Most governments strive for an ecological civilization so the efficiency of government expenditure on environmental protection (EPEE) is an important issue. While it is recognized that foreign direct investment (FDI) enhances environmental protection, this investigation focuses on the effects of FDI on the efficiency of government expenditure on environmental protection under fiscal decentralization. Analysis is conducted using an output-oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) scale return model to calculate the efficiency of environmental protection spending in China. Then, a spatial model is built to test the linkages among FDI, fiscal decentralization and the efficiency of government expenditure. The results reveal that, firstly, the efficiency of government spending has been enhanced over the last 10 years. Secondly, FDI is positively correlated with the efficiency of government environmental expenditure in terms of both quantity and quality of spending and it has a positive spillover effect. Thirdly, financial decentralization is negatively correlated with the efficiency of environmental spending, but it improves the effect of FDI. Accordingly, policy proposals are that the government should improve the supervision system for environmental spending and local governments should pursue FDI, improve the structure of FDI and use its spillover effect to enhance the efficiency of environmental expenditure.

A pilot regional carbon emission trading scheme (ETS) has been implemented in China for more than two years. An investigation into the impacts of different factors on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission allowance prices provides guidance for price-making in 2017 when the nation-wide ETS of China will be established. This paper adopts a quantile regression approach to estimate the impacts of different factors in Shanghai emission trading scheme (SH-ETS), namely, economic growth, energy prices and temperature. The empirical analysis shows that: (i) the economic growth in Shanghai leads to a drop in the carbon allowance prices; (ii) the oil price has a slightly positive effect on the allowance prices regardless of the ordinary least squares (OLS) or quantile regression method; (iii) a long-run negative relationship exists between the coal price and the Shanghai emission allowances (SHEA) prices, but a positive interaction under different quantiles, especially the 25%–50% quantiles; (iv) temperature has a significantly positive effect at the 20%–30% quantiles and a conspicuous negative impact at the right tail of the allowances prices.

We empirically investigate the effect of emissions trading scheme (ETS) on the corporate performance of Chinese listed firms from 2010 to 2016, treating China’s pilot ETS as a quasi-natural experiment. Our difference-in-differences analysis shows that the ETS is significantly correlated with corporate performance of high-energy-consuming firms. While the policy effect strengthens in the first few years and then weakens by 2016. This indicates that ETS cannot sustainably and steadily affect the corporate performance. Finally, we find that ETS has a stronger impact on the performance of high-energy-consuming firms in regions with high governmental intervention and an underdeveloped legal system.

Blockchain technology is widely recognized and adopted by many organizations, as it serves as a fundamental technological infrastructure for the digital economy. This has led to a rapid acceleration of industrial transformation and digital innovation. This study employs empirical data from a substantial sample to investigate the potential applications, strategies, and advantages of blockchain technology. This paper examines A-share listed companies in China from 2015 to 2021, offering valuable empirical insights that demonstrate how the implementation of blockchain technology can markedly improve corporate performance in a major global economy. The research in this paper examines the differential effects of blockchain technology by innovatively integrating financial and environmental performance metrics into an empirical model, revealing that implementing blockchain technology significantly enhances environmental performance. Furthermore, it has been observed that blockchain technology adoption can contribute to corporate performance by improving information transparency. It is worth noting that blockchain technology’s influence on enterprises’ performance exhibits discernible variations based on the ownership structure, environmental sensitivity, and technical features of said enterprises. This paper can be used as a guide for enterprises looking to implement blockchain technology and for governments seeking to develop digitalization legislation.

As the main source of CO₂ emissions in China, the industrial sector has faced pressure for reducing emissions. To achieve the target of 50% reduction of industrial carbon intensity by 2020 based on the 2005 level, it is urgent to formulate specific CO₂ emission mitigation strategies in the provincial industrial sector. In order to provide decision-making support for the development and implementation of mitigation policy, our undesirable slack based measure (SBM) model is firstly applied to evaluate the industrial CO₂ emission efficiency under total-factor frame (TFICEE) in 13 prefecture-level cities of Jiangsu Province, the largest CO₂ emitter in China. Then, we analyze space-time distribution and distributional evolution tendency of TFICEE by using the GIS visualization method and kernel density estimation, respectively. Finally, we utilize the industrial abatement model to estimate the CO₂ abatement potential of Jiangsu’s industrial sector. The empirical results show that there exists a significant spatial inequality of TFICEE across various regions in Jiangsu, but the regional disparity has been narrowing during our study period. Additionally, average annual industrial CO₂ emission reductions in Jiangsu Province can attain 15,654.00 (ten thousand tons), accounting for 28.2% of its average annual actual emissions, which can be achieved by improving production technology, adjusting industrial structure and raising the level of industry concentration.

Reservoir engineering plays a critical role in achieving rational water resource allocation, providing ecological services, and promoting regional development. However, in the formulation of water allocation plans, there is often a tendency to prioritize meeting regional water demand while overlooking ecological benefits. This study develops a multi-objective water allocation model based on evaluating ecosystem services value supply and demand, integrating indicators such as ecosystem service fulfillment ability, water resources fulfillment ability, and equilibrium operation degree. Different development scenarios are also established using a forecasting model to formulate water allocation plans and apply a case study of the Datun Reservoir, a key hub on the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China. This study demonstrates that (1) by optimizing the allocation of domestic and industrial water supply and reservoir storage, the overall ecosystem service value of the Datun Reservoir can be enhanced by 5.15% to 11.36% and (2) in scenarios of high economic growth, there is potential to achieve coordination between water supply and ecosystem service value. (3) However, lower-than-expected economic growth may lead to a trade-off between ecosystem services and water supply capacity in the reservoir, which could be maintained at a lower level. The methods proposed in this paper are of significant practical importance for guiding rational reservoir water allocation and achieving coordination between ecological services and water supply capacity.