CO2, Environmental Emergencies, and Industrial Pollution Assessment in China from the Perspective of the Circular Economy

The rise of energy consumption has also increased emissions of the “three wastes” (wastewater, waste gas, and industrial solid waste), and environmental emergencies caused by pollutants, natural disasters, and production safety accidents have aroused social concerns. As few scholars have combined treatment efficiency of the three wastes with environmental emergencies to explore their relationships, this research thus uses a two-stage undesirable Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method to explore the situations of 4 regions and 30 provinces in China from 2013 to 2017 based on such interactive perspectives. The study finds that the overall regional environmental efficiency in China is generally low, and in terms of regional differences, the eastern and northeastern regions are better than the central and western regions. The efficiency values of the three wastes in China have also fluctuated greatly from 0.7 down to 0.2 in recent years. The efficiency of environmental emergencies in China is greatly impacted by the efficiency of environmental governance inputs. Based on the results, the study proposes that the eastern provinces can be an example for promoting balanced regional development and offers policy recommendations such as taking precautions against environmental emergencies.

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Continued discussion on conventional versus Islamic banks: combining financial ratios and efficiency

Banks and Bank Systems ◽

10.21511/bbs.15(1).2020.13 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 132-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mohammad Imdadul Haque ◽

Mohammad Rumzi Tausif ◽

Anis Ali

Keyword(s):

Financial Ratios ◽

Data Envelopment ◽

Policy Recommendations ◽

Islamic Banks ◽

Net Income ◽

Return On Assets ◽

Return On Equity ◽

Using Data ◽

Conventional Banks ◽

Better Than

Two different types of banking systems, Islamic and conventional, dominate the banking structure in Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing debate as to which of the two is better. Using data for the period 2014–2018, the study compares Islamic and conventional banks. It combines traditional financial ratios, Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE), with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to perform a comprehensive analysis. In terms of ROA, the performance of conventional banks is better than that of Islamic banks, but in terms of ROE, vice versa. DEA results show that conventional banks are more efficient than Islamic banks. In fact, in terms of ROA and ROE, Al Rajhi Bank, an Islamic bank, is the best performer. But in terms of efficiency scores from DEA, Al Rajhi ranks seventh among all banks, while NCB, a conventional bank, ranks first. Issuing shares and utilizing funds in profitable options, such as loans and advances to increase net income, are the policy recommendations for Islamic banks to further improve. In addition, as the study finds no correlation between the ratio and efficiency scores, it proposes to use a combined measure of ratio analysis and efficiency analysis for a comprehensive assessment of bank performance.

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Comprehensive Measurement and Regional Imbalance of China’s Green Development Performance

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031409 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1409

Author(s):

Shengyun Wang ◽

Yaxin Zhang ◽

Huwei Wen

Keyword(s):

Development Strategy ◽

Regional Differences ◽

Environmental Governance ◽

Primary Source ◽

Scientific Basis ◽

Coordinated Development ◽

Green Development ◽

Southwest Region ◽

Development Levels ◽

Regional Imbalance

This study adopted the two-stage super-efficiency network slack-based model (SBM) to measure the green development performance index (GDPI) of 30 provinces in China. The Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition was used to analyze the regional differences and their sources in China’s green development performance. The results are as follows: first, the green development performance showed a declining trend from 1997 to 2017. The improvement of environmental governance efficiency was the key to achieving green development progress. The green development levels of coastal areas were significantly higher than those of inland provinces. Second, the regional imbalance in China’s green development performance was gradually worsening. The inter-regional differences were the primary source of the overall differences. The intra-regional difference of green development within the northwest was the largest. Third, among the eight regions, only the southwest region had σ convergence in green development performance; in addition, absolute β convergence and conditional β convergence were divergent, thereby confirming the regional imbalance of the widening regional differences in China’s green development performance. This study aimed to provide a scientific basis and effective reference for further advancing China’s regional coordinated development strategy.

