Analysis of energy consumption and change structure in major economic sectors of Pakistan.

Studying and analyzing energy consumption and structural changes in Pakistan's major economic sectors is crucial for developing targeted strategies to improve energy efficiency, support sustainable economic growth, and enhance energy security. The logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method is applied to find the factors' effects that change sector-wise energy consumption from 1990 to 2019. The results show that: (1) the change in mixed energy and sectorial income shows a negative influence, while energy intensity (EI) and population have an increasing trend over the study period. (2) The EI effects of the industrial, agriculture and transport sectors are continuously rising, which is lowering the income potential of each sector. (3) The cumulative values for the industrial, agricultural, and transport sectors increased by 57.3, 5.3, and 79.7 during 2019. Finally, predicted outcomes show that until 2035, the industrial, agriculture, and transport incomes would change by -0.97%, 13%, and 65% if the energy situation remained the same. Moreover, this sector effect is the most crucial contributor to increasing or decreasing energy consumption, and the EI effect plays the dominant role in boosting economic output. Renewable energy technologies and indigenous energy sources can be used to conserve energy and sectorial productivity.

Analysis of human capital effects introducing Bayesian quantile regression in the process of industrial structural upgrading.

In recent years, with the continuous evolution of the global economy and the adjustment of industrial structures, the understanding of the role played by human capital in the process of economic development has become particularly important. However, existing research on the impact of human capital on economic growth often adopts traditional regression methods, failing to comprehensively consider the heterogeneity and nonlinear relationships in the data. Therefore, to more accurately understand the influence of human capital on economic growth at different stages, this study employs Bayesian quantile regression method (BQRM). By incorporating BQRM, a better capture of the dynamic effects of human capital in the process of industrial structure upgrading is achieved, offering policymakers more targeted and effective policy recommendations to drive the economy towards a more sustainable direction. Additionally, the experiment also examines the impact of other key factors such as technological progress, capital investment, and labor market conditions on economic growth. These factors, combined with human capital, collectively promote the upgrading of industrial structure and the sustainable development of the economy. This study, by introducing BQRM, aims to fill the research gap regarding the impact of human capital on economic development during the industrial structural upgrading process. In the backdrop of the ongoing evolution of the global economy and adjustments in industrial structure, understanding the role of human capital in economic development becomes particularly crucial. To better comprehend the direct impact of human capital, the experiment collected macroeconomic data, including GDP, industrial structure, labor skills, and human capital, from different regions over the past 20 years. By establishing a dynamic panel data model, this study delves into the trends in the impact of human capital at various stages of industrial structure upgrading. The research findings indicate that during the high-speed growth phase, the contribution of human capital to GDP growth is 15.2% ± 2.1%, rising to 23.8% ± 3.4% during the period of industrial structure adjustment. Technological progress, capital investment, and labor market conditions also significantly influence economic growth at different stages. In terms of innovation improvement, this study pioneers the use of BQRM to gain a deeper understanding of the role of human capital in economic development, providing more targeted and effective policy recommendations. Ultimately, to promote sustainable economic development, the experiment proposes concrete and targeted policy recommendations, emphasizing government support in training and skill development. This study not only fills a research gap in the relevant field but also provides substantive references for decision-makers, driving the economy towards a more sustainable direction.

Senior executive characteristics: Impact on ESG practices and corporate valuation relationship.

In recent years, sustainable development and green growth and performance of companies in environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) has received widespread attention from all sectors of society. Based on panel data of A-share listed companies in China from 2009 to 2022, this study employs a two-way fixed effects model to explore the mechanism of the relationship between ESG practices and corporate value, as well as the moderating effect of executive characteristics within this relationship. The results indicate a robust positive relationship between ESG practices and corporate value. However, this relationship is moderated by the academic backgrounds of senior executives, who negatively influence it, and by male executives, who exert a positive moderating effect. Furthermore, this study reveals the variable impacts of ESG practices in different corporate settings, industries, and institutional frameworks. Moreover, it demonstrates how ESG practices boost corporate value through an enhanced reputation and increased government innovation subsidies. It offers new insights on the strategic value of ESG for corporations and policymakers. It also extends the theoretical framework by integrating attention-based and upper echelons perspectives into the ESG discourse. .

Does digital inclusive finance promote carbon emission reduction of enterprises.

