market price, shadow engineering, and travel cost methods. The ESV is categorized into direct use value (DUV), indirect use value (IUV), and non-use value (NUV). Our findings reveal that the non-use value proportion is significant, amounting to 1.569 × 10⁸ CNY × yr⁻¹ for Zhangdu Lake, 1.527 × 10⁸ CNY × yr⁻¹ for East Lake, and 1.060 × 10⁸ CNY × yr⁻¹ for Ziyang Lake. This indicates a high willingness to pay among respondents, reflecting a recognition of the value of wetland services. In addition to the non-use value, this study underscores the considerable material production, water conservation, and leisure tourism value that these urban lake wetlands provide. The assessment of ESV delivers a scientific basis for the management and protection of urban lake wetlands. It also highlights the challenges faced, such as pollution and fragmented management approaches due to unclear property rights and insufficient funding. This study concludes by emphasizing the need for future research to explore mechanisms that promote social participation in wetland management, with the aim of enhancing the overall ecological health of urban lake wetlands. Full article

This paper studies the relationship between environmental innovations and firms’ financial performance from the perspective of environmental activism intensity. We explore how the number of green patents affects the financial performance of small, medium, and large firms and whether the growing number of green patents positively affects firms’ financial performance. We employed a panel data sample of 1136 green innovative and 2395 non-green innovative firms from the USA and Europe and compared their financial results. The results show that small firms benefit financially only in the second year after the first green patent implementation. Medium-sized firms enjoy improved financial performance in the first two years after the implementation of one or two green patents; however, the third green patent does not anyhow improve the financial performance. Large firms gain financial benefits every year after issuing green patents regardless of the patents’ quantity. Generally, the increase in financial performance is moderate in the first year, reaches the maximum in the second year, and becomes statistically insignificant in the third year after the last green patent’s implementation. Full article

The Chinese water administration department has continuously explored and formulated regulatory and market-oriented water control policies to alleviate the contradiction between water shortage and economic and social development and promote the new idea of ‘water-saving first’ water control. Among them, implementing a water resources tax policy as a price means has achieved initial success. The water-saving effect of water resources tax collection is one of the important bases for determining whether the tax reform will be promoted nationwide in the next stage. Based on this, taking Hubei Province, the first tax reform pilot in China, as an example, water resource elements are integrated into the economic system and a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model (DSGE) is constructed, embedded in water resources tax to simulate the persistent impact of such a tax on water saving objectives. The research shows that: (1) A water resources tax can effectively achieve the goal of water-saving and improve the utilization efficiency of water resources. (2) Levying a water resources tax helps to improve the water-saving awareness of enterprises and residents and promotes enterprises to optimize their production structure. (3) Rational and efficient use of special water resources protection funds is the basis for ensuring the effective implementation of a water resources tax. It can also improve the recycling capacity of water resources. This means that the government should speed up the exploration of the relationship between supply and demand for comprehensive water resources, to establish a reasonable range of water resources tax rates to guarantee people’s livelihoods, and to accelerate the construction of water resources tax guarantee measures, in order to achieve a relatively steady-state of water resources utilization and protection, realizing the dual goal of sustainable economic development and sustainable use of water resources. Full article

In the process of China’s economic transformation, enterprises urgently need to use green innovation networks to realize corporate sustainability. Based on resource-based theory, this study explores the internal mechanism and boundary conditions of green innovation network embeddedness that affect corporate environmental responsibility. This paper conducts an empirical study based on panel data of listed companies engaged in green innovation in China from 2010 to 2020. Drawing on network embeddedness theory and resource-based theory, we found that relational and structural embeddedness influenced green reputation, which affected corporate environmental responsibility. We also identified the importance of ethical leadership and examined its role in moderating the effect of green innovation network embeddedness. A further investigation revealed that the impact of network embeddedness on corporate environmental responsibility was particularly pronounced in the samples of enterprises with high-level political ties, loose financing restrictions, and nonstate ownership. Our findings highlight the advantages of embedded green innovation networks and offer theoretical references and recommendations for enterprises considering network participation. Enterprises should attach great importance to the network embedding strategy of green innovation for corporate environmental responsibility and actively integrate the concept of green development into network relationship embedding and network structure embedding. Moreover, the relevant government department should provide necessary environment incentive policies according to the enterprise’s development needs, especially for the enterprises with low-level political ties, high financing restrictions, and state ownership. Full article

A firm’s embedding structures in a technology competition network can influence its propensity for innovation ambidexterity. Using PCT (patent cooperation treaty) patent data of wind energy companies between 2010 and 2019, we adopted social network analysis and fixed-effects panel negative binomial regression to examine the impacts of network structural features on firm innovation ambidexterity. The results show that competitor-weighted centrality contributes to a firm’s propensities for both incremental and radical green innovation. In contrast, a firm’s embeddedness in small-world clusters can moderate the effect of the firm’s competitor-weighted centrality positively on its incremental innovation but negatively on its radical innovation. The study makes three theoretical contributions. First, it enriches the understanding of how the competition network affects innovation ambidexterity. Second, it provides new insights into the relationship between competition network structures and technology innovation strategy. Finally, it contributes to bridging the research on the social embeddedness perspective and green innovation literature. The findings of this study have important implications for enterprises in the wind energy sector regarding how competitive relationships affect green technology innovation. The study underscores the importance of considering the competitiveness of a firm’s rivals and the embedded structural features when devising green innovation strategies. Full article

