Meriem Meskini, T. S. Mahmud, Sagar Ray, Amy Richter, Tahlima T. Sithi, K. T. W. Ng
{"title":"Sustainability, profitability, and resiliency of the fast fashion industries during a pandemic","authors":"Meriem Meskini, T. S. Mahmud, Sagar Ray, Amy Richter, Tahlima T. Sithi, K. T. W. Ng","doi":"10.1177/0958305x241239896","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x241239896","url":null,"abstract":"The size of the global textile market was estimated at nearly one trillion USD in 2021 and the circularity of fashion items are of utmost practical and economic interests. Many postconsumer textile wastes are not recycled, and are sent to landfills for permanent disposal. This study examines the profitability of the selected fashion companies and compares the financial performance through weighted average net profit margin and business characteristics. The 10 companies are divided into 2 groups (conventional and sustainability) for analysis. The conventional fashion companies have a total sales revenue approximately 23 times higher than that of the sustainability fashion companies. The weighted average net profit ratio of the conventional fashion industry averaging +4.7 during the 5-year study period, much higher than the sustainability fashion group. Sustainability fashion industry is emerging and appears more sensitive to fluctuations in business expenses and COVID lockdowns. Net profit was negative for the sustainability group in 2022, and more aids such as government initiatives and incentive programs may be critical to the growth of the sustainability fashion sector. Both sustainability and conventional groups have positive relations between net profit and number of employees and net profit and market shares, respectively. The results suggest that fashion industry has opportunities to be more profitable by adopting socially responsible goals.","PeriodicalId":505265,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environment","volume":"6 19","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140226465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Digital economy and urban green development: A quasi-natural experiment based on national big data comprehensive pilot zone","authors":"Lianghu Wang, Jun Shao","doi":"10.1177/0958305x241238348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x241238348","url":null,"abstract":"As the engine of economic growth in the modern age, the digital economy plays an indispensable role in boosting the green development of cities. In this research, the difference in difference model and the spatial Durbin difference in difference (SDMDID) model are utilized to empirically examine the influence of digital economy on urban green development by employing the national big data comprehensive pilot zone as a quasi-natural experiment. In addition, its mechanism of action is further investigated from the standpoint of industrial structure upgrading, technical innovation, and human capital. The findings demonstrate that the degree of urban green development has consistently increased over the research sample, and there were clear disparities across areas; the implementation of the national big data comprehensive pilot zone has a significant role in promoting the green development of cities, and the policy effect on central cities and small and medium-sized cities is significantly higher than that of other types of cities; SDMDID model research found that the implementation of the national big data comprehensive pilot zone has a spatial effect; the mechanism test shows that the implementation of the national big data comprehensive pilot zone can promote the improvement of urban green development by promoting the upgrading of industrial structure and improving the level of technological innovation, while the mechanism of human capital has not yet emerged.","PeriodicalId":505265,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environment","volume":"88 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140238263","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unleashing China's coal conservation potentials by analyzing efficiency of energy intensive industries: A Logarithm Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) model","authors":"Zulqarnain Mushtaq, Wei Wei, Jie Liu","doi":"10.1177/0958305x241238328","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x241238328","url":null,"abstract":"Considering China's ambitions for carbon peaking as of 2030 to ensure environmental protection and energy security, the present study is intended to explore sustainable pathways to reduce coal consumption by enhancing energy efficiency. The current article estimates coal consumption efficiency and radial super-efficiency by applying DEA-CCR and radial super-efficiency models. In the second stage, the Logarithm Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) and DEA-Malmquist models were used to explore the components of coal consumption in China's six key energy-intensive industries from 2000 to 2020. Findings indicate that (1) there is a substantial coal consumption efficiency gap among these industries, and they are working well below the production frontier. (2) Findings of DEA-Malmquist indicate that technological changes positively contributed to total productivity changes, while technical efficiency negatively impacted coal consumption growth. (3) The results of the LMDI model reveal that industrial output growth and structural changes are the key factors accelerating coal consumption. In contrast, the coal intensity had deaccelerated the coal consumption in the energy intensive industries. The current study provides several policy proposals to enhance coal conservation and consumption efficiency to achieve the aspiring goals of sustainable development.","PeriodicalId":505265,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environment","volume":"2002 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140246415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Research on the spatial and temporal impact of commercial banks’ spatial agglomeration on PM2.5 pollution in China","authors":"Chenyao Qu","doi":"10.1177/0958305x241238326","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x241238326","url":null,"abstract":"Commercial banks are the main body of the finance industry in China. It is of great significance to study the impact of commercial banks’ spatial agglomeration on PM2.5 for China to develop a green economy. This article selects data from 30 provinces in China, covering 2000 to 2021. This study innovatively utilizes commercial banking institutions’ longitude and latitude geographic coordinate information to build a new indicator to characterize the spatial agglomeration degree of commercial banks. Then, we use the geographically and temporally weighted regression model to investigate the spatio-temporal heterogeneous effect of commercial bank agglomeration on PM2.5. The theoretical