Economic Policy Uncertainty, Social Development, Political Regimes and Environmental Quality.

This paper aims to examine the influence of Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) on environmental performance, as well as the moderating effect of social development and the political regimes in EPU's influence on environmental performance. To investigate such essential issues, we conducted Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimations by utilizing cross-country data covering 137 countries during the period of 2001-2018, according to the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) model. Our empirical estimations support that EPU negatively affects environmental performance; this idea was still supported when we conducted an empirical analysis by changing the measurements, employing alternative estimations and constructing new samples. Furthermore, not only would the absolute level of EPU bring worse environmental performance, but so would an increase in EPU. Moreover, higher economic performance, globalization and a high quality of governance can help countries to alleviate the adverse environmental effect of EPU. Additionally, EPU's negative effect on environmental performance is stronger in right-wing countries, autocracies and non-OECD countries, compared to their counterparts. Our study provides substantial policy implications for governments participating in the international treaties of environmental protection, to mitigate environmental degradation.

The Impact of Globalization on Forest Growth: Evidence from Multinational Panel Data.

Even though some existing literature has studied the impact of globalization on forest growth, this research remains inconclusive; moreover, little clarification has emerged as to whether the influence of globalization on forest growth is consistent among different countries. To fill this research gap, we investigated the impact of globalization on forest growth and considered what factors could change the influence of the former upon the latter. To empirically investigate these essential issues, we utilized cross-country data covering 108 countries during the period 1991-2018 to conduct a system generalized method of moment (GMM) estimation. The baseline results confirm the positive impact of globalization on forest growth, which is also supported by several robustness tests, such as changing the measurements and setting new samples. Furthermore, an increase in globalization would bring about higher forest growth. Aside from this, two specific dimensions of globalization, namely economics and trade, can also protect forest growth. Additionally, a higher FDI strengthens the positive impact of globalization on forest growth, while aging, industrial share, and CO2 emissions weaken it. Finally, the impact of globalization on forests is weaker in democracies, emerging markets, and countries with higher fiscal freedoms, while it is stronger in countries with higher political stability. Our study provides substantial policy implications for governments participating in international treaties related to forest growth. The structure of this paper is organized as follows.

The Effect of a Supplier's Eco-Design on the Economic Benefits of a Supply Chain and Associated Coordination.

The eco-design of upstream suppliers can reduce the environmental impact from the production process for downstream customers. To analyze the effect of suppliers' eco-design on the economic benefits of up-downstream supply chain and the mechanisms, this study constructed a master-slave game theory model for a supplier and a manufacturer. Based on this game theory model, this study comparatively analyzes the effects on raw material/part prices, retail product prices, sale volume, revenue, and eco-design effort level under three conditions (no eco-design, decentralized decision-making with eco-design, centralized decision-making with eco-design). And to further analyze the effect of eco-design costs on the optimal solution, this article takes the supply chain of tire production as an example. This analysis could provide suggestions for the suppliers and manufacturers to develop and improve their eco-design. The main results are as follows: the supplier eco-design is beneficial to improving the overall economic benefits for suppliers and manufacturers under certain conditions, and the range in which a supplier is willing to implement eco-design in a decentralized decision-making situation is wider than that in a centralized decision-making situation; when a supplier implements an eco-design, it will transfer part of the cost to the manufacturer by raising the unit raw material/parts prices. Meanwhile, the manufacturer can reduce the production cost when the benefit of eco-design is more than the increased purchasing price, and they can decrease the retail price to expand the sales volume. Hence, consumers will benefit from lower prices. Thus, it is a multi-win situation among the suppliers, manufacturers, and consumers.

Revisited Globalization's Impact on Total Environment: Evidence Based on Overall Environmental Performance Index.

This study aims to examine the impact of globalization on environmental performance by employing panel data for 148 countries from 2001 to 2018, via the indicator of Environmental Performance Index to capture the overall environmental quality and KOF index to measure the multi dimensions of globalization. The empirical results suggest that globalization is critical to environmental performance, which is reliable while we conduct several robustness tests. Furthermore, if globalization increases, it would be beneficial for the environmental performance; moreover, among specific dimensions of globalization, economic globalization, social globalization and political globalization would bring about better environmental performance. Besides, the improvement of globalization, social globalization and political globalization would bring about better environmental performance, while that of economic globalization cannot change the overall environmental performance. Our study offers more insight into the relationship between globalization and environmental performance.