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Contesting the greening of the urban growth machine: Ecological modernization and the promethean counter-discourse

Environment and Planning E Nature and Space ◽

10.1177/2514848620952326 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 251484862095232

Author(s):

Emiliano Scanu ◽

Geneviève Cloutier ◽

Catherine Trudelle

Keyword(s):

Urban Sprawl ◽

Urban Growth ◽

Environmental Governance ◽

Ecological Modernization ◽

Quebec City ◽

Sustainable Mobility ◽

Transit System ◽

Growth Machine ◽

Better Than

Urban environmental governance and planning are increasingly characterized by the adoption of “sustainability fixes,” namely political compromises which try to conciliate economic and ecological goals in order to safeguard long-term growth. If sustainability fixes have been harshly criticized for being sociospatially selective, resistance to them does not always come from radical groups who demand stronger and fairer measures, but from actors who oppose the idea of sustainability because it goes against their interests, habits, or values. This paper focuses on this “contestation of the greening of the urban growth machine,” by presenting an empirical study of a sustainable mobility policy in Quebec City, Canada, which has given rise to a controversy opposing two divergent perspectives. The first is an ecological modernization discourse advocating for a green and attractive public transit system. The second is a promethean counter-discourse which supports the unconditional growth of automobility and urban sprawl. Results show that even if urban environmental policies are increasingly attuned to the “growth first” logic, they could still face strong opposition, especially from suburban and conservative interests. More generally, this paper shows that, in some contexts, sustainability fixes could be a “better than nothing” solution, namely a step toward fairer and greener cities.

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Estimating Capacity Utilization of Chinese State Farms

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11184894 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (18) ◽

pp. 4894 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zhuo-wan Liu ◽

Tomas Balezentis ◽

Yao-yao Song ◽

Guo-liang Yang

Keyword(s):

Regional Differences ◽

Capacity Utilization ◽

Agricultural System ◽

Data Envelopment ◽

Analysis Method ◽

State Farm ◽

Method Performance ◽

The World ◽

Farm System ◽

Populous Country

As the most populous country in the world, China has one of the largest agricultural systems in the world, which plays an important role in ensuring China’s food security. The state farms comprise an integral part of China’s agricultural system. However, there have been few studies evaluating the efficiency and capacity utilization of China’s state farms. In this paper, we estimate the efficiency and capacity utilization of state farms across 27 Chinese regions by applying the data envelopment analysis method. Performance of the overall state farm system and its three sub-industries is taken into consideration simultaneously. Over the period of 2013–2017, the technical efficiency fluctuated in between 0.74 and 0.84, whereas the capacity utilization fluctuated around 0.85. The regional differences were observed. The regional differences were also observed.

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The Drivers of Corporate Climate Change Strategies and Public Policy

Business & Society ◽

10.1177/0007650315578450 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 56 (4) ◽

pp. 545-575 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Charles A. Backman ◽

Alain Verbeke ◽

Robert A. Schulz

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Public Policy ◽

Information Management ◽

North American ◽

Climate Change Impact ◽

Change Strategies ◽

Policy Recommendations ◽

Firm Level ◽

Change Impact ◽

Better Than

Effective public policy to mitigate climate change footprints should build on data-driven analysis of firm-level strategies. This article’s conceptual approach augments the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and identifies investments in four firm-level resource domains (Governance, Information management, Systems, and Technology [ GISTe]) to develop capabilities in climate change impact mitigation. The authors denote the resulting framework as the GISTe model, which frames their analysis and public policy recommendations. This research uses the 2008 Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) database, with high-quality information on firm-level climate change strategies for 552 companies from North America and Europe. In contrast to the widely accepted myth that European firms are performing better than North American ones, the authors find a different result. Many firms, whether European or North American, do not just “talk” about climate change impact mitigation, but actually do “walk the talk.” European firms appear to be better than their North American counterparts in “walk I,” denoting attention to governance, information management, and systems. But when it comes down to “walk II,” meaning actual Technology-related investments, North American firms’ performance is equal or superior to that of the European companies. The authors formulate public policy recommendations to accelerate firm-level, sector-level, and cluster-level implementation of climate change strategies.