Can the information technology revolution lead to carbon emission reduction for firms? This study extends the limited evidence in the literature and investigate the role and mechanism of digital inclusive finance on enterprises' carbon emissions using panel data of 247 prefectural-level cities and 6019 industrial enterprises in China. Our findings indicate that digital inclusive finance can promote enterprise carbon emission reduction, and this effect remains significant after the instrumental variable estimation test. The effect has regional heterogeneity and the development of digital inclusive finance in the area east of Hu Huanyong line has a significant impact on reducing enterprise carbon emission. The role of digital inclusive finance is heterogeneous in enterprise ownership, with a remarkable effect in non-state-owned enterprises. Sub-dimension analysis indicates that the breadth of coverage, depth of use, and degree of digitalization of digital inclusive finance have differential effects on reducing enterprise carbon emissions. The stepwise regression method shows that the impact of digital inclusive finance on enterprise carbon emissions can be passed through effect of technological progress, environmental protection investment and financing constrain. This study has significant reference value for evaluating the impact of financial inclusion and policy implications in formulating differentiated strategies for achieving carbon emission reduction efficiency in enterprises.

Digital financial inclusion, industrial structure and urban-Rural income disparity: Evidence from Zhejiang Province, China.

Rising income inequality challenges economic and social stability in developing countries. For China, the fastest-growing global digital economy, it could be an effective tool to promote inclusive development, narrowing urban-rural income disparity. It investigates the role of digital financial inclusion (DFI) in narrowing the urban-rural income gap. The study uses panel data from 52 counties in Zhejiang Province, China, from 2014 to 2020. The results show that the development of DFI significantly reduces rural-urban and rural income inequality. The development of DFI helps optimize industrial structure and upgrade the internal structure of agriculture, facilitating income growth for people in rural areas. Such effects are greater in poorer counties. Our findings provide insights into why rapid DFI and the narrowing of the rural-urban income disparity exist in China. Moreover, our results provide clear policy implications on how to reduce the disparity. The most compelling suggestion is that promoting the optimization of industrial structure through DFI is crucial for narrowing the urban-rural income gap.

Capital structure and financial performance of China's energy industry: What can we infer from COVID-19?

The study aims to uncover the impact of COVID-19 and capital structure on the financial performance of 1787 renewable and nonrenewable energy firms in China from 2010 to 2022. Using the fixed effect approach, our study found that financial leverage negatively affected the return on assets and equity ratios for both renewable and nonrenewable energy. On the other hand, the study shows that COVID-19 adversely affected the financial performances of non-renewable energy firms. Conversely, COVID-19 positively affected the financial performances of renewable energy firms. The conclusions drawn by the present study are helpful for the policymakers in making corresponding financial decisions. The study suggests that policymakers must adopt profitable capital structure strategies for firms and shareholders in this context. Finally, policymakers must design more policies to overcome the adverse influence of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and avoid any future unforeseeable pandemics.

Companies inadvertently fund online misinformation despite consumer backlash.

The financial motivation to earn advertising revenue has been widely conjectured to be pivotal for the production of online misinformation1-4. Research aimed at mitigating misinformation has so far focused on interventions at the user level5-8, with little emphasis on how the supply of misinformation can itself be countered. Here we show how online misinformation is largely financed by advertising, examine how financing misinformation affects the companies involved, and outline interventions for reducing the financing of misinformation. First, we find that advertising on websites that publish misinformation is pervasive for companies across several industries and is amplified by digital advertising platforms that algorithmically distribute advertising across the web. Using an information-provision experiment9, we find that companies that advertise on websites that publish misinformation can face substantial backlash from their consumers. To examine why misinformation continues to be monetized despite the potential backlash for the advertisers involved, we survey decision-makers at companies. We find that most decision-makers are unaware that their companies' advertising appears on misinformation websites but have a strong preference to avoid doing so. Moreover, those who are unaware and uncertain about their company's role in financing misinformation increase their demand for a platform-based solution to reduce monetizing misinformation when informed about how platforms amplify advertising placement on misinformation websites. We identify low-cost, scalable information-based interventions to reduce the financial incentive to misinform and counter the supply of misinformation online.

Utilization of foreign investment in the productive service industry in Hubei province, China and its optimization counter-measures.