Research on the Impacts of Heterogeneous Environmental Regulations on Green Productivity in China: The Moderating Roles of Technical Change and Efficiency Change.

Due to the publicly owned resource attributes of the ecological environment, the treatment and governance of the environment should be guided by governments, which are mainly represented as environmental regulations. However, whether environmental regulations affect green productivity and what effects heterogeneous environmental regulations have on green productivity are still implicit. In addition, the moderating roles of technical change and efficiency change are ignored. To examine these issues, this study investigated the impacts of heterogeneous environmental regulations on green productivity and the moderating roles of technical change and efficiency change using the dynamic spatial Durbin model based on the panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2018. The results show the following: compared with efficiency change, technical change has a stronger promotion effect on green productivity in China; considering the spatial spillover effects and the temporal lag effects of green productivity simultaneously, the negative path-dependent feature is not supported any longer, while the spatial spillover effect is still the power source for promoting green productivity in China; the moderating roles of technical change and efficiency change for the nexus between heterogeneous environmental regulations and green productivity in China are partly and conditionally supported at national and regional levels; the direct and indirect effects of heterogeneous environmental regulations on green productivity at the regional level have a feature of spatial heterogeneity. This study provides both theoretical and practical implications, in particular for China, to promote green productivity from the dual perspectives of space and time.

Ecological Civilization Demonstration Zone, Air Pollution Reduction, and Political Promotion Tournament in China: Empirical Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment.

Using the ecological civilization demonstration zone as a quasi-natural experiment, this study has explored the effect of it on air pollution in China by employing the difference-in-differences model and the spatial difference-in-differences model, and further tested the political promotion tournament in China by employing the binary logit model. The results show that the ecological civilization demonstration zone has basically and effectively reduced air pollution, except for carbon monoxide and ozone. In addition, the spatial spillover effects of the ecological civilization demonstration zone on air pollution are not only basically supported among the treated cities, but also extremely established in the untreated cities neighboring the treated cities. Furthermore, no clear evidence supports the establishment of the political promotion tournament in China, while local cadres tend to cope with the assessment of higher officials passively rather than actively. Overall, this study sheds light on the coordination of economic development and ecological civilization from the perspective of the career concerns of local cadres.

The Impact of Carbon Trade on Outsourcing Remanufacturing.

Outsourcing remanufacturing is an important way to achieve resource recycling, green manufacturing and carbon neutrality goals. To analyze the impact of carbon trade on manufacturing/remanufacturing under outsourcing remanufacturing, this article builds a game model between an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and a remanufacturer under the carbon trade policy. In the outsourcing remanufacturing model, this article compares the impact of the carbon trade policy on the unit retail price, sales volume, revenue, environmental impact, and consumer surplus of new and remanufactured products. The research mainly draws the following conclusions: (1) Carbon trade increases the prices of both new and remanufactured products and the cost of outsourcing. Only when certain conditions are met can increased carbon trade prices increase revenue. (2) The carbon trade policy helps reduce the adverse impact on the environment, but only when the carbon trade price is greater than a certain threshold can it increase consumer surplus. (3) Consumer preferences and carbon emissions of the unit product affect manufacturers' profits. Increased consumer preference for remanufactured products and reduced carbon emissions of remanufactured products contribute to increased sales and revenues.

Comparatively Analyzing the Impact of Government Subsidy and Carbon Tax Policy on Authorized Remanufacturing.