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Generation of parthenogenetic goat blastocysts: effects of different activation methods and culture media

Zygote ◽

10.1017/s0967199413000580 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 327-335 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Hruda Nanda Malik ◽

Dinesh Kumar Singhal ◽

Shrabani Saugandhika ◽

Amit Dubey ◽

Ayan Mukherjee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Culture Media ◽

Combined Treatment ◽

Blastocyst Stage ◽

Developmental Competence ◽

Cleavage Rate ◽

Cell Stage ◽

Quantitative Expression ◽

Pattern Of Variation ◽

Better Than

SummaryThe present study was carried out to investigate the effects of different activation methods and culture media on the in vitro development of parthenogenetic goat blastocysts. Calcium (Ca2+) ionophore, ethanol or a combination of the two, used as activating reagents, and embryo development medium (EDM), modified Charles Rosenkrans (mCR2a) medium and research vitro cleave (RVCL) medium were used to evaluate the developmental competence of goat blastocysts. Quantitative expression of apoptosis, stress and developmental competence-related genes were analysed in different stages of embryos. In RVCL medium, the cleavage rate of Ca2+ ionophore-treated oocytes (79.61 ± 0.86) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than in ethanol (74.90 ± 1.51) or in the combination of both Ca2+ ionophore and ethanol. In mCR2a or EDM, hatched blastocyst production rate of Ca2+ ionophore-treated oocytes (8.33 ± 1.44) was significantly higher than in ethanol (6.46 ± 0.11) or in the combined treatment (6.70 ± 0.24). In ethanol, the cleavage, blastocyst and hatched blastocyst production rates in RVCL medium (74.90 ± 1.51, 18.30 ± 1.52 and 8.24 ± 0.15, respectively) were significantly higher than in EDM (67.81 ± 3.21, 14.59 ± 0.27 and 5.59 ± 0.42) or mCR2a medium (65.09 ± 1.57, 15.36 ± 0.52 and 6.46 ± 0.11). The expression of BAX, Oct-4 and GlUT1 transcripts increased gradually from 2-cell stage to blastocyst-stage embryos, whereas the transcript levels of Bcl-2 and MnSOD were significantly lower in blastocysts. In addition, different activation methods and culture media had little effect on the pattern of variation and relative abundance of the above genes in different stages of parthenogenetic activated goat embryos. In conclusion, Ca2+ ionophore as the activating agent, and RVCL as the culture medium are better than other tested options for development of parthenogenetic activated goat blastocysts.

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Regional differences in the effect of the combined treatment of WAY 100635 and fluoxetine: an in vivo microdialysis study

Naunyn-Schmiedeberg s Archives of Pharmacology ◽

10.1007/bf00166906 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 354 (6) ◽

pp. 785-790 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Isabelle Malagi� ◽

Anne-C�cile Trillat ◽

Elisabeth Douvier ◽

Marie-Claude Anmella ◽

Marie-Christine Dessalles ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Regional Differences ◽

Combined Treatment ◽

In Vivo Microdialysis ◽

Way 100635 ◽

Microdialysis Study

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Analisis Efisiensi pada Pra dan Pasca Initial Public Offering (IPO) Panin Dubai Syariah Bank

Al-Muzara ah ◽

10.29244/jam.8.1.17-37 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 17-37

Author(s):

Dina Wening Ati Dianti ◽

Irfan Syauqi Beik ◽

Ascarya

Keyword(s):