The Global Investment Report 2023 revealed that after a sharp decline in 2020 and a strong rebound in 2021, global foreign direct investment (FDI) declined by 12 percent to $1.3 trillion in 2022. However, in developing countries, FDI increased by 4% to $916 billion, a record share of more than 70% of global flows. The number of greenfield investment projects in developing countries increased by 37 percent and international project finance transactions by 5 percent. Foreign investment from China, the second largest recipient of foreign investment globally, increased by 5 percent. The service industry has become the mainstream industry in the global FDI structure. The global industry is accelerating its transformation to a "service-based economy," international FDI in productive service industries has become an essential means of industrial transfer in developed countries and a meaningful way to upgrade the industrial structure and high-quality development in emerging economies. As a representative province in central China, Hubei Province has unique advantages in human capital, factor cost, and market potential, which provide preferential conditions to attract foreign investment. This paper first introduced the concept of the productive service industry, based on the relevant statistical data from 2011 to 2022, focused on the current situation of foreign investment utilization in five major sub-sectors of the productive service industry in Hubei Province in the past ten years, and empirically investigated the impact of foreign investment utilization in five major sub-sectors of the productive service industry on the economic growth of Hubei Province, and obtained that the level of foreign investment attraction varied significantly among the regions in Hubei Province. The three productive service industries, namely transportation, storage and postal services, information transmission, software and information technology services, and financial services, played a significant role in the active attraction and optimal utilization of foreign capital and the economic development of Hubei Province. Based on this, it was proposed to build a market-oriented rule of law and internationalized business environment, improve the infrastructure construction in different regions of the province, focus on the training of professional talents for the development of productive service industries, and pay attention to the improvement of independent innovation capacity.

Research on trust mechanism of supply chain finance under Industrial Internet embedded with blockchain.

In traditional supply chain finance, the financing of enterprise mainly relies on the credit segmentation of the core enterprise, resulting in a short trust transmission radius and poor financing ability. The development of Internet technology, while expanding financing channels, has also seen an increasing severity in issues such as information fraud and data breaches, which has further aggravated the trust crisis in supply chain finance. This paper integrates blockchain technology into the industrial internet platform and analyzes the applicability of both in empowering supply chain financial trust. Then a supply chain financial trust framework, which emphasizes information sharing, data security, and trust circulation, is proposed. Furthermore, combined with the theories of Funk-SVD and entropy value, this paper designs a global trust evaluation mechanism that facilitates the trust circulation in supply chain finance and proposes a recommendation algorithm for global trust. With the testing conducted using the Epinions dataset, it is found that the algorithm proposed in this paper has a strong data dimensionality reduction and concentration ability, especially for large sample data, it can obtain more accurate evaluation values with less space occupation, thus enhancing the trust circulation ability of supply chain finance. Finally, the paper puts forward specific policy recommendations for the implementation of the supply chain finance information mechanism, aiming to better improve the financing accessibility of enterprises in supply chain, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.

Systematic evaluation of integration between China's digital economy and sports industry: Two-stage grey relational analysis and vector autoregressive model.

OBJECTIVES: The development of the digital economy constitutes a key component of China's endeavors to advance towards "Digital China." The sports industry functions as a new catalyst for high-quality economic growth. This study systematically evaluated the integration between these two sectors. METHODS: First, we conducted two levels of grey relational analysis to assess their integration between 2016 and 2021. Second, we conducted a VAR analysis to determine whether their integration between 2009 and 2021 represents a causal relationship. RESULTS: At the macro level, the grey relational analysis reveals that the sports industry (grade = 0.770) ranked second among China's eight key economic sectors in terms of digital economy integration. At the meso level, a wide variation (ranging from 0.606 to 0.789) existed in the grade of integration between the digital economy and the sub-sectors of the sports industry. According to the VAR model, the digital economy does not Granger cause (p = 0.344) the growth of the sports industry. CONCLUSIONS: This study yielded two added values to the existing literature: First, there exists a sectoral imbalance in the digitization process; second, the explosive growth of the sports industry was not primarily caused by the digital economy. Accordingly, the "sports + digital" complex is still in the first wave of technological integration. We propose three policy recommendations, namely, sectoral synergistic development, overtaking via esports IP, and new economy and new regulation. Collectively, these findings provide updated insights for the digital transformation towards "building a leading sports nation" and "Digital China."

The coupling coordination relationship between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience in the Yangtze River Delta region.

