Whether a stock market should matter or not when monetary policy is concerned seems to be a controversial issue. The purpose of this study is to indicate whether the central bank should use monetary policy to help the stock market or not. Based on macroeconomic data such as interest rate and the stock market, we adopt a novel Bayesian time-varying regression model and determine that the impact of interest rate changes on stock returns varies over time in China, after controlling various macroeconomic factors. Although on average interest rates negatively impact stock price returns, they tend to have an abnormal positive effect at market high points, following a time-varying dynamic pattern. Surprisingly, during periods of overheated economic development, an increase in interest rates cannot suppress the rise in stock prices. Therefore, policymakers need to pay attention when accelerating the marketisation of interest rates and initiating the preventive role of timely and strategic adjustment of interest rates.

Under the dual challenges of global downward economic pressure and the COVID-19 pandemic, studying the impact of local government fiscal pressure on public health is a meaningful endeavor. First, this paper analyzes the impact of local government fiscal pressure on public health and clarifies its impact mechanisms. Second, by utilizing panel data of 31 Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2020, two-way fixed-effects and mediating-effects models are developed to identify the effects and impact mechanisms of local government fiscal pressure on public health. The results show that local government fiscal pressure can be detrimental to public health through three main mechanisms: reducing public health fiscal expenditures, hindering industrial structure upgrading, and exacerbating environmental pollution. Heterogeneity analysis finds that the negative effects of local government fiscal pressure on public health mainly exist in Central and Western China. Accordingly, three policy implications are proposed: optimizing the fiscal system, accelerating industrial upgrading, and improving the appraisal system of local officers.

Sustainable food production and food security are always challenging issues in China. This paper constructs a multi-element two-level constant-elasticity-of-substitution (CES) model to assess technological progress in, and its contribution to, japonica rice production in China. The results show that the speed of technological progress in the production of japonica rice on average was 0.44% per annum in 1985–2013, and technological progress has contributed significantly to the growth of japonica rice production in China. Robustness checks show that the results appear to be sensitive to which sub-sample is used. Labour and some other inputs are found to be significant but negative, especially during the middle sampling period of 1994–2006 and in eastern and western regions. This has important policy implications on the impact of rural-to-urban migration and farmers’ human development.

Understanding the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) in farmland is crucial for assessing soil health, quantifying ecosystem potential for SOC enrichment, and guiding sustainable agricultural management. Existing research on SOC sequestration and mineralization has focused mainly on the topsoil layer (0–20 cm), whereas systematic evidence on how deep SOC (>20 cm) responds to agricultural management, and on strategies to enhance deep carbon sequestration, remains limited. This study uses long-term fixed-site monitoring data from 120 farmland plots across 21 typical farmland ecosystem stations and farmland–complex ecosystem stations within the Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) over 17 years (2004–2020). Using spatial analysis, we characterize the spatiotemporal dynamics of SOC below 20 cm along soil profiles across seven major geographical zones in China. We then estimate the heterogeneous effects of fertilization and straw-management practices (S, straw returning; SCF, straw returning with chemical fertilizer; OF, organic fertilizer; OCF, organic fertilizer with chemical fertilizer), tillage modes, and farmland types on SOC in the 20–40 cm, 40–60 cm, and 60–100 cm layers using a panel fixed-effects model. The results indicate pronounced vertical heterogeneity in SOC below 20 cm and a clear spatial gradient. The 60–100 cm layer shows a significant increase in SOC content during the study period, with a cumulative increase of 4.07%. Relative to single organic inputs, the co-application of organic and inorganic materials improves deep soil SOC enhancement efficiency. Compared with reduced tillage and no-tillage, conventional tillage is less conducive to SOC enhancement in layers shallower than 60 cm, yet it has a significant positive impact on SOC in the 60–100 cm layer. Compared with dryland and irrigated land, paddy fields are less favorable for SOC enhancement below 20 cm. Consequently, regarding agricultural practice, a composite tillage regime combining “surface conservation tillage with periodic deep tillage” should be promoted to foster deep SOC enhancement.