Factors Influencing the Waste Separation Behaviors of Urban Residents in Shaanxi Province during the 14th National Games of China.

The behaviors of urban residents in terms of waste separation at source are crucial to achieve the reduction and recycling of waste in urban governance. In this study, the data were collected from 1008 respondents in Shaanxi province, the host of China's 14th National Games; theoretical and empirical analyses were conducted to determine the factors influencing waste separation behaviors, and specific policy suggestions are proposed. The results show that the waste separation behaviors of urban residents are positively influenced by their cognition of waste pollution, ecological values, sense of social responsibility, perceived knowledge, and perceived utilities of waste separation. Moreover, the residents' waste separation intentions partially mediate the relationships between their cognition of waste pollution, ecological values, perceived utilities, and waste separation behaviors, which almost totally mediate the relationship between their sense of social responsibility and waste separation behaviors. In addition, it was shown that the cost of waste separation can weaken the effect of waste separation intention on behavior, while waste separation facilities, social norms, and the publicity for China's 14th National Games have the opposite effect. Finally, policy suggestions are proposed to encourage urban residents to adopt waste separation behaviors, contributing to transforming Shaanxi into a zero-waste province.

Who avoids being involved in personal carbon trading? An investigation based on the urban residents in eastern China.

Personal carbon trading scheme has been pulled into the public eye with the increasing urgency of downstream carbon emission reduction, and its feasibility largely depends on public acceptability. This study established a hierarchical framework for urban residents' approach-avoidance responses to personal carbon trading; adopted Likert scale and manikin task methods to assess the current states of residents' responses by investigating 1892 respondents in eastern China; employed one-way analysis of variance to identify the demographic differences of their responses; and used regression analysis to explore the influences of psychological factors on their responses. The findings showed that urban residents' responses to personal carbon trading scheme and participation could be classified into five response hierarchies: deep avoidance, shallow avoidance, uncertain, shallow approach, and deep approach. The average of residents' responses denoted a shallow approach, with the characteristics of median stability, duration, and noise. Moreover, residents holding deep approach responses to the scheme and participation respectively accounted for 42.365% and 34.275% of the total, which indicated a gap between attitude and behavior. Urban residents' responses exhibited significant differences with respect to demographic characteristics. Most of the residents with the most avoidance response were young males (i.e., 18-20 years old), older first-line employees (i.e., older than 50 years old), and those on subsistence incomes (i.e., annual individual or household income was RMB 30,000-50,000 yuan). Additionally, residents who held egoistic values, had low senses of social responsibility, knew little about carbon reductions, and preferred comfortable life were likely to avoid the scheme and participation. Finally, policy suggestions are proposed for the enhancement of urban residents' attitudes towards personal carbon trading, thereby providing valuable references for its implementation.

Determinants of Residents' Approach-Avoidance Responses to the Personal Carbon Trading Scheme: An Empirical Analysis of Urban Residents in Eastern China.

The personal carbon trading (PCT) scheme is a policy instrument for reducing downstream carbon emissions and creating a green lifestyle, and a bottleneck hampering its implementation is the behavioral willingness of residents. Due to a pre-existing stimulus-response association, the willingness of residents can be intuitively reflected by their approach-avoidance responses. This study theoretically analyzed the mechanisms for influencing residents' approach-avoidance responses towards the personal carbon trading scheme based on open-ended interviews, and empirically examined the mechanisms by developing rating scales and conducting questionnaire surveys on urban residents in eastern China. Findings showed that residents' approach-avoidance responses could be negatively affected by their preference for comfort, whereas they were positively impacted by their ecological values, sense of social responsibility, cognition of the behaviors for carbon emission reduction, and cognition of personal carbon trading. In terms of subjective norms, the culture of environmentalism had a positive effect on residents' responses to PCT scheme, while the culture of consumerism caused a negative impact on their responses. Furthermore, the perceived behavioral controls of residents partially mediated the relationships between their psychological characteristics and approach-avoidance responses. Finally, primary and pivotal suggestions were proposed for nudging Chinese urban residents towards approaching the personal carbon trading scheme, which provide theoretical support and practical guidance for its implementation.

