• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
• 1. No poverty close
• Chinese Academy of Sciences close

Analyzing the efficiency of the water, energy, and food (WEF) nexus is critical for effective governance strategies. Therefore, three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to measure the efficiency level of WEF in the 36 districts of Punjab, Pakistan, for the period from 2015 to 2021. Furthermore, the stochastic frontier was used to analyze the effect of external environmental factors on these efficiency scores of the WEF nexus. The results of the DEA showed that the number of frontier efficiency districts decreased, and most districts experienced rank change over time. Overall, the performance of 50% of the districts declined over time. The relative decline in efficiency was found to be higher in districts Bahwalnaghar and Rahim Yar Khan. The performance of districts Multan and Sheikhupura increased over time, while districts Vehari and Sargodha were the most complete and efficient in actual performance. According to the SFA’s findings, the WEF nexus efficiency of South Punjab districts was negatively impacted by external environmental factors (urbanization rate, manufactured industry output, population), leading to severe stress across WEF sectors. Districts in central and southern Punjab, however, were more likely to have lower rankings because of the positive impact of external environmental factors on the efficiency of the WEF nexus. The substantial rise of external environmental variables focused on scale expansion rather than quality improvement, which created a wide gap in WEF inputs and, hence, reduced the efficiency of the WEF nexus in the districts. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for developing governance strategies based on external environmental factors and WEF resource endowment, and they complement the efficiency calculation of WEF nexus research. Future research should focus on the Baluchistan region, the most deprived area in terms of water, energy, and food.

Clarifying the relationship between cooperative management and cultivated land use eco-efficiency (LUEE) is of great significance to promoting the green and low-carbon transition of agriculture. To explore the role of cooperative management in the green and low-carbon transition of agriculture of smallholder farmers in the western Tarim River Basin, in this study, based on the field survey data of 444 farmers in 2021, the carbon emissions of cultivated land were used to measure the LUEE with the slack-based model (SBM) with undesirable outputs. Then, propensity score matching (PSM) was used to test the relationship between cooperative management and LUEE. Additionally, the mediating effect of farmers’ green development willingness (FGDW) and the moderating effect of farmers’ part-time off-farm employment (POE) on the relationship was explored. The present study hypothesized that joining cooperatives has an improving effect on the LUEE, which can be achieved by increasing FGDW, and this effect can be enhanced by farmers’ POE. The results show that: (1) The LUEE was generally low (average LUEE value: 0.2678), and there was a significant difference between farmer households (the difference between the maximum and minimum values was as high as 2.8716). (2) Cooperative management had a significant improving effect on the LUEE. The LUEE of cooperative farmers (ACF) increased by 8.6% compared with that of non-cooperative farmers (NACF). (3) Joining a cooperative could improve the LUEE by improving FGDW. (4) POE could enhance the improving effect of cooperative management on the LUEE. Overall, all three hypotheses were supported: cooperative management could achieve scale effects that small farmers cannot achieve, which had a positive effect on improving the LUEE. This study provides a new ecological perspective for the analysis of the relationship between agricultural cooperatives and LUEE and decision-making reference for the rational utilization of cultivated land in northwest China.

Water scarcity is one of the leading challenges for sustainable development in the context of climate change, particularly for agriculturally reliant countries. Inadequate water supplies tend to generate environmental and health issues. Improvements in water supply systems should give priority to the region with the most severe mismatch between water supply and demand. To set priorities for the improvement of water supply systems, this study proposed a water supply-demand balance model to quantify the water supply-demand gap in the Koshi River basin and compared it with the traditional water vulnerability model. The results suggested that (1) the water supply-demand balance model had good applicability to the Koshi River basin and was superior to traditional models in identifying the region with the most severe mismatch; (2) the shortage of agricultural water was much more serious than that of domestic water in the basin; (3) the largest supply-demand gap of domestic water was in Tarai and that of agricultural water was in the hill areas; and (4) Four districts, including Lalitpur, Mahottari, Makwanpur, and Solukhumbu, were found to be the most water-stressed regions and priority should be given to them. Based on these findings, the priority setting in the improvement of water supply systems and adaptation strategies for mitigating water stress from the perspectives of the government, communities, and households were presented. It helps design water supply systems that match heterogeneous demands and optimize systems operation. Targeted improvements in water supply systems can make limited funds available to benefit more residents.

Fiscal sustainability is an issue of great concern for governments globally and air pollution control has become an important factor affecting fiscal sustainability. This study aims to examine the impact of air pollution on fiscal sustainability in the short and long run. We conducted an empirical analysis based on air pollution and local government debt data on China’s prefecture-level cities in 2014–2019, using regression discontinuity design (RDD) and a panel data model. The results show that air pollution reduces the debt burden of governments in the short run. However, in the long run, addressing the negative impacts of air pollution adds to the debt burden of local governments, hindering fiscal sustainability. Fiscal freedom and the level of public services significantly moderate the negative impact of air pollution on fiscal sustainability. A higher level of fiscal freedom generally indicates a greater incentive for local governments to raise pollutant emission standards, strengthen the construction of green infrastructure, and subsidize green enterprises. Furthermore, a higher level of public services reflects better infrastructure and higher levels of investment in environmental protection, which help to reduce the negative impact of air pollution. The governments are suggested to take measures to effectively control air pollution, so as to enhance fiscal stability in the long run.