Authorized remanufacturing is an important means to achieve green manufacturing and carbon neutrality. In this study, a game theory model between a manufacturer and a remanufacturer was constructed to analyze the impact of government subsidies and carbon tax policies on authorized remanufacturing. Based on the game theory model, the effects of two government policies on the optimal solution, namely, the unit cost of remanufacturing product authorization and the waste product recovery rate, were compared and analyzed. This analysis could provide a reference for the government to improve and formulate relevant remanufacturing policies. The main results are as follows: government subsidy policies may increase the unit cost of remanufacturing product authorization and the rates of waste product recovery; government carbon tax policies may not affect the unit cost of remanufacturing product authorization, and increase the rates of waste product recovery; the government subsidy policy may not affect the unit retail price of new products, and reduces the unit retail price of remanufactured products; the government subsidy and carbon tax policies may reduce sales of new products and increase sales of remanufactured products; the government subsidies may increase the revenue of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and the remanufacturer; and the government carbon tax policies may increase the revenue of the remanufacturer. However, government carbon tax policies increase the revenue of the OEM only when the new product carbon tax amount is higher than a certain threshold. The impact of the two policies on the environment is related to the ratio of the two products' impact on the environment, i.e., the quota ratio between the unit government carbon tax of the new product and the unit government subsidy of the remanufactured product. Finally, the consumer surplus is maximized when the government adopts the subsidy policy and lowest when the government adopts the carbon tax policy.

The Impact of Government Subsidies on the Low-Carbon Supply Chain Based on Carbon Emission Reduction Level.

To improve low-carbon technology, the government has shifted its strategy from subsidizing low-carbon products (LCP) to low-carbon technology. To analyze the impact of government subsidies based on carbon emission reduction levels on different entities in the low-carbon supply chain (LCSC), game theory is used to model the provision of government subsidies to low-carbon enterprises and retailers. The main findings of the paper are that a government subsidy strategy based on carbon emission reduction levels can effectively drive low-carbon enterprises to further reduce the carbon emissions. The government's choice of subsidy has the same effect on the LCP retail price per unit, the sales volume, and the revenue of low-carbon products per unit. When the government subsidizes the retailer, the low-carbon product wholesale price per unit is the highest. That is, low-carbon enterprises use up part of the government subsidies by increasing the wholesale price of low-carbon products. The retail price of low-carbon products per unit is lower than the retail price of low-carbon products in the context of decentralized decision making, but the sales volume and revenue of low-carbon products are greater in the centralized decision-making. The cost-benefit-sharing contract could enable the decentralized decision model to achieve the same level of profit as the centralized decision model.

Impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from 137 Multinational Countries.

With growing economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and the importance of protecting the natural environment worldwide, the relationship between EPU and carbon emissions should be investigated further. However, conclusions in the existing literature on the relationship between EPU and carbon emission are inconclusive. This paper aims to examine the influence of EPU on carbon emissions according to the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) model. To investigate such essential issues, we conduct GMM estimations by utilizing cross-country data covering 137 countries during the period 1970-2018, obtained from World Bank and OECD statistics. Our empirical estimations support that EPU would bring about more carbon emissions, while we conduct empirical analysis by changing the system of measurement, employing alternative estimation and constructing new samples. Our study provides substantial policy implications for government participation in international treaties on environmental protection to mitigate environmental degradation.

Upstream-Downstream Joint Carbon Reduction Strategies Based on Low-Carbon Promotion.

A differential game model is established to analyze the impact of emissions reduction efforts and low-carbon product promotion on the reduction strategies of low-carbon product manufacturers (subsequently referred to as manufacturers) and the retailers of such products in a dynamic environment. Based on this model, changes in emissions reduction efforts and promotional efforts are comparatively analyzed under three scenarios (retailers bearing the promotional cost, manufacturers bearing the promotional cost, and centralized decision-making). The results are as follows: (1) the trajectory of carbon emissions reduction per product unit is the highest when the supply chain is under centralized decision-making, followed by when manufacturers bear the promotional cost, and lastly when retailers bear the cost; (2) when manufacturers bear the promotional cost, the market demand, emissions reduction effort, and promotional effort are higher, although the unit retail price is higher than when retailers bear the promotional cost; and (3) under centralized decision-making, the unit retail price is the lowest; however, sales volume, the emissions reduction effort, and the promotional effort are all higher than those in the other scenarios.