• Energy Research
• 8. Economic growth close
• 9. Industry and infrastructure close
• CN close
• RO close

In recent years, the rapid development of the rare earth industry has had a serious impact on the environment. Some enterprises have taken measures to improve the production process. In order to explore the sustainability of this industry and these improvements’ environmental benefits, this paper combines emergy analysis and lifecycle assessment to evaluate and compare the production process of rare-earth oxides considering the three aspects of emergy flow, pollutant emissions, and emergy-based indicators. Changes in the emergy of pollutant emissions before and after improvement of the production process are discussed. The results show that the greatest inputs in the mining and beneficiation stage and smelting separation stage are labor force and service and non-renewable resources, respectively. These two production stages are highly dependent on external input and have weak competitiveness. Both stages place great pressure on the environment, so the bastnasite production process would be unsustainable in the long term. After the improvement, the environmental impact of the production process for bastnaesite changed significantly, indicating that the improvement effect of the wastewater treatment facilities and the change of fuel from coal to natural gas is remarkable.

In recent years, the rapid development of the rare earth industry has had a serious impact on the environment. Some enterprises have taken measures to improve the production process. In order to explore the sustainability of this industry and these improvements’ environmental benefits, this paper combines emergy analysis and lifecycle assessment to evaluate and compare the production process of rare-earth oxides considering the three aspects of emergy flow, pollutant emissions, and emergy-based indicators. Changes in the emergy of pollutant emissions before and after improvement of the production process are discussed. The results show that the greatest inputs in the mining and beneficiation stage and smelting separation stage are labor force and service and non-renewable resources, respectively. These two production stages are highly dependent on external input and have weak competitiveness. Both stages place great pressure on the environment, so the bastnasite production process would be unsustainable in the long term. After the improvement, the environmental impact of the production process for bastnaesite changed significantly, indicating that the improvement effect of the wastewater treatment facilities and the change of fuel from coal to natural gas is remarkable.

Innovation ability has become one of the core elements in the pursuit of China’s green growth, and high-tech industries are playing a leading role in technological innovation in China. With the rapid development of China’s high-tech industries, their innovation efficiency has attracted widespread attention. This article aims to illustrate a shared inputs two-stage network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), to measure the innovation efficiency of high-tech industries in China’s 29 provinces from 1999 to 2018. The results indicate that there are obvious differences in the innovation efficiency of the provinces. The technology development efficiency, the technical transformation efficiency, and the overall innovation efficiency of the developed east coast provinces are generally higher than those of the backward central and western provinces. This article further applies the spatial econometrics model to analyze the factors influencing the innovation efficiency of high-tech industries. We have found that government support, R&D input intensity, industries aggregation, economic extroversion, and the level of development of the modern service industries cause varying degrees of impact on innovation efficiency.

Innovation ability has become one of the core elements in the pursuit of China’s green growth, and high-tech industries are playing a leading role in technological innovation in China. With the rapid development of China’s high-tech industries, their innovation efficiency has attracted widespread attention. This article aims to illustrate a shared inputs two-stage network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), to measure the innovation efficiency of high-tech industries in China’s 29 provinces from 1999 to 2018. The results indicate that there are obvious differences in the innovation efficiency of the provinces. The technology development efficiency, the technical transformation efficiency, and the overall innovation efficiency of the developed east coast provinces are generally higher than those of the backward central and western provinces. This article further applies the spatial econometrics model to analyze the factors influencing the innovation efficiency of high-tech industries. We have found that government support, R&D input intensity, industries aggregation, economic extroversion, and the level of development of the modern service industries cause varying degrees of impact on innovation efficiency.

This study uses the structured–pragmatics–situational case study approach to explore the intrinsic mechanism of enterprise digital enablement using affordance theory and how traditional enterprises enable customers to participate in value co-creation through information technology, then realize business model innovation and maintain continuous consumption. The study revealed the following: (1) Product affordance drives customers’ original willingness to engage in value co-creation in four dimensions: economy, reliability, uniqueness, and selectivity; (2) The visibility, convenience, association, and persistence of the platform affordance enhance users’ abilities to engage in value co-creation; (3) The interaction of affordance, structural enablement, and digital enablement drives the interaction of willingness and capability to engage in value co-creation; and (4) User participation behaviors in value co-creation can be divided into three dimensions (informational, actionable, and attitudinal participation)and four stages. The findings explain how traditional enterprises use IT enablement to promote business model innovation of customer participation in value co-creation and enrich the theories of digital enablement. The conclusions reveal the managerial implications of the ways, paths, and mechanism of business model innovation by IT enabling customers to participate in value co-creation.

This study uses the structured–pragmatics–situational case study approach to explore the intrinsic mechanism of enterprise digital enablement using affordance theory and how traditional enterprises enable customers to participate in value co-creation through information technology, then realize business model innovation and maintain continuous consumption. The study revealed the following: (1) Product affordance drives customers’ original willingness to engage in value co-creation in four dimensions: economy, reliability, uniqueness, and selectivity; (2) The visibility, convenience, association, and persistence of the platform affordance enhance users’ abilities to engage in value co-creation; (3) The interaction of affordance, structural enablement, and digital enablement drives the interaction of willingness and capability to engage in value co-creation; and (4) User participation behaviors in value co-creation can be divided into three dimensions (informational, actionable, and attitudinal participation)and four stages. The findings explain how traditional enterprises use IT enablement to promote business model innovation of customer participation in value co-creation and enrich the theories of digital enablement. The conclusions reveal the managerial implications of the ways, paths, and mechanism of business model innovation by IT enabling customers to participate in value co-creation.

AbstractThere is close relationship between science & technology inputs and economic growth. Based on the data of science & technology input and economic growth, the paper makes the econometric models analysis on the economic growth and science & technology input of the three major coastal economic regions of China. The paper analyzes and compares the contribution rate of science & technology inputs to economic growth of the three major economic regions.