Under the background of “dual carbon”, the coupled power generation of agricultural and forestry biomass (AFB) and coal, as a new path of coal-power transformation, is key to achieving energy conservation and reducing emissions in the power sector. Timely and effective government subsidies as well as regulation policies will play important roles in the development of the coupled power generation industry. Previous studies usually assumed government policy as singular and static, rarely considering the dynamic changes in government policies. In this study, evolutionary game theory and systematic dynamics research methods were combined. The game relationship and the dynamic evolution process of the behavioral strategies of both sides are analyzed through the construction of a mixed-strategies game model of the government and power plants. A system dynamics model is built for simulations based on the results of the dynamic game evolution, and the influence paths of key factors on the behavioral strategies of the government and power plants were further demonstrated. The results indicated the following: (1) The behavioral strategies of the government and power plants were not stable for a long period of time, but fluctuated during their mutual influence. The dynamic policies and measures formulated by the government according to changes in the behavioral strategies of power plants will promote industrial development more effectively. (2) Increasing subsidization and the strengthening of supervision caused by government policy can increase the enthusiasm of power plants to choose the coupled power generation of AFB and coal. (3) If the government improves the benefits or reduces the transformation costs caused by coupled power generation the industry will be fundamentally improved. The results clearly show the interactions as well as adjustment processes of the behavioral strategies of power plants and the government in the coupled power generation industry of AFB and coal, and the specific effects of key factors on the behavioral strategies of power plants and the government were investigated. This study can provide a theoretical basis for the government to formulate reasonable industrial policies and measures for the coupled power generation of AFB and coal, in addition to being a valuable reference for other countries to develop a coupled power generation industry. Full article

The combined application of potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH₂PO₄) and thermally activated nano serpentine and KH₂PO₄ and thermally activated nano zeolite could immobilize cadmium (Cd) in contaminated soils by increasing soil pH value. The results showed that adding nPS₇₀₀-2.0 (KH₂PO₄ and thermally activated nano serpentine activated at 700 °C, 2% addition) exhibited better performance under the same treatment condition; it reduced DTPA-Cd by 57.8% and exchangeable Cd by 48.76%. Adding nPF₇₀₀ (KH₂PO₄ and thermally activated nano zeolite activated at 700 °C) reduced DTPA-Cd by 35.49–44.17% and exchangeable Cd by 35.89–42.57%, respectively. The increase of active adsorption points and the surface area of thermally activated nano serpentine reduced the bioavailability of Cd in soil, indicating that the combined application of phosphate and thermally activated nano serpentine has great potential for the immobilization of Cd in soil. Full article

The number of doctor–patient conflicts and disputes in China has been increasing recently. In order to solve the current social problems of the tense doctor–patient relationship and frequent medical disputes, this article, based on grounded theory, uses qualitative analysis software to conduct grounded coding on 622 cases of doctor–patient disputes randomly selected by stratification. After successively adopting open, axial, and selective coding, the relationship structure between the causes and development of medical disputes is summarized. Furthermore, this relationship structure can be used to analyze further and discuss the causes of doctor–patient disputes from the perspective of multiple co-governance and the governance framework of doctor–patient disputes. Finally, it reminds us of the need to standardize government’s regulatory responsibilities, promote the equal distribution of medical resources, strengthen the communication awareness between doctors and patients, reduce the information asymmetry between doctors and patients, and build a preventive mechanism-oriented multi-subject collaborative governance path to promote the relationship between doctors and patients in China. We provide relevant countermeasures and suggestions for harmonious development and the smooth resolution of doctor–patient conflicts. Full article

Urban innovation has always been a research topic of scholars, but research focusing on the relationship between innovative city pilot policy and regional innovation is still relatively rare. The objective of this study is to examine the impact of the pilot policy on urban innovation convergence based on panel data in China from 2003 to 2016. The difference-in-differences (DID) method was used. First, we find that the pilot policy not only improves the innovation level of cities (basic effect) but also promotes innovation convergence among pilot cities (convergence effect). The convergence of scientific and technological personnel and financial technology investment are potential impact mechanisms. Second, compared with the basic effect, the convergence effect of the pilot policy has a time lag of three to five years. Regarding spatial spillover, the policy convergence effect is slightly smaller than the basic effect radius (although not robust). Finally, while the spillover effect caused by policy increases the innovation growth rate of surrounding cities more significantly, the basic and convergence effects are not significant in the western region. The results reveal the positive impact of the pilot policy on narrowing urban innovation gaps and highlight the risk of further marginalization of some cities. These findings contribute to accurately evaluating the regional innovation differences and provide an important policy implication for development strategy. Full article