Polycentric agglomeration and haze pollution: evidence from China.

Polycentric agglomeration has gradually become a salient feature of rapid growth in urbanization in China. Using province-level balanced panel data over the period 2000-18, we examine the impact of polycentric agglomeration on haze pollution and its mechanism of action. The results show that the impact of polycentric agglomeration on haze pollution exhibits a significant inverted U-shaped feature. Nevertheless, except for a few provinces where polycentric agglomeration exceeds the turning point, the degree of polycentric concentration in most provinces lies to the left of the turning point. Further, a mediating effect model illustrates that industrial structure rationalization and technological progress are effective paths through which polycentric agglomeration affects haze pollution. Finally, we demonstrate that the effect of polycentric agglomeration on haze pollution is influenced by transportation and communication infrastructure; improved transportation and communication infrastructure contributes to the haze control effect of polycentric agglomeration.

The Impact of the "Belt and Road" Initiative on Accounting Conservatism of Energy-Intensive Enterprises under the Low-Carbon Background.

In recent years, the "Belt and Road" Initiative (BRI) has paid more and more attention to practicing the concept of green development. The concept of green development in the BRI will help promote the active response to climate change in the regions along the route and maintain global ecological security and is of great significance to the green transformation and development of energy-intensive enterprises. Using company-level data from China over the 2011-2020 period, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the BRI on energy-intensive enterprise accounting conservatism. We find that BRI has decreased the energy-intensive enterprise accounting conservatism, and this result continues to hold after a series of robustness tests. We also examine the effect of the RBI on accounting conservatism across company types and ages and find that the BRI is beneficial to energy-intensive state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and young companies. Furthermore, analysis reveals that BRI changes the accounting conservatism of energy-intensive enterprises mainly through debt financing, tax burden, and legal environment channels.

The environmental Kuznets curve relationship: a case study of the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

By using panel data over the 1980-2017 period and two alternative indicators of environmental pollution (carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions), this paper investigates the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Using three alternative econometric estimation techniques, we find strong evidence of a long-run inverted U-shaped relationship between real GDP per capita and both environmental indicators in the GCC region. Country-level short-run analysis indicates that the EKC hypothesis holds for Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) when CO2 emissions are used as a measure of environmental pollution. However, when SO2 emissions are used as a measure of environmental pollution, the EKC hypothesis holds for Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The results of a recently developed panel causality test reveal one-way causality from real GDP per capita to CO2 emissions and from real GDP per capita to SO2 emissions.