What Role Should Government Play in the Personal Carbon Trading Market: Motivator or Punisher?

With increasing downstream carbon emissions, the implementation of a personal carbon trading scheme is urgently required. In order to facilitate the progress, government departments are supposed to adopt a motivating or punitive policy to make guidance for downstream carbon emissions reduction. This study determined and verified the evolutionarily stable strategies (ESSs) of government departments and individuals whose carbon emissions exceeded the initial carbon allowance (CEEICA individuals) by using the evolutionary game and numerical simulation methods, respectively. The findings show that the ESS of government departments is always a punitive policy during the variation of strategies of CEEICA individuals. The ESS of CEEICA individuals is an active plan when the added cost (the difference between emissions reduction cost and trading earning) is less than the carbon tax; otherwise, it is a passive plan. Furthermore, the rate of convergence can be significantly influenced by the probabilistic distances between initial strategies and the ESSs. On the basis of these findings, this study suggested implementing a "punishment first, motivation-supplemented" policy, and developing a stable operational mechanism for a personal carbon trading market.

Can China fulfill its commitment to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the Paris Agreement? Analysis based on a back-propagation neural network.

Due to the increasingly severe situation regarding adaptation to climate change, global attention has focused on whether China can fulfill its commitment to the Paris Agreement as the largest producer of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In this study, the CO2 emissions and CO2 intensities in China during 2030 were forecast using three scenarios, seven indicators, and a back-propagation neural network. Under the business as usual (BAU), strategic planning (SP), and low carbon (LC) scenarios, the predicted CO2 emissions in China during 2030 are 13,908.00, 11,837.60, and 9102.50 million tonnes, respectively, and the predicted CO2 intensities are 1.8652, 1.7405, and 1.5382 when considering carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). Furthermore, China cannot fulfill its commitment under the BAU scenario, whereas China will fulfill its commitment on schedule under the SP scenario. Under the LC scenario, China will fulfill its commitment ahead of schedule to reduce the CO2 intensity by 60% in 2025, and it will even reduce the CO2 intensity by 65% in 2030. In addition, if the amounts of CCUS are not considered for measuring the CO2 intensity, China can still fulfill its commitment under the LC scenario, whereas it cannot fulfill its commitment by 2030 under the SP scenario. This study evaluated the fulfillment of China's commitment in the Paris Agreement, demonstrated that CCUS plays an important role in reducing the CO2 intensity, and provided policy suggestions for the Chinese government regarding the reductions of the CO2 intensity.

Who reports high company performance? A quantitative study of Chinese listed companies in the energy industry.

In the increasingly competitive environment, top managers' background characteristics are undoubtedly vital factors for company performance. This study examines whether the performance of Chinese listed companies in the energy industry differs with respect to top managers' background characteristics and explores the exact distribution interval of top managers' background characteristics when company performance reaches the highest level. The initial sample was collected from the CSMAR database (2005-2014) for listed companies in the energy industry. After removing the outlier and missing data, the final number of observations was determined as 780. Descriptive statistics were used to investigate the present distribution of top managers' background characteristics, factor analysis was used to determine the dimensions of company performance, and one-way ANOVA was used to analyze the differences in company performance and its dimensions with respect to top managers' background characteristics. The findings show that both the age and length of service of top managers present an increasing trend over the years of the study period, whereas the educational level shows no significant changes. The performance of listed companies has three dimensions: profit performance, growth performance, and operating performance. Companies behave differently with regard to their top managers' background characteristics; when the top manager is 40-45 years old, with a doctoral degree and above, and in the 2nd-3rd year of his service period, his company will achieve a higher level of performance. This study contributes to the growing literature on company performance in the Chinese energy industry by demonstrating the differences in the performance of Chinese listed companies in the energy industry with regard to top managers' background characteristics, and reaching conclusions on the optimum distribution interval of top managers' background characteristics when company performance reaches the highest level. This study also provides a valuable reference for organizational reform and performance enhancement, which are urgent problems for the Chinese energy industry.