With a rapidly growing sports industry worldwide, one may argue that sports industry agglomeration can play a crucial role in the economy of the sports industry. In particularly, the coupling linkage between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience can be leveraged to promote both economic quality and efficiency. Based on data on three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta region during the 2011-2020 period, this study uses the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method, coupling coordination degree model, and relative development models to explore the coupling coordination relationship between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience in this region. The results show that: (1) Sports industry agglomeration shows an overall increasing albeit fluctuating trend with inter-provincial differences. (2) Economic resilience has steadily increased, while the economic resilience kernel density curve generally shows a "dual peaks" trend. (3) The coupling coordination between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience remains in a fluctuating, albeit coordinated state. These findings are relevant for the integration and high-quality development of the sports industry in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Do political connections facilitate or inhibit firms' digital transformation? Evidence from China's A-share private listed companies.

Given the advent of the digital era, digital transformation has become necessary for enterprise development. Political connections are the most important resources for enterprise development in most countries. However, the impact of political connections on corporate digital transformation has yet to be verified. This study uses ERNIE, a large language model, to construct a measurement of corporate digital transformation from the perspective of digital technology application through a textual analysis of the annual reports of A-share privately listed companies from 2008 to 2020 and analyzes the impact of political connections on corporate digital transformation and its mechanism of action. The findings demonstrate that political connections have a significant inhibitory effect on corporate digital transformation. This conclusion still holds after a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. The mechanism analyses demonstrate that political connections primarily affect corporate digital transformation through three mechanisms: weakening risk, inhibiting innovation, and enhancing resource crowding. We theoretically expand the understanding of the economic impact of political connections and provide new ideas for accelerating enterprise digital transformation from the perspective of policy makers.

Piercing the corporate veil system and creditors protection: Based on the investigation of debt paying ability--Empirical evidence from the 2005 Company Law amendment.

This paper uses the difference-in-differences model to research how the "piercing the corporate veil" system marked by the 2005 Company Law amendment affects the level of corporate creditor protection. The research results show that private enterprises and local state-owned enterprises are sensitive and significant to this legal amendment. In contrast, local state-owned enterprises are more sensitive and have a stronger motivation to protect the interests of creditors. The motivation of companies with weaker profitability for creditor protection lasts not only for the year of law revision but also extends to the year of implementation. With the law's implementation, the growth effect of creditor protection for local state-owned enterprises has become more significant. Further analysis shows that the main findings of this article are more significant in companies with larger debt scales, companies with a higher year-on-year growth rate of operating income, companies with controlling shareholders, and companies with higher stock market capitalization. From an empirical research view, this paper explains the economic effect and mechanism of the whole corporate personality under the complete system and adds economic evidence for how the law acts on the capital market.

Can pilot free trade zones policy force the green transformation of enterprises? Evidence from listed companies in China.

In order to reveal the impact of pilot free trade zones policy on green development, we use multi-period difference-in-difference estimation and fixed effect model to explore the impact and impact mechanism of the establishment of free trade zones on the green transformation of enterprises from the micro perspective, based on the panel data of China's A-share listed companies from 2009-2021, The results show that pilot free trade zones policy significantly improves the green transformation of enterprises in the zones. Pilot free trade zones policy affects the corporate green transformation through industrial agglomeration and financial constraints. The green transformation of state-owned enterprises, non-heavy polluting enterprises and high-tech enterprises are significantly impacted by pilot free trade zones policy. Urban innovation and green subsidies play a positive moderating role in the impact of free trade zones on enterprises' green transformation. The research conclusions provide a valuable policy basis for how to promote the green transformation of enterprises under the free trade zones policy.

Role of scientific and technological innovations on industrial upgradation in China: A spatial econometric analysis.

China is in a phase of high-quality development, where scientific and technological innovations are serving as the primary driving force for its development strategy. This emphasis on innovations is expected to fuel the upgrading of the industrial structure. This study investigates the role of scientific and technological innovations in industrial upgradation in China using spatial econometric analysis. Leveraging the data of 31 provinces of China from 2005 to 2022, we employed a spatial Durbin model to determine the spatial spillover effects of scientific and technological innovations on industrial upgradation. Our findings reveal the significant positive spatial spillover effects, indicating that provinces with higher levels of scientific and technological innovations tend to experience greater industrial upgradation, which in turn contributes to regional economic development. Furthermore, the findings suggest a strong spatial correlation between innovation and the upgrading of industrial structures, indicating that regional innovations have the potential to drive China's industrial upgradation. These results underscore the critical role of scientific and technological innovations in promoting industrial upgradation and regional development in China.

Measurement of efficiency and its drivers in the Chilean banking industry.

