A study of the efficiency of the Chinese clean energy stock market and its correlation with the crude oil market based on an asymmetric multifractal scaling behavior analysis

We examine the multifractal scaling behavior and market efficiency of China’s clean energy stock indexes using an asymmetric multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (A-MFDFA) and then investigate the tail correlation between this index and the crude oil market via an asymmetric multifractal detrended cross-correlation analysis (A-MFDCCA). First, we reveal that the overall, upward and downward trends of the clean energy stock indexes all have significant multifractal characteristics. The clean energy stock market is far from efficient regardless of whether the fluctuations are small or large. In addition, both upward and downward fluctuations exhibit considerable asymmetry. The significant gap between the downward and overall trends indicates that the downward trend following small-scale fluctuations implies weaker efficiency for investors. Furthermore,based on the sliding market deficiency measure (MDM),we find that the change in efficiency in the three trends significantly depends on the length of the window. In the short term, there is no significant efficiency difference among these three trends; however, in the long term, the asymmetry in the upward and downward trends has gradually increased,especially after December 2018. The results demonstrate that bear markets can offer considerably more opportunities for obtaining excess profits. Finally, we reveal that the cross-correlation between the trends of crude oil prices and low-carbon indexes exhibits significant multifractal characteristics. When the crude oil market is in a bull market or the low-carbon energy market is in a bear market, especially in a larger-scale fluctuation, investors should pay attention to the long-term influence of the counterparty market and carry out a hedging operation to avoid risks.     

The effects of regional trade integration and renewable energy transition on environmental quality: Evidence from South Asian neighbors

Improving environmental quality across South Asia has become one of the utmost important policy agendas of the concerned governments. The susceptibility of the majority of the South Asian countries to multifaceted climate change adversities has motivated the need to identify the factors that can function to ensure environmental sustainability across South Asia. Although several studies have highlighted the importance of globalization and cleaner energy use in tackling the environmental degradaton issues of the South Asian countries, very little is known regarding the impacts of regional trade and renewable energy transition in this regard. Hence, this paper aims to scrutinize the effects of enhancing intra-regional trade integration and undergoing renewable energy transition on per capita carbon dioxide emissions in the context of six South Asian nations between 1990 and 2016. The results from the recently developed cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag regression approach, accounting for cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity issues, reveal that facilitating trade among the South Asian neighbors reduces carbon emissions in both the short and long run. Moreover, enhancing the share of renewable energy in the aggregate energy consumption figures is also found to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in both the short and long run. Furthermore, both regional trade integration and renewable energy transition are found to jointly reduce carbon dioxide emissions in South Asia. The results also authenticate the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, while financial development and urbanization are found to boost carbon dioxide emissions only in the long run.     

Determinants of energy use in the informal food sector

Although enterprises in the informal food sector require energy to transform, cook and process food, energy-use patterns in this sector are not well understood by policymakers and the local-level authorities who regulate their trading activities. This paper reviews relevant literature and presents empirical data collected in Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa on the use of traditional and modern energy sources by informal food sector operators. Our sample includes male- and female-operated enterprises in the urban centres of three African countries where the informal food sector is important, not only for providing the convenience of affordable and readily prepared meals, but also as a source of income for women and men in developing countries. Multiple fuel-use and energy-stacking strategies are common among informal food enterprises and policy needs to acknowledge this if it is to intervene in ways that will benefit both enterprises and regulators.     

基于模态应变能密度理论的网架结构损伤识别方法

为了研究网架结构的损伤检测方法,根据应变能密度理论,提出采用单元模态应变能密度差值作为网架结构损伤识别指标的方法,以损伤单元模态应变能密度差值的大小初步确定单元的损伤程度。分析了5种具有代表性的损伤工况,并在数值计算结果中引入了白噪声。结果显示,在一阶模态下,针对单损伤、多损伤和轻微损伤、严重损伤等不同损伤工况,损伤杆件的模态应变能密度差值均为高值。因此,该方法可以有效识别出网架结构的损伤位置,根据损伤单元的模态应变能密度差值大小初步确定单元的损伤程度,且在一定的噪声水平下具有较强的鲁棒性,对网架结构损伤识别具有参考价值。     

Is China’s Manufacturing Industry Efficient? Evidence from an Energy-Rebound Effect Perspective

Majority of the increase in global energy consumption is from China; hence, studying energy issues, especially in China’s manufacturing industry (CMI), is worthwhile and of much interest in the academic field. Based on the translog cost function, we develop a research framework to study the rebound effect of CMI. Considering the effect of asymmetric energy price, we augment the energy-cost function with asymmetric influence constraint of energy price. Again, we add time series data of CMI’s capital, labor, energy, and mid-input to the model to calculate the direct rebound effect of CMI. We find that the rebound effect of CMI is 44.2%, and CMI still has large energy-conservation potentials. Based on the results of this study, some policy recommendations are provided.     

