Can green trade save the environment? Introducing the Green (Trade) Openness Index

How diversification of products impact emissions in China: a provincial perspective

Currently, global warming and air pollution are the world's most urgent issues partly caused by carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions, and prompt actions are needed to address these global concerns. Sustainable development cannot be attained until we reverse the negative impact of economic factors on the quality of the environment. It is noteworthy to offer a new indication on whether and how the empirical liaison between product diversification and environmental degradation evolved in China from 2008 to 2019. Product diversification (PD) is a remedy for reducing environmental degradation (ED). It is a crucial component of energy demand, which a significant impact on reducing energy consumption and ED. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of PD on ED in China using the provincial panel dataset. Employing the fixed effects-Driscoll-Kraay standard errors (FE-DKSE) and feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) methods, we discover an inverted U-shaped link between PD and ED. The control variable urbanization (URB) and technological innovation (TI) reduce ED significantly. However, industry value added (IVA) and energy consumption (EC) promote ED. Our results are robust with the addition of various controls in all models. The policy implication from our findings is that, to achieve a target of carbon neutrality, countries should adopt the product diversification strategy.

Research on the structural characteristics and influencing factors of global environmental services trade networks

The development of the environmental services trade is crucial to achieving climate goals and a green economic transition. Based on environmental services trade data from 2001 to 2019, this work uses the social network analysis (SNA) method to depict the structural features of global environmental services trade networks, empirically testing the influencing mechanism of network evolution based on the quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) model. The results indicate that the global environmental services trade is now in a rebound stable period. The market of the environmental services trade is becoming increasingly diversified, the accessibility and convenience of trade are constantly being enhanced, and there is an obvious core-edge structure in the network. Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands are at the center of the global environmental services trade network; Greece, as the most prominent trade catch-up country, has gradually become an important "bridge" and "hub." Climate change, geographical distance, and population size are the key factors affecting the global trade network of environmental services; environmental regulation, economic distance, and green technology distance have no significant impact on the development of the global environmental services trade, and language difference is no longer an obstacle to the growth of this trade. The results indicate that countries should develop in-depth transnational trade cooperation in the field of environmental services and do so with a more open attitude. The government should give sufficient policy support to the import and export of environmental services, guaranteeing the development of the environmental services trade.

Digital Transformation on Enterprise Green Innovation: Effect and Transmission Mechanism

With the development of blockchain, big data, cloud computing and other new technologies, how to achieve innovative development and green sustainable development in digital transformation has become one of the key issues for enterprises to obtain and maintain core competitiveness. However, little of the literature has paid attention to the impact of digital transformation on enterprise green innovation. Using the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2020, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of enterprise digital transformation on green innovation and its transmission mechanism, by constructing double fixed-effect models. The results show that digital transformation has remarkably promoted the green innovation of enterprises. R&D investment, government subsidies, and income tax burden have played a conductive role between digital transformation and enterprise green innovation. Furthermore, digital transformation can significantly promote the high-quality green innovation of enterprises and also plays a more significant role in promoting the green innovation of high-tech enterprises and state-owned enterprises. A robustness test is carried out by using the lag data and changing the measurement methods of the dependent variable and independent variables, and the research conclusions are still valid. Based on resource-based theory and dynamic capability theory, this paper reveals the impact path of digital transformation on enterprise green innovation, further expanding the research field of digital transformation and enriching the research on the influencing factors of enterprise green innovation. This paper provides policy suggestions for the government to improve the enterprise green innovation level by increasing government subsidies and providing tax incentives and also provides reference for digital transformation enterprises to accelerate green innovation by increasing R&D investment, obtaining government subsidies, and acquiring tax policy support.