The implementation of China’s rural homestead withdrawal policy has been a topic of great interest in recent years. However, little is known about its impact on farmers’ homestead withdrawal behavior from the perspective of psychological resilience. This study aims to evaluate the impact of psychological resilience on farmers’ homestead withdrawal behavior and to explore its mechanism and heterogeneity, as well as its impact on compensation choices. The research data was collected through a survey of 657 rural households in Shaanxi and Shandong provinces. The probit model and mediation effect model were used to analyze the data. The results demonstrate that psychological resilience positively affects farmers’ homestead withdrawal behavior; this finding is robust. Specifically, the positive influence of stability and adaptability dimensions of psychological resilience is more significant. Moreover, the effect of psychological resilience varies across different family life cycles, and it has a stronger promoting effect on the homestead withdrawal behavior of child-raising families. Mechanism analysis indicates that psychological resilience can promote homestead withdrawal behavior by reducing farmers’ land dependence consciousness and improving farmers’ risk preferences. Finally, farmers with strong psychological resilience are more inclined to choose cash compensation. Based on these findings, this paper proposes targeted policy recommendations for rural homestead system reform.

With the evolution of forestry policy, society, and the economy, the relationship between the resources, population, and the economy in key state-owned forest areas has continuously changed, and this has had an important impact on China’s forestry development and protection of resources. Based on the China Forestry Statistical Yearbook and forest resource inventory data, this paper conducts a macroanalysis of the linkages between forest resources, the number of employees, and economic development in key state-owned forest areas from 1975 to 2017. The research results show that in these areas, forestry policies and the external macroenvironment has a strong impact on the relationship between resources, population, and the economy; there is a decoupling relationship between resources and the economy; the population has a restrictive relationship with the economy; and a sustainable development relationship has not yet formed between resources, population, and the economy. Based on these findings, policy suggestions are put forward, including scientific felling and moderate management, introducing and training of high-quality talents, strengthening of industrial reform, and introduction of a market-oriented mechanism.

Yellow River Basin (YRB) is a pivotal region for energy consumption and carbon emissions (CEs) in China, with cities emerging as the main sources of regional CEs. This highlights their critical role in achieving regional sustainable development and China’s carbon neutrality. Consequently, there is a pressing need for a detailed exploration of the urban spillover effects and an in-depth analysis of the complex determinants influencing CEs within the YRB. Remote sensing data provide optimal conditions for conducting extensive studies across large geographical areas and extended time periods. This study integrates DMSP/OLS and NPP/VIIRS nighttime light datasets for a longitudinal analysis of urban CEs in the YRB. Using a harmonized dataset from DMSP/OLS and NPP/VIIRS nighttime light from 2007 to 2021, this study quantifies CEs of 58 prefecture-level cities in the YRB. By combining ESDA, STIRPAT model and spatial econometric model, this investigation further clarifies empirically the spatial spillover effects and driving factors of urban CEs. The analysis delineates a phase-wise augmentation in urban CEs, converging towards a distinct spatial distribution characterized by “lower reach > middle reach > upper reach”. The spatial autocorrelation tests unravel a complex interplay between agglomeration and differentiation patterns within urban CEs, underscored by pronounced spatial lock-in phenomena. Significantly, this study demonstrates that urbanization, economic development, energy consumption structure, green coverage rate, industrial structure, population, technological progress, and FDI each exhibit varied direct and indirect effect on urban CEs. Furthermore, it elaborates on potential policy implications and future research directions, offering crucial insights for formulating CEs mitigation strategies to advance sustainable development.

The 2015 reform of state-owned forest regions (SOFRs) in Northeast China required state-owned forest enterprises (SOFEs) to transfer their governmental and social roles to local authorities. This transition, however, created fragmented governance within forestry communities due to the absence of cooperative mechanisms between SOFEs and local governments. This study examines the economic effects of this governance fragmentation on SOFEs and explores the underlying mechanisms. The research combines new institutional economics and transaction cost theory to develop hypotheses and employs empirical analysis using fixed-effects models on data from 39 SOFEs, belonging to two forest industry groups from 2015 to 2022, collected through surveys and field investigations. The findings indicate that governance fragmentation has a significant negative impact on the economic performance of SOFEs. The high transaction costs incurred by SOFEs in achieving community co-governance with local governments are identified as a key mediating mechanism. These costs lead to resource dispersion and diminished trust between SOFEs and local governments. The economic impact of this governance fragmentation varies based on the economic conditions of the SOFEs, their operational scales, and the clarity of geographical management boundaries with local governments. To mitigate the adverse effects of governance fragmentation, the study suggests proactive institutional designs to reduce transaction costs. These findings offer new insights into the corporate social responsibilities of Chinese SOFEs and suggest improvements in the governance structures of forestry communities in SOFRs in Northeast China. Additionally, the study expands the application of transaction cost theory in public affairs governance and enhances quantitative research on the economic impact on enterprises.

Developing forest carbon sinks (FCS) is significant for China to achieve carbon neutrality. The Yellow River Basin is a principal area for China’s energy consumption, and the forest resource distribution of this vast basin is spatially dependent, determining that the development of FCS cannot be separated geographically. Based on the spatial panel data of 69 prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River basin in 1988-2018, firstly, we depict a picture of the spatial-temporal trajectories for FCS variations using geospatial analysis. Secondly, fully considering the economic and geographical attributes of forest resources, we develop a spatial econometrics model to investigate the inter-regional correlations and spatial spillover effects of FCS from the spatial dimension and comprehensively explore the direct and indirect impact of different explanatory variables on FCS. Thirdly, pertinent policy suggestions are put out to serve as a guide for increasing FCS.