Abstract This paper explores the quantile-specific short- and long-term impacts of political risk and crude oil on stock price, and tests whether the effects are different for China and the US. The recently developed method of the QARDL by Cho et al. (2015) is used to address this issue by considering any nonlinear, asymmetric and endogenous characteristics. Empirical results show that the impacts of political risk and oil price are heterogeneous across distinct stock market circumstances and economic development levels. Before 2008 crisis, Chinese stock performance is mainly positively affected by itself, whereas crude oil shock plays a vital role in the US stock in the short term; in the long term, the effects of crude oil and political risk on the Chinese stock market are significant at few quantile, while crude oil shock has an optimistic influence on the US stock when the market is bullish or bearish. After the crisis, the influence of political risk becomes more remarkable, especially for China. An interesting phenomenon is that the past performance of US stock negatively affects the current stock at medium and high quantiles. Besides, the impact mechanisms of political risk on these two stocks appear quite different characteristics. Almost all individual components can not do much on the US market. However, the effects of individual components on Chinese stock differ according to the market environments. In the pre-crisis period, the impacts of all components except government actions and investment profile abide by the classic risk-return relationship. Whereas, exactly the opposite happens after the crisis. A decrease in most of political risk components is associated with higher stock price, supporting the political risk paradox. These empirical evidences provide further insight into how political risk and crude oil shocks transmit to stock market.

As the supply of commodities forms essential lifelines for modern society, commodity price fluctuations can significantly impact the operation and sustainable development of macroeconomics, production activities, and people’s security and well-being. The commodity trading market also plays a pivotal role in the competition of the international industrial chain and the sustainable development of the industry. The method of bibliometrics was used in this study to trace the development of research on commodity prices, and statistical and co-citation analyses were conducted on selected literature samples. It was found that the research hotspots in this field are concentrated on four aspects: factors influencing commodity prices, the impact of price fluctuations on the macroeconomy, forecasts of commodity prices, and the financialization of commodities. A current commodity price research network centered on oil prices has formed. Future directions in this field, which developed out of oil shock research 40 years ago, can further investigate the impact of factors and the responses that can be made to emergencies on commodity prices, as well as continuing to develop better methods of commodity price forecasting.

This study proposes a non-differentiated producer responsibility (NDPR) principle to assign carbon dioxide emission responsibility. The NDPR principle redistributes carbon dioxide emissions along a value chain according to the proportion of profits obtained, which can eliminate the unfairness of carbon dioxide emissions transfers caused by transnational production processes. Compared with existing models, the NDPR model can be directly applied to a multi-region input-output table (MRIO), thereby improving the practical value of the method. Furthermore, this study applies the NDPR model to a long-term MRIO to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of carbon emission responsibility worldwide. We found that both the volume and growth of carbon emissions are highly concentrated in European countries, the United States, and emerging market countries, and the basic emission pattern is stable. Both the producer and consumer responsibility principles lead to most developing countries in Asia bearing a greater proportion of the emission responsibility than the proportion of value they capture from global value chains. This study suggests that countries with the highest carbon emissions should assume the greatest responsibilities for global carbon emission reduction targets and develop measures and policies that significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. More attention should be paid to correcting the unfairness of carbon dioxide emission transfers within the global value chain and providing middle-income and low-income countries with more rights for development in future carbon emissions accounting.

Abstract To meet its solemn commitments in the area of climate change and environmental protection, China is working to promote the development of green finance, hoping to direct more resources to green sectors such as the new energy industry. Data show that China is among the world leaders in the amount of green bond and green credit issuance, but green companies in China still do not receive enough support from the stock market. The purpose of this article is to identify the factors that affect the stock prices of new energy companies and to provide specific suggestions for improving stock performance, which will help new energy companies obtain finance in the stock market. This paper takes the listed new energy and polluting companies of China's A-share market as research objects and uses the Baidu Index as a proxy for investor attention. A mediating effect model is adopted to investigate the transmission mechanism among air pollution, investor attention and stock prices. The results indicate that air pollution will not directly increase the stock prices of new energy companies, but it will directly reduce the stock prices of polluting companies. Moreover, the mediator between air pollution and stock prices is investor attention because both new energy and polluting enterprises receive more attention on trading days with air pollution, and increased investor attention could translate into higher stock prices. However, the results of the subsample analysis show that when the stock market shows an upward trend or fluctuates frequently, air pollution causes investors to pay less attention to both types of companies, and air pollution does not significantly reduce the stock prices of polluting companies.

Abstract Most countries of the world have put forward the goal of striving for carbon neutrality. The goal is hard to achieve by only relying on supply side solutions for the world. Most countries should pay more attention to the potential of energy conservation and emission reduction in the field of final demand. We construct an empirical analytic framework to investigate energy demand characteristics as economic growth from the perspective of final demand, and the results show a U-shaped curve relationship between the ratio of energy embodied in consumption to energy embodied in investment (REECEEI) and real gross domestic product per capita. The REECEEIs of major developing and developed countries are very different. Compare to the average baseline curve scenario, there is a notable conservation potential of energy embodied in final demand for major developing and developed countries. In climate negotiation, the demand for energy embodied in investment of developing countries should be guaranteed because it is the foundation of their economic development. To conserve energy and reduce emissions in the field of final demand, developing countries should focus on the field of energy embodied in investment, while developed countries should focus on the field of energy embodied in consumption.