mechanism concludes that financial agglomeration exacerbates PM2.5 pollution through the scale effect and can also reduce PM2.5 pollution through technique effect and composition effect. Financial agglomeration and PM2.5 have obvious temporal and spatial differences as well as spatial autocorrelation characteristics. The geographically and temporally weighted regression model's results show that from a national perspective, financial agglomeration can inhibit PM2.5 pollution, but the inhibitory effect is gradually diminishing, indicating that it is imminent for China to further deepen its green financial reform. From the provincial level, the influence of financial agglomeration on PM2.5 has obvious temporal and spatial differences. The inhibitory effects of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei are becoming stronger, and these areas have the best situations. The promoting effects of the three northeastern provinces and Shanxi and other central and western provinces are becoming larger and larger, and these areas have the worst situations. Shanghai and other eastern provinces and Guangxi and other western provinces have respectively brought inhibitory effects and promoting effects, but the effects are all weakening, and the situations are in the middle. The scientific value of this study lies in the following: First, this study combines the environmental Kuznets curve theory for mechanism analysis, providing a scientific theoretical basis for subsequent related research. Second, the financial agglomeration index constructed in this study provides a scientific reference for academic circles to more accurately investigate the relationship between financial agglomeration and environmental pollution. Third, this study reveals the temporal and spatial differences in the impact of financial agglomeration on PM2.5 pollution by using the geographically and temporally weighted regression model for the first time, pointing out the focus and direction for decoupling economic growth and PM2.5 pollution under the influence of financial agglomeration in China provinces. With China's efforts to achieve green sustainable development, this study provides new ideas and valuable insights into the driving factors of green economic growth in China.","PeriodicalId":505265,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environment","volume":"260 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140249405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Musrat Nazir, Shiraz Khan, A. Nassani, I. Naseem, Khalid Zaman, Mohamed Haffar
{"title":"Do regulatory affairs, political stability, and renewable energy demand improve environmental quality? Perceptive from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation region","authors":"Musrat Nazir, Shiraz Khan, A. Nassani, I. Naseem, Khalid Zaman, Mohamed Haffar","doi":"10.1177/0958305x241236270","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x241236270","url":null,"abstract":"The contemporary era confronts formidable obstacles, including environmental deterioration and energy consumption, which jeopardize the rapid advancement of the worldwide financial system. The hazards mentioned above encompass depletion of natural resources, eutrophication, and climatic catastrophes. Within this framework, the discourse surrounding strategic planning centers on institutional positioning and economic prospects, with the incorporation of alternative energy resources serving as a significant metric of economic advancement, as underscored by the COP26 objectives. This research examines the correlation between the quality of institutions and environmental quality, as measured by carbon emissions. A fixed effect regression methodology was utilized to estimate the relationship, utilizing panel data from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation economies covering the period from 1990 to 2021. The results show that if there is a 1% increase in the government regulatory quality and renewable energy, carbon emissions decrease by −0.102% and −1.125%, respectively, underscores institutions’ significance in advancing sustainable growth policies within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation region. Moreover, if there is a 1% increase in political instability, inbound foreign direct investment, and economic growth, carbon emissions increase by 0.199%, 0.042%, and 0.129%, respectively, suggesting the presence of rent-seeking conduct and pollution haven hypothesis, adversely affecting the ecological system. The study offers significant perspectives for policymakers who aim to foster sustainable regional development.","PeriodicalId":505265,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environment","volume":"120 16","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140250482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Energy price shocks and stock market volatility in an energy-importing country","authors":"Jaemin Son, Doojin Ryu","doi":"10.1177/0958305x241228514","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x241228514","url":null,"abstract":"We examine volatility dynamics in the Korean market using heterogeneous autoregressive models with exogenous covariates. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine War have caused substantial fluctuations in energy prices. We assess how these energy shocks affect stock market-implied volatility in Korea, a representative energy-importing country. During the pre-pandemic period, domestic and U.S. market factors affect Korea's volatility dynamics, whereas crude oil and natural gas futures prices have little explanatory power for these dynamics. In contrast, during the pandemic (war), oil (natural gas) futures prices become the key explanatory variable, and other market factors lose their explanatory power.","PeriodicalId":505265,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environment","volume":"12 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140397515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The PM2.5 pollution rebound effect and industrial structure adjustment in China: The impact of heterogeneous technological progress and resource dependence","authors":"You Zheng, Jian Tang, Jianzhong Xiao","doi":"10.1177/0958305x241230620","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x241230620","url":null,"abstract":"Adjusting industrial structure is the fundamental way of pollution control and environmental protection. Analyzing the PM2.5 pollution rebound effect of industrial structure adjustment based on heterogeneous technological progress and resource dependence is of great significance for in-depth and sustained pollution reduction. The results of combining the panel threshold regression model and the modified STIRPAT model on provincial panel data from 2008 to 2022 show that a 1% increase in structural upgrading results in a 0.4130% decrease in PM2.5 pollution; a 1% increase in structural rationalization