A quantitative study of financing efficiency of low‐carbon companies: A three‐stage data envelopment analysis

This study set out to evaluate the financing efficiency of low‐carbon companies. Applying a three‐stage data envelopment analysis with the data from 85 listed companies in China's low‐carbon industries over the period 2011 to 2017, this study has found that the overall financing efficiency of low‐carbon companies was relatively high, and the pure technical efficiency was quite steady over the period. The overall financing efficiency of these low‐carbon companies on average tended to change with the scale efficiency. This study has also shown that the scale efficiency was the main constraint influencing the financing efficiency of low‐carbon companies in China over the period. Our results are robust and have significant implications for policy makers and corporate managers.     

水足迹视角下三江平原地区农业水土资源配置效率研究

[目的]三江平原地区是我国重要的商品粮基地,其农业水土资源相对丰富但水土资源配置效率不佳,亟待改善。[方法]运用投入导向型数据包络分析(DEA)方法,对水足迹视角下的三江平原地区农业水土资源配置效率进行评价。[结果]2015年,三江平原地区农业水土资源配置综合有效的地区仅占5%,总体来看,农业水土资源配置的技术效率略好于规模效率;水土资源投入冗余状况分析表明,友谊县、虎林市、宝清县、汤原县、富锦市、同江市等8个县、市辖区的农业水土资源投入合理,其他地区都存在不同程度的冗余现象;分作物来看,水稻生产的水土资源配置技术效率高于其他三大旱作。[结论]完善农业基础设施配套工程,提高水土资源配置的技术效率,是提高其规模效率,进而实现综合有效的关键。     

Managing sustainable practices in cruise tourism: the assessment of carbon footprint and waste of water and beverage packaging

This paper's aim is to present an analysis of the carbon - dioxide emissions and waste associated with water and beverage packaging. The assessment of the packaging's carbon footprint (CF) and waste is also considered for all passengers who visit Italian ports on cruise ships. These factors are considered at two points in time (2010 and 2018) to allow for the evaluation of changes due to technological innovations in the packaging sector. Finally, a best-case framework scenario for the management of water and beverage packaging materials is identified to evaluate whether the use of appropriate strategies can reduce CF and waste in this sector. The results indicate that adequate changes in packaging can minimize waste and reduce the consumption of materials and energy resources in the packaging production cycle, thus creating environmental benefits.     

Regional disparity of embedded carbon footprint and its sources in China: a consumption perspective

Carbon emission reduction could be achieved through extensive cooperation between relevant groups such as businesses, governments and consumers. Generally, carbon emissions stem from consumer behaviour. To tackle the increasingly serious energy crisis and climate change in China, it is thus vital to control carbon emissions generated by the country's urban consumers. From a consumption perspective, we utilize a self-organizing feature map model to analyse the spatial differentiation of per capita embedded carbon footprint (ECF) in urban China. We found that the spatial differentiation is significant with the per capita ECF of the east coastal area at a high level and that per capita disposable income is the key factor affecting ECF. Based on these findings, potential business opportunities to develop low-carbon products are discussed.     

Socio-technical transition governance and public opinion: The case of passenger transport in Finland

As a governance perspective, transition management views the engagement of a wide variety of stakeholders in policy development as a necessary element in furthering sustainability through enhanced social learning. Yet as a literature it has paid relatively little attention to public consultation on socio-technical change. Here we set transition management in the context of longstanding debates in science and technology studies, technology assessment and deliberative democracy. Empirically, we use national survey data on Finnish public opinion of state support for future transport options. Showing how transport practices and attitudes to transport innovation policy vary with both demography and geography, we argue that these differences have implications for policy legitimacy. We suggest that, both given and despite the practical difficulties of deliberative democracy, use of participative opinion surveying to better understand social groups with needs and interests that differ from national averages, may help to enhance policy legitimacy and hence the success of transition management.     

二叉树期权定价模式评估林业碳汇项目的价值

基于黑龙江省林业局和中国林业统计年鉴的数据,运用修正的Faustmann模型和二叉树期权定价方法分析黑龙江省黑河造林林区的碳汇价值及该项目的经济可行性。研究结果表明:经营成本负向影响项目的最终价值;碳汇价格和木材价格正向影响项目的最终价值;初始价值正向影响项目的最终价值;黑龙江省黑河造林林区项目具有较高的经济效益和生态效益。因此,相关部门应建立完善的碳汇交易市场,实施激励措施和制定林地产权制度。     

Corporate commitment to climate change action,carbon risk exposure,and a firm's debt financing policy

Motivated by the rising consensus that corporate engagement in climate change actions holds the key for society's transition into environmentally resilient economy, the study examines whether a firm's commitment to climate change action and its carbon risk exposure shape the firm's debt financing policy. Based on insights drawn from signaling, corporate reputation, and agency theories, we develop models that link corporate commitment to climate change actions and a firm's carbon risk exposure with its debt financing decisions. Using data drawn from S&P 500 companies, for years 2015 to 2019, we find a robust evidence that firms that engage in higher levels of commitment to climate change actions issue a higher proportion of debt with longer terms to maturity, even after controlling for their carbon risk exposure. However, we do not find a robust evidence corroborating an association between firms' carbon risk exposure and their debt financing policy. These findings are consistent with arguments that high-commitment firms enjoy positive reputation, better credit rating, and reduced agency and information asymmetry costs, allowing them to gain easier access to long-term debt markets.     

The trends in bioeconomy development in the European Union: Exploiting capacity and productivity measures based on the land footprint approach

Bioeconomy comprises a novel approach towards economic development in the European Union (EU). Its development should be confined by the planetary boundaries (biocapacity). We integrate the land footprint approach related to production and land biocapacity to assess the trends in capacity and productivity of bioeconomy in the EU countries throughout 1997–2013. Results show that the level of production-based land footprint and land biocapacity vary across the EU countries. However, Belgium is the sole case where production-based land footprint exceeds land biocapacity. The highest possibilities for development of the bioeconomy sector are observed for Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia. Meanwhile, Estonia, Denmark and the United Kingdom have almost achieved the level of land biocapacity. Considering the catch up growth rate, almost all of the EU countries (with exception of Greece, France, Italy and Romania) show increasing footprint-to-biocapacity ratios with the highest values for Estonia and Latvia. The significant absolute decoupling between production-based land footprint and agricultural value added is observed in Denmark. Meanwhile, Italy, Lithuania and Spain show relative decoupling. Thus, these countries should pay particular attention to productivity improvements in forestry and agriculture. This study contributes to setting the targets for bioeconomy policy that can support the sustainable and efficient use of biological resources.     

我国碳排放交易会计问题研究

从碳排放交易所涉及重点排放企业的角度出发,通过分析我国碳排放交易市场的现状,借鉴相关的研究与规范,就碳排放配额的会计确认问题、碳排放权交易的会计处理问题、企业碳排放相关的会计信息披露问题进行研究分析,提出了碳排放交易的会计处理的意见和建议。     

碳关税的征收对中国纸制品出口贸易的长期影响效应分析

发达国家以保护全球环境为名提出了有关碳关税的政策,但是结合碳关税的相关政策内容来看,其动机是为了抑制发展中国家高能耗产品的出口,以便保证自身高能耗产品在国际的地位。我国身为纸制品出口贸易大国,一旦实行碳关税政策,将会对经济发展带来严重影响,基于此本文分析碳关税对中国纸制品出口贸易的长期影响效应具有十分重要的意义。