Can Industrial Restructuring Significantly Reduce Energy Consumption? Evidence from China

This article uses China’s input–output (I-O) tables in 2002, 2007, and 2012 to estimate the real energy consumption of each sector after the I-O adjustment. The relationship between the sectors is further analyzed using the utility analysis method based on ecological network analysis. The empirical results show that although the traditional energy-intensive industries are the major energy-consuming sectors from a direct energy consumption perspective, large energy consumption by energy-intensive industries is transferred to downstream industries through intermediate products after the I-O adjustment. Specifically, the building industry and service sector are the sectors with the highest real energy consumption. With the upgrading and optimization of the industrial structure, the proportion of energy-intensive sectors in China is declining. However, the development of the service sector and infrastructure construction still requires large intermediate inputs. Thus, industrial restructuring cannot significantly reduce China’s total energy consumption.     

Is digital technology the magic bullet for performing work at home? Lessons learned for post COVID-19 recovery in hospitality management

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly brought about a number of disruptions to when and where work is undertaken for hospitality employees. The rapid spread of COVID-19 forced many hospitality managers to use digital technologies to perform work from home, termed digital work connectivity. Yet little is known about how hospitality employees cope with it. The purpose of this study is to investigate an important yet underspecified issue as to how digital work connectivity can be detrimental for employees’ work behavior.Design/methodology/approachWe test our hypotheses using multi-wave and multi-source data collected from 467 middle managerial-level hospitality employees in China.FindingsThe findings show that digital work connectivity can lead to self-control depletion, which in turn is associated with disengagement from work. Further, the findings show that relational energy is an important resource that can buffer the detrimental effects of digital work connectivity on hospitality employees.Practical implicationsThe association of digital work connectivity with employee withdrawal behavior highlights the urgent need for hospitality enterprises to have clear guidelines that regulate technology use at home for work purposes.Social implicationsOur research shows that the absence of clear guidelines in relation to the use of digital technology for work at home risks producing unintended consequences for both hospitality employees and their enterprises.Originality/valueOur research draws from recent advances in resource allocation theories of self-control and adopts a more nuanced approach to uncover a counterintuitive reality that while people use digital technology to remain connected with work, doing so can actually contribute to their withdrawal behavior.     

燃煤锅炉改造问题及节能环保改造措施

在现代社会的发展中,燃煤锅炉是工业发展中常用的供暖设备、供热设备,尤其在北方地区得到了十分广泛的应用。但是,在使用燃煤锅炉过程中,一定区域内会产生很多燃煤灰尘、SO2气体,现已成为很多地区的大气污染源之一。为了有效控制燃煤锅炉污染物排放量,相关部门需要实行烟气除尘、脱硫方式,做好燃煤锅炉节能改造工作,减少大气污染物的排放量。论文重点分析了燃煤锅炉改造问题及节能环保改造措施。     

交叉上市、投资者关注与企业创新——基于沪深A股上市公司的实证研究

企业通过交叉上市引入多个资本市场的投资者关注,可能对企业的创新行为产生影响,然而少有研究从该视角切入。本文以2007—2014年沪深A股上市公司为研究对象,综合运用PSM模型和多元线性回归模型,从投资者关注视角探究交叉上市与企业创新行为间的内在关联。结果显示,(1)相比仅在A股上市的企业,交叉上市企业更加注重创新投入,该结论在控制了可能的内生性问题后依然成立;(2)在区分了交叉上市类型后发现,交叉上市对企业创新活动的促进作用仅存在于A+H股交叉上市公司;(3)以境内外投资者持股比例测度投资者关注的异质性,实证检验境内外投资者关注差异是引起企业创新水平高低的重要因素。本文拓展了交叉上市领域的研究范畴,并为解决中国企业创新不足提供不同视角的方案。     

Renewable energy and local development: Seven lessons from the mining industry

Having long depended on fossil fuels for energy generation, South Africa is now investing in renewable energy. Like its mining operations, its renewable energy plants will have local implications. Renewable energy companies are therefore required by government to engage with communities to contribute to socio-economic development. We present seven lessons we believe the renewable energy sector can learn from the mining industry. We argue that the new industry must: manage social disruption, understand community complexities, create responsive institutions and the capacity to support industry practice, employ trained community practitioners, be clear about the aims of local development, encourage economic diversification in remote areas and, importantly, in view of problems caused by downscaling in the mining industry, plan for the possible closure of projects. Renewable energy projects could then serve and shape local development.