As global climate change intensifies, programs to promote green energy innovation are becoming increasingly urgent for humanity. However, academic debate on whether to prioritize industrial or regional policies continues, detracting the focus from programmes to promote green energy innovation. Using data from 3456 listed companies in China in 2020, this study aims to test intra-industry and spatial spillovers to provide empirical evidence to resolve the academic debate and investigate the impact of urban digital finance on corporate green energy innovation to assess the effectiveness of urban policies. Results show that firms' green energy innovations have significant intra-industry spillovers, but no significant spatial spillovers. Moreover, urban digital finance contributes significantly to green energy innovation. The impact of urban digital finance on green energy innovation varies by a firm's nature, internal controls, and external audits. Therefore, this study proposes a multilevel ecosystem for green energy innovation that theoretically supports a comprehensive and systematic understanding of corporate green energy innovation and guidelines for the precise implementation of policy portfolios.

Identifying the policy effect of government subsidies on families is beneficial to alleviate household energy poverty. This study first builds a Propensity Score Matching–Difference-in-Differences (PSM-DID) model and empirically tests the impact of government subsidies on household energy poverty in China based on China Family Panel Studies data from 2016 to 2018. The results show that household energy poverty is considered to have obvious regional differences. Moreover, the results indicate that government subsidies can reduce the probability of household energy poverty by 38.1%. However, the effect of government subsidies in alleviating household energy poverty will vary depending on the specific household situation. It is concluded that subsidies provided by the Chinese government to households can effectively alleviate household energy poverty. Finally, some policy recommendations are proposed based on the results of the empirical analysis.

This research develops a spatial analytical framework to investigate the spatial distribution and dynamic evolution of academic patent commercialization. The results showed that the gravity center of academic patents commercialization in China shifted from southwest to northeast from 2010 to 2019, showing the characteristics of alternating spatial convergence and spatial divergence. Moreover, economic development will promote the centralization of the commercialization of academic patents, while local fiscal science and technology expenditure, development of local public libraries, regional urbanization and traffic decentralization will promote the decentralization of the commercialization of academic patents. Those findings affirm that spatial convergence or divergence of academic patent commercialization is the dynamic result of the contrast between the two forces of centralization and decentralization. This study provides an analytical framework for scholars to explore the dynamic spatial pattern evolution of academic patent commercialization.

The commercialization of academic patents is a basic means for universities to promote economic growth and upgrade the industrial innovation of enterprises. However, among developing countries, the commercialization rate of university patents is generally low. This study utilizes data from 65 universities which are directly under the Ministry of Education of China to analyze the influencing factors and mechanisms of academic patent commercialization. The findings show that the proportion of associate professors, the size of service staff transforming research and development achievement, and the proportion of basic research funding in universities are positively correlated with the commercialization rate of university patents. In addition, these factors indirectly affect the commercialization of university patents by affecting neighboring universities; that is, there are spatial spillover effects in the commercialization of university patents between neighboring universities. These empirical results indicate that universities can promote the commercialization of university patents by optimizing the structure of faculty, developing the R&D achievement transformation service staff team, and strengthening investment in basic research.

Despite growing attention to Internet activity as a social determinant of depression in adolescents, few studies have focused on its diverse effects on depressive symptoms. Using data from the 2020 China Family Panel Study, this study employed logistic regression analysis to examine how Internet activity affects depressive symptoms in adolescents in China. The results indicated that adolescents with longer online duration using mobile phones tended to have higher levels of depression. Adolescents who engaged in online activities related to games, shopping, and entertainment had more severe depressive symptoms, but their time spent on online learning was not significantly associated with their level of depression. These findings suggest a dynamic link between Internet activity and adolescent depression and offer policy implications for addressing depressive symptoms in adolescents. Specifically, Internet and youth development policies and public health programs during the COVID-19 pandemic should be designed based on a comprehensive account of all aspects of Internet activity.

This study investigates the effect of firm performance on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a specific spatial context. The results for a sample of 1,557 listed companies in China suggest that a firm’s CSR performance level is influenced by that of nearby firms. This study also confirms the indirect link between financial and CSR performance through the mediating role of institutional and executive shareholding rates. In addition, the empirical evidence in this study not only supports the spatial context-sensitive thesis but, more importantly, proposes a spatiotemporal context-sensitive thesis. It provides strong empirical support for the true relative value of the spatiotemporal context affecting CSR performance, which yields important theoretical, methodological, and policy implications.

