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Although the development of tourism has a positive impact on local employment and economic growth, the high level of energy consumption and emissions generated by tourism have also attracted increasing attention. Based on the concept of tourism eco-efficiency, this article constructs a comprehensive evaluation system for tourism eco-efficiency in China, and the study concludes that (1) China’s tourism eco-efficiency as a whole was in a fluctuating upward trend from 2002 to 2018, but different provinces of tourism eco-efficiency varied greatly, and the range of tourism eco-efficiency on spatial spill-over increased significantly; (2) the impact of tourism economic development on tourism eco-efficiency was not significant over time, and the impact of tourism eco-efficiency on the sustainable development of the tourism economy in the western region was weaker; (3) the contribution of tourism economic development to tourism eco-efficiency was low at the national level, with regional levels ranging from large to small for the western region, the central region, and the eastern region. The contribution of tourism eco-efficiency to the tourism economy was also low at the national level, with the central, eastern, and western regions ranked in descending order at the regional level.

Tax reduction policies can promote economic development, employment, and social equity in the short term. Especially during economic downturns, their effects are even more pronounced. Following the massive tax cuts amounting to 4 trillion yuan in China in 2022, the government work report for 2023 has revealed that tax reduction will continue to be the central theme of fiscal policies. However, amidst a backdrop of economic growth slowdown, China is facing objective challenges such as sluggish growth in fiscal revenues, rising inflexibility in fiscal expenditures, mounting debt burdens, and fiscal imbalances among regions, which pose severe threats to fiscal sustainability. This paper selects panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2019. Controlling for provincial and year fixed effects, FGLS method is used to empirically test the impact of tax reduction policies on fiscal sustainability. The results indicate that tax reduction significantly undermines fiscal sustainability, which exhibits a certain degree of persistence. Heterogeneity tests reveal that tax reduction policies have more pronounced inhibitory effects on fiscal sustainability in western regions, regions with lower proportions of the tertiary industry, and regions with higher levels of fiscal decentralization. Further analysis demonstrates that tax reduction primarily impacts local fiscal sustainability through two channels: stimulating enterprise production and distorting local government behavior. Based on these findings, our study proposes the need to moderate the pace of overall tax reduction policies in China, implement tax reduction policies with varying intensities tailored to regional characteristics, and promote tax reduction policy dividends as well as reduce policy costs to enhance fiscal sustainability.

Fiscal imbalances in China are widening; the problem of fiscal sustainability in each province is becoming increasingly serious. However, so far, few studies have focused on the issue of the fiscal sustainability of China’s provinces. This paper will focus on it to clarify the degree of fiscal sustainability in China’s provinces. In this paper, the GH test method is used to analyze the structural breaking of fiscal revenue and expenditure data of each province, the panel cointegration method is used to analyze the relationship between fiscal revenue and expenditure and DOLS is used to estimate the degree of fiscal sustainability of each province. It is found that the fiscal sustainability of most provinces in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, is strong, while that of some provinces, such as Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang, is weak. This paper states that people should pay more attention to the fiscal sustainability of China’s provinces, and provinces with weak fiscal sustainability should minimize unproductive expenditures while the central government should continue to give appropriate financial support to local governments.

Abstract Taking the 11th Five-Year Plan in China as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper explores the impact of environmental regulation on corporate tax avoidance based on firm-level data and the difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) method. We find that: (1) Environmental regulation has a significant positive effect on corporate tax avoidance, and several robustness checks confirm our findings; (2) Heterogeneity analysis show that this effects are more significant for private firms and for firms in the regions with less fiscal stress and that in the east part of China; (3) Two channels identified are the operating risks and financing constraints; (4) Further analysis show that the 11th Five-Year Plan has spillover effects on firms in low-emission industries. The increased tax avoidance of firms in high-emission industries contributes to a raised tax burden on firms in low-emission industries. Our study provides implications for the formulation of environmental policies in developing countries

Many countries use R&D tax credits to promote firm innovation. Using the data of A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2019, we use a fixed effects model to examine the heterogeneity effect of the R&D tax credit in China on radical and incremental innovation based on the perspective of firm property rights, scale, and age under the framework of heterogeneity. The results show that the R&D tax credit significantly stimulates radical and incremental innovation, but the incentive effect on radical innovation is weak. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the incentive effects of enterprises with different complementary resources and innovation capabilities are different. Specifically, we find that the R&D tax credit has a stronger impact on incremental innovation of state-owned enterprises and radical innovation of non-state-owned enterprises. Compared with small firms and start-ups, it has a stronger incentive effect on the radical and incremental innovation of large-, medium-sized, and incumbent firms. Finally, the results are consistent and robust using the Heckman two-step method, core indicator substitution method, and change lag period. This paper deepens the theoretical research on the heterogeneity effect of tax incentives on firm innovation, while also providing insights on how to design R&D tax credits to raise radical innovation for emerging economies.

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial part in a country’s economic growth and sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between innovation and the performance of SMEs. An external environmental factor acts as a moderating variable between the exogenous and endogenous variables. Data were collected from 350 textile SMEs operating in Pakistan using a cross-sectional study design through self-administered questionnaires. Of these, only 335 surveys were valid for further analysis. The structural equational modeling technique was used for analyzing the data and testing the hypotheses that innovation and the external environment affect an SME’s performance. The results indicate a significant association between innovation and SME performance, and the external environment has a moderating impact on innovation and SME performance. This paper offers valuable recommendations to senior managers and owners of SMEs to consider the innovation and external environment as crucial factors when assessing their SME’s performance. This study contributes towards the body of knowledge on this subject and can help practitioners and researchers explore the effects of innovation and the external environment on the performance of SMEs.

This paper analyzes the absolute convergence of urban electricity productivity in China during 1990–2011, applying Spatial Error Smooth Transition Auto-regression Model, and examines the spatial effect in convergence process. Then it analyzes the stage characteristics of electricity productivity convergence during the process of electricity market reformation and the conditional convergence which is affected by the urban economy. According to the results of our research, there exists significant absolute convergence of urban electricity productivity in China, and the spatial effect, especially spatial smooth transition effect, significantly enhance the convergence of urban electricity productivity. Since the electricity market reformation in 2002, significant stage characteristics exist in convergence of urban electricity productivity. The convergence rate of electricity productivity before 2002 is obviously lower than the one during the whole sample period, also the one after 2002 and the spatial nonlinear effect strengthens during the later period with marketization in electricity market and stricter regulation on energy conservation. The urban economy also affects the convergence of urban electricity productivity, while it does not promote the convergence rate because the high proportion of electricity-intensive industry in cities of western and northeastern region. At the conclusion of our paper, we put forward policy suggestions with the objective of narrowing the gap of urban electricity productivity and realizing sustainable urban development.

This study aims to find the relationship between energy resource dependence and economic growth in consideration of interprovincial heterogeneity. This paper first uses panel data from 14 provinces with rich energy resources in China between 2001 and 2016 as a whole to test the energy resource curse hypothesis. It finds that there is no obvious resource curse from a general perspective. It further makes time prediction and transmission channel analysis based on regressions of each province and classifies them into four groups according to the different degrees of the resource curse. It shows the different roles of resource dependencies in different groups. Twelve provinces are subject to different degrees of the resource curse, among which, six provinces would eventually experience negative economic growth if they increase the degree of resource dependence. Next, this study discusses the mechanism of one particular group, “invisible energy resource curse”, which is when energy resources directly promote but indirectly hinder economic growth. Finally, based on the results, the present study offers policy suggestions according to provinces’ heterogeneous curse levels.