This paper estimates efficiency measures for the banking system in Chile for the period 2000-2019. In contrast to previous studies, we use input-distance functions, introduce the nonparametric slack-based model, and choose the intermediate inputs approach in determining inputs and outputs. Our results suggest that the Chilean system has achieved relatively high levels of efficiency, although with no significant variation over the sample period. Ownership (government, foreign and public) and size had a positive impact on efficiency. On average, mergers and acquisitions seem to have targeted highly efficient banks in order to improve the overall efficiency of the controlling institution in the short run. Other sources of efficiency gains could be an increase in bond funding or a reduction in expenses and capital holdings. The latter could be induced by deepening the local derivatives market.

Analyzing the nexus between Chinese industrial policy and cross-border M&As.

In recent years, as China experiences economic expansion and its corporations become more global, it has notably become a central hub for cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) on the world stage. The Chinese government, in tandem, leverages these international M&A operations to drive industrial transformation and progress in technology. This research investigates the role of China's industrial policies in shaping cross-border M&A activities by examining recent instances. Findings indicate that relaxing financial barriers and applying specific industrial tactics bolster companies' abilities to secure funding, consequently energizing cross-border M&A initiatives. Several firms in these international mergers and acquisitions are intricately connected to political strategies, markedly affecting the formulation of industrial policies. This assertion is corroborated through the analysis of relevant statistical evidence. The study methodically collects and scrutinizes data to quantitatively depict the current landscape and influencing elements of cross-border M&A, thus providing concrete evidence for policy and business strategy formulation.

Foreign shareholder, overseas sale and corporate profit margin.

China is actively promoting the development of a robust trading nation. In this context, utilizing data from China's A-share listed companies spanning from 2003 to 2021, this study investigates the impact of foreign shareholders on enterprises in a scenario where overseas sales reduce the profit margin of Chinese firms. The findings reveal that overseas sales do indeed decrease the profit margin of Chinese enterprises; however, foreign shareholders mitigate this negative effect and various robustness tests support this conclusion. Mechanism analysis confirms that foreign shareholders primarily enhance enterprise productivity through improved production technology spillover effects, thereby alleviating the adverse impact of overseas sales on Chinese firms' profit margins. Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that both longer holding periods for foreign shareholders and multiple foreign shareholders significantly alleviate the negative influence of overseas sales on Chinese firms' profit margins. Moreover, there is significant heterogeneity in how foreign shareholders alleviate these detrimental consequences based on property rights nature, institutional environment, overseas related party transactions and subsidiaries, as well as industry attributes. These findings have important reference value for China's efforts towards becoming a strong trading nation and can contribute to enhancing trade capacity in other countries.

The CSR perspective: Interplay of technological innovation, ethical leadership and government regulations for sustainable financial performance.

The financial performance of Chinese public and private sector banks is changing over time. There is no stability in the financial performance of Chinese banks which hurts businesses and the market. The purpose of current research was to determine the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on driving the sustainable financial performance of Chinese banks. From methodological perspective, data was collected from 329 banking sector employees from China to partial least square-structural equation model (PLS-SEM) is employed for data analysis. The research used SPSS 24 and Smart PLS 4 as statistical analysis tools. This research confirmed that achieving sustainability in financial performance for Chinese banks can be achieved with CSR influenced by technological innovation, ethical leadership, and government regulations. This research has statistically confirmed that transformational leadership leading to CSR with technological innovation, ethical leadership, and government regulations can make significant improvements in financial performance. The framework developed by current research is a novel contribution to the literature. The findings of this research improve the literature on the banking sector and advanced performance. Furthermore, this research has highlighted significant ways that can help the banking sector employees to improve their financial performance with sustainability.

Satellite mapping reveals extensive industrial activity at sea.

The world's population increasingly relies on the ocean for food, energy production and global trade1-3, yet human activities at sea are not well quantified4,5. We combine satellite imagery, vessel GPS data and deep-learning models to map industrial vessel activities and offshore energy infrastructure across the world's coastal waters from 2017 to 2021. We find that 72-76% of the world's industrial fishing vessels are not publicly tracked, with much of that fishing taking place around South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa. We also find that 21-30% of transport and energy vessel activity is missing from public tracking systems. Globally, fishing decreased by 12 ± 1% at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and had not recovered to pre-pandemic levels by 2021. By contrast, transport and energy vessel activities were relatively unaffected during the same period. Offshore wind is growing rapidly, with most wind turbines confined to small areas of the ocean but surpassing the number of oil structures in 2021. Our map of ocean industrialization reveals changes in some of the most extensive and economically important human activities at sea.