Xingchao Zhang

Bio: Xingchao Zhang is an academic researcher from Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 3 citations.

Evolution of spatial–temporal characteristics and financial development as an influencing factor of green ecology

Abstract: This study aims to determine the impact of financial development on green ecology to promote cleaner production. Particularly, it estimates the evolution of characteristics of the green-ecology of 37 cities from the Yangtze River Delta and determines the impact of financial development on green-ecology using the projection pursuit model, Moran’s Index, and regression model. Results found that the green-ecology index showed an upward trend and the index in the East was higher than the West. The green ecology and its composition indexes were found with significant spatial positive agglomeration characteristics. The Eastern region was mainly distributed as high to high agglomeration while the Western region was distributed as low to low agglomeration. Regarding composition indexes of green ecology, financial development has promoted a positive effect on the green-growth and resource-environment indexes. The study results stress that the enterprises should strengthen the technological innovation for the improvement of resource use efficiency and reduction of pollution.

Do Green Finance and Environmental Regulation Play a Crucial Role in the Reduction of CO2 Emissions? An Empirical Analysis of 126 Chinese Cities

Abstract: Green finance and environmental regulation can reduce CO2 emissions and promote the sustainability of economic development. Based on panel data of 126 resource-based prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2017, the current study used a dynamic panel data model to empirically determine the CO2 emission reduction effects of different green finance instruments under different environmental regulatory intensities. The results showed that green finance tools had significant negative effects on the intensity of CO2 emissions, and green finance can adapt to environmental regulations of different intensities, which cooperated to promote carbon emission reduction. Moreover, in comparison, the debt-based green finance instrument had a stronger effect than the equity-based green finance instrument, and they did not show a coupling relationship. An administrative adjustment in green finance and environmental regulation is required to reduce environmental emissions and to improve sustainable development.

Financial Development, Trade Openness, and Foreign Direct Investment: A Battle Between the Measures of Environmental Sustainability

Abstract: Deterioration in the environmental quality is a major threat to the sustainable development of an economy as it results in serious economic problems and the researchers are conscious about the environment sustainability. They have identified several factors including financial development, inflow of foreign aid, and openness of trade to promote environmental sustainability. Unfortunately, their findings remain inconclusive as they have imperfectly measured environmental sustainability. This study, thus, aims to contribute to the ongoing debate of environmental sustainability by testing the role of financial development, trade openness, and foreign direct investment (FDI) in promoting environmental sustainability by using adjusted net savings as a measure of environmental sustainability. To do this, the study collects data from 1996 to 2019. The study uses financial development, trade openness, and FDI as predictors and environmental sustainability as an outcome variable. The study applies Auto Regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) methodology to analyze the impact. The findings show positive contributions of financial development, trade openness, and foreign direct investment in promoting environment sustainability. We suggest encouraging trade through lower-taxation programs and increasing competition in the financial markets through privatization and domestic and international liberalization to stimulate environmental sustainability. We also recommend imposing high taxes and penalties on such activities that damage the quality of the environment.

Effect of High-Tech Manufacturing Co-Agglomeration and Producer Service Industry on Regional Innovation Efficiency

Abstract: The study discusses the effect of co-agglomeration between the producer service industry and the high-tech manufacturing industry on regional innovation efficiency. Based on data from public companies of three urban agglomerations from 2011 to 2019, we used the Data Envelopment Approach (DEA)- Banker, Charnes, Cooper (BCC) model to estimate real innovation efficiency. Results found that the industrial co-agglomeration and regional innovation efficiency have an “inverted U-shaped” relationship. The industrial co-agglomeration in regions with a low level of co-agglomeration plays an important role in expediting regional innovation efficiency than that in high-level areas of co-agglomeration. Moreover, it is confirmed that the prefecture-level cities of the three urban agglomerations have low innovation efficiency types and low collaborative agglomeration types. Yangtze and Pearl river delta urban agglomeration can promote innovation efficiency through industrial co-agglomeration. While for the industrial co-agglomeration of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, the urban agglomeration has not become the main way to promote innovation efficiency. The regression results of different industry collaborative agglomeration found that the co-agglomeration of information transmission, computer services, software industries, and the high-tech manufacturing industry plays a significant role to improve innovation efficiency. Moreover, the co-agglomeration of the transportation service industry and high-tech manufacturing industry plays a relatively weak role in regional innovation efficiency. Therefore, it is suggested to formulate more adaptive and heterogeneous market policies. The paper provides an important idea for improving innovation efficiency by optimizing industrial spatial layout.

A nexus of social capital-based financing and farmers' scale operation, and its environmental impact

Abstract: The study constructs a theoretical model of social capital, farm household financing, and scale operation and their environmental effects, and conducts an empirical test based on data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) which is conducted in 2018 using causal mediation analysis. The results showed that farmers who spent more on human interaction have a higher probability of choosing scale operation by renting land, the mechanism of which is that the social capital accumulated by farmers based on human interaction facilitates their access to formal and informal financing, which in turn alleviates the financing constraint of scale operation. In addition, we found that the farmers with low education were more dependent on social capital to obtain informal financing to achieve scale operation. The environmental effects of scale operation found that the farmers significantly reduced the proportion of fertilizer and pesticide use, which could effectively mitigate possible pollution problems caused by excessive fertilizer and pesticide use. These findings confirm that social capital can alleviate the financing constraints of farmers to expand their operation scale through formal and informal financing, which in turn has a positive environmental effect.