Declining levels of social welfare caused by climate warming and air pollution place increasing constraints on high-quality, sustainable global development. To achieve global climate-governance goals, it is essential to accelerate the process of peaking carbon emissions and meeting air-quality standards. Despite growing awareness of the impact of low-carbon city policies on the environment, few studies have focused on their impact on urban air quality. Based on panel data drawn from 275 cities between 2011 and 2017, the present study evaluates the effects of a low-carbon city policy on urban sulfur-dioxide emissions, using the low-carbon city policy as a quasi-natural experiment. The findings reveal that urban sulfur-dioxide emissions have obvious spatial-autocorrelation characteristics, showing obvious spatial clustering. The low-carbon city policy not only significantly reduced urban sulfur-dioxide emissions in pilot cities, but also suppressed sulfur-dioxide emissions in surrounding cities through an indirect rebound effect. This paper provides a theoretical reference for collaborative governance, which can help to achieve peak carbon emissions and air-quality standards. To reach those goals, nations must abandon territorial prevention-and-control methods based on administrative divisions and to fully activate cross-city regional joint prevention-and-control measures. This study proposes key policies, including promoting inter-city regional coordination mechanisms, strengthening the collaborative governance in relation to carbon-dioxide and sulfur-dioxide emissions, and promoting the construction of inner-city green facilities.

The rapid development of high-speed rail has markedly shortened the travel time from one city to another. However, the impact of space–time compression brought about by high-speed rail on city innovation has not received sufficient attention. This paper examines the space–time compression phenomenon produced by high-speed railway networks and its impact on city innovation from 2000 to 2019 using a sample of 279 Chinese prefecture-level cities. The empirical results show that there was a strong space–time compression during this period. The development of high-speed rail can promote city innovation. However, the construction of high-speed rail also produces a siphon effect, which accelerates the convergence of innovative elements in cities with stronger innovation capabilities. Nevertheless, it has a negative spillover effect on cities with weaker innovation capabilities. Finally, policy recommendations for promoting the balanced development of city innovation and recommendations for future research are presented.

Previous studies on the determinants of household tourism expenditure have assumed that households independently determine their tourism expenditure. However, the possible influence of neighbours on tourism expenditure has been overlooked. This study is the first to apply spatial lag analysis to investigate the neighbour effect in the determination of rural household tourism expenditure. The results indicate that there is a significant neighbour effect on the tourism expenditure of rural households. This neighbour effect varies by region and by household head attributes. This paper suggests that the neighbour effect does help to explain household tourism consumption in rural areas.

Governmental investment in commercializing academic patents has spurred economic growth. This study explores the mechanism underlying the impact of academic patent commercialization on regional economic development based on holistic view of the integration of local and neighbourhood hierarchies. The empirical analysis of a sample of 31 Chinese provinces from 2010 to 2019 shows that fiscal expenditures on science and technology mediate the relationship between academic patent commercialization and economic development. Moreover, there is a positive spatial spill over effect between developing economies of neighbouring provinces. In the knowledge economy era, academic patent commercialization, supported by fiscal expenditure, plays an increasingly important role in regional economic growth.

Purpose The study aims to investigate the relationship between chief executive officers' (CEOs') prenatal testosterone exposure, absorptive capacity and e-commerce adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach Based on a study of 1,519 SMEs led by a male CEO in China, the impact of entrepreneur's digital ratio on e-commerce adoption is empirically analyzed through a multivariate logistic model. Findings The results show that the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), a reverse measurement of prenatal testosterone exposure, is negatively correlated with the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs. This evidence suggests that CEOs with high prenatal testosterone exposure have a higher probability of adopting e-commerce. In addition, this research indicates a positive correlation between absorptive capacity, which is defined by market innovation, process innovation and marketing innovation, and the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs. Originality/value This research can contribute to the discussion by providing new insights into the antecedents of the adoption of e-commerce in SMEs.

Utilizing survey data from the 2010, 2014, and 2016 China family panel studies, this study examined the relationship between the social discrimination experienced at high school and college enrollment. It was found that administrative discrimination, such as unfair treatment from government cadres or arbitrary fee collection, negatively affected college enrollment, while gender discrimination encouraged high school students to pursue higher education, and college enrollment reduced the likelihood of social discrimination. Therefore, social-psychological factors should not be ignored in higher education demand studies. In particular, as high school student responses to social discrimination can affect their motivation to pursue higher education, stress and coping theory could have important theoretical value when studying the decision-making behaviors and patterns of high school student higher education aspirations.