Technical Efficiency ◽

Initial Public Offering ◽

Information Disclosure ◽

Secondary Data ◽

Scale Efficiency ◽

Data Envelopment ◽

Descriptive Approach ◽

Quantitative Descriptive ◽

Public Offering ◽

Better Than

Panin Dubai Syariah Bank (PDSB) conducted an initial public offering (IPO) in January 2014 and was also registered as the first Islamic bank (IB) to conduct an IPO. With an IPO, PDSB is required to provide information disclosure and increase the company's competitive advantage. This study aims to determine 1) financial performance pre and post implementation of the PDSB IPO; 2) the efficiency of the pre and post implementation of the PDSB IPO compared to the IB BUKU 2. The study used a quantitative descriptive approach. The type of data used is secondary data in the form of annual report IB BUKU 2 2010-2017 and IB publication reports. Data were analyzed using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to measure efficiency as a concept for evaluating PDSB performance. The results showed (1) CAR pre IPO better than post IPO. BOPO, NPF and FDR there are no significant differences between pre IPO and post IPO (2) PDSB efficiency scores in 2010-2017 are always more efficient when compared to IB BUKU 2. There are significant differences in the parameters of technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency, and scale efficiency on pre-IPO, while post-IPO significant differences only in the efficiency of technical efficiency and scale efficiency.

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Comparative Study of α-Hemihydrate Preparation from Phosphogypsum Before and After Flotation Purification

10.21203/rs.3.rs-888156/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mingxia Du ◽

Jinming Wang ◽

Faqin Dong ◽

Zhaojia Wang ◽

Feihua Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Maleic Acid ◽

Average Length ◽

Impurity Content ◽

High Strength ◽

Industrial Solid Waste ◽

Aluminium Sulfate ◽

Before And After ◽

Flotation Method ◽

Different Doses ◽

Better Than

Abstract Phosphogypsum (PG) is a massive industrial solid waste. In this paper, PG was purified by flotation method, and α-hemihydrate gypsum (α-HH) was prepared by the autoclaving method. The morphology of α-HH was adjusted by adding different doses of Maleic acid and Aluminium sulfate. The results showed that after flotation purification, the impurity content in PG was significantly reduced, the soluble phosphorus content decreased from 0.48% to 0.07%, the PG purity increased from 73.12% to 94.37%, and the PG whiteness risen from 19.4 to 40.5. Then the performance of α-HH prepared from PG before and after purification was compared. Fixing the amount of Aluminium sulfate at 0.2wt%, the reaction temperature at 140°C, and the reaction time at 120min, the average length/diameter ratio of α-HH crystals decreased from 7.2 to 0.6 as the amount of Maleic acid increased from 0 to 0.17wt%. When the amount of Maleic acid was 0.13wt%, the α-hemihydrate gypsum reached the best mechanical properties. The mechanical strength of high strength gypsum prepared from PG concentrate was significantly better than that of raw PG, indicating that flotation purification can effectively improve the performance of PG. In this study, a new method of PG purification and resource utilization was proposed.

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Islamic Banks vs. Conventional Banks in Bangladesh: A Comparative Study Based on its Efficiency in Operation

International Journal of Islamic Banking and Finance Research ◽

10.46281/ijibfr.v4i1.535 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 29-37 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Faisal Ahmad

Keyword(s):

Data Envelopment Analysis ◽

Technical Progress ◽

Cost Efficiency ◽

Commercial Banks ◽

Productivity Index ◽

Data Envelopment ◽

Islamic Banks ◽

Factor Productivity ◽

Conventional Banks ◽

Better Than

The main purpose of this study is to make a comparison between Islamic banks (IBs) and Conventional banks (CBs) in Bangladesh based on its efficiency in operation. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is employed under CRS and VRS approach, which allows for the decomposition of efficiency into technical, allocated and cost efficiency. The study also measures changes in productivity over the time as a result of technical progress by employing the Malmquist Total Factor Productivity Index. The results explain that the technical efficiency of IBs is better than that of CBs, but allocated and cost efficiency (CE) of IBs are higher than CBs. In Bangladesh there are 62 commercial banks included 8 Islamic Banks that are regulated by Bangladesh Bank (BB).

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