results in a 0.0934% decrease in PM2.5 pollution. Resource dependence causes the PM2.5 pollution rebound effect of industrial structure adjustment; industrial structure upgrading with resource dependence has an insignificant increase effect on PM2.5 pollution, 1% increase of rationalization with resource dependence leads to a 2.8637% increase in PM2.5 pollution. As technology progresses, the increasing effect of industrial structure upgrading with resource dependence on pollution gradually weakens and finally transforms into a reduction effect; the reduction effect of industrial structure rationalization with resource dependence becomes an increasing effect causing the rebound to reappear and then turns to be a reduction effect again, show an invert “N.” Heterogeneous technological progress has the paradox impact mechanism on the pollution rebound; environmental protection technological progress can eliminate the pollution rebound, whereas energy-saving technological progress may cause a pollution rebound effect of industrial structure rationalization.","PeriodicalId":505265,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environment","volume":"24 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140433003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shokooh Ghavamipour, Leila Vafajoo, Gilava Pourhossein, P. Parthasarathy, Gordon McKay
{"title":"Post-combustion CO2 capturing by KOH solution: An experimental and statistical optimization modeling study","authors":"Shokooh Ghavamipour, Leila Vafajoo, Gilava Pourhossein, P. Parthasarathy, Gordon McKay","doi":"10.1177/0958305x241230944","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x241230944","url":null,"abstract":"A pilot-scale bubble column contactor has been utilized for carbon dioxide chemisorption from simulated flue gas in the temperature range 30°C to 50°C. The influence of the most important operating parameters has been investigated. A total of 25 experiments were designed using the response surface methodology (RSM) and were then carried out in the bubble contact column. The results revealed that the liquid volume in the column, the alkaline concentration, and the temperature had a positive effect, while the gas hold-up had a negative effect on the CO2 removal efficiency. A statistical model has been developed using the RSM D-optimal experimental design method. To achieve the highest CO2 chemisorption, several operating conditions have been optimized. The model predicted that the maximum percentage of carbon dioxide removal would be 86.64%, and under the same operating conditions the experimental removal efficiency was 87.12%.","PeriodicalId":505265,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environment","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140432064","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Government mechanism in waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling among prospect theory and evolutionary game theory","authors":"Yujiao Sui, Qiang Sun, Shuhao Li","doi":"10.1177/0958305x241228511","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x241228511","url":null,"abstract":"Improper disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) poses challenges for resource loss and public environmental pollution. Government policies are required to regulate WEEE recycling. To better explore the governance mechanism in the WEEE recycling network, a tripartite evolutionary game model composed of the government, recyclers, and manufacturers under bounded rationality and uncertainty was established using evolutionary game theory and prospect theory by underscoring the WEEE processing fee (WPF) exemption to adjust the behaviour of the WEEE recycling network participants. The research found that nine equilibrium points and eight possible ESSs exist and that the evolutionary stability strategies of tripartite decisions mainly depend on the trade-off between costs and revenues. Through numerical simulations, it was observed that the psychological perception of risk for recyclers and manufacturers can affect the behaviour and strategies of WEEE recycling stakeholders in uncertain environments. As WEEE recycling stakeholders increase their pursuit of safety risks, both recyclers’ and manufacturers’ willingness to engage in green behaviour is increasing. In addition, under the WPF exemption, the government can achieve the goal of encourage recyclers and manufacturers to choose green behaviour at a relatively low cost. We suggest that the government should strive to establish a stable WEEE recycling environment, establish an appropriate WPF exemption mechanism, and fully consider the cross-impact of recyclers and manufacturers to promote the green behaviour and efficiency of WEEE recycling.","PeriodicalId":505265,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environment","volume":"12 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140433322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shubo Yang, A. Jahanger, Shun Zhang, Muntasir Murshed
{"title":"Analyzing regional disparities and spatial distribution dynamics of energy consumption levels in China","authors":"Shubo Yang, A. Jahanger, Shun Zhang, Muntasir Murshed","doi":"10.1177/0958305x241232779","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x241232779","url":null,"abstract":"This article uses the Dagum Gini coefficient and kernel density estimation to analyze the regional differences and distribution dynamics of energy consumption and applies the coefficient of variation with a static panel model to test its σ-convergence and β-convergence characteristics. The study finds noticeable differences in energy consumption intensity among provinces and regions, and the main source of regional differences is inter-regional differences. In contrast, the contribution of intra-regional differences and hypervariable intensity is smaller and more similar. Specifically, the absolute difference in the eastern region experienced a first decline, then a rise, and finally a slight decline; the absolute difference in the central region had a more significant overall fluctuation and a declining trend in the later period, and the absolute difference in the western region tended to narrow. No polarization trend was observed during the sample period in the eastern, central, and western regions. Not only σ-convergence but also absolute β-convergence and conditional β-convergence exist in the whole country and the eastern, central, and western regions. Therefore, it provides a factual basis for deepening the perception of the spatial pattern and regional disparity of energy utilization levels in China and has policy implications for promoting inter-regional and intra-regional coordinated development.","PeriodicalId":505265,"journal":{"name":"Energy & Environment","volume":"3 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140439882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}