We propose the non-radial meta-frontier global Luenberger productivity index, which addresses the issues of technology heterogeneity, slack variable, and linear programming infeasibility, and decompose it based on the technology perspective and factor perspective. With the dataset of China’s power plants from 2005 to 2015, we identify the effects of the multi-targets, including energy-saving targets and S O 2 reduction targets, in the 12th Five-Year Plan on green productivity encompassing all channels of effects. A 1 % increase in the average energy-saving target cumulatively increases green productivity by 0 . 50 % , while a 1 % increase in the average S O 2 reduction target cumulatively decreases that by 0 . 03 % . In all channels, the technology leadership effect and generation efficiency exhibit sensitivity. Differential effects of the multi-targets on state-owned versus non-stateowned plants imply significant differences in observed production technology.

For a sustainable landscape of local economies, many researchers have emphasized the importance of field-oriented differentiation in government policies. In particular, the Paris Agreement, based on the bottom-up approach, aims to maximize the participation of all economic agents, in contrast to the top-down approach of the Tokyo Protocol. In response to these global paradigm shifts in the local landscape, local governments in Korea have made significant efforts to adapt to sustainable development during the pilot phase of emission trading scheme (ETS), during the period from 2015 to 2020. This study evaluates the performance of these local government policies in the transition to a carbon-zero economy. Using the general non-radial directional distance function (GNDDF), we found that Gyeongsang Province demonstrated enhanced environmental total factor productivity (TFP) during the pilot project, whereas the Seoul metropolitan area lagged behind due to a lack of governance. As the economic center of Korea, Seoul showed poor environmental performance because of the arbitrary elimination of green belt areas and unchecked land development, resulting in environmental degradation, a trend common in many developing countries facing climate adaptation challenges. To address these urbanization issues, this study concludes that a balanced approach combining stricter regulations with market-oriented promotional incentives is essential for optimizing the transition of local economies to a sustainable landscape.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by China in in 2013 prioritizes environmental sustainability and regional economic development from a global perspective. Although the BRI has achieved considerable economic progress in many cities and regions, research on its environmental impacts is still insufficient, with limited attention paid to domestic urban areas in particular. Existing studies have focused primarily on carbon emissions, ignoring the broader environmental impacts of industrial emissions, such as those from smart transportation. To address this gap, this study adopts four major pollutant emissions—carbon dioxide (CO₂), industrial particulate matter, industrial sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and industrial wastewater emissions—as indicators to assess pollution levels in urban environments. Adopting panel data from 281 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2021, this study employs the difference-in-differences (DID) method to estimate the effect of the BRI on urban environmental pollution. This study is based on the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1. BRI implementation has reduced urban pollution emissions. Hypothesis 2. Advancements in science and technology will drive the implementation of the BRI. Hypothesis 3. A proactive government response can significantly reduce urban environmental pollution. The main findings of this study are as follows. First, BRI implementation significantly reduces urban environmental pollution by 1.05%. Second, the policy effects of the BRI are more pronounced in the eastern and western regions and in larger cities, implying that geopolitical- and market-oriented strategies are important for regional performance. Third, scientific and technological progress positively affects pollution reduction in urban environments. Fourth, the BRI contributes to strengthening government intervention, which subsequently improves sustainable governance, reduces urban environmental pollution, and promotes regional economic cooperation. Our findings will serve as a crucial reference for future policymaking endeavors toward eco-friendly logistics cooperation in the region.

The Korean government has promoted regulatory policies for carbon neutrality by 2050. As an export-driven country with a high reliance on the manufacturing industry, Korea faces significant challenges in achieving its national reduction targets. This study examines the total factor carbon efficiency (TFCE) of the Korean manufacturing industry to develop feasible solutions. We employed the metafrontier sequential slack-based model (M-SSBM) to reflect the group heterogeneity arising from industrial characteristics. Data from 35 subsectors were collected from 2012 to 2019, and these subsectors were classified into three groups: technology, capital, and labor-intensive. The average TFCE of all industries shows a downtrend. Meanwhile, the TFCE of the three groups commonly showed good performance in the group-frontier, while it resulted in different group rankings in the metafrontier. A panel Tobit regression was conducted in the second stage, and the result shows that exports are significantly related to enhancing TFCE.