The Effect of Renewable Energy Development, Market Regulation, and Technological Innovation on CO2 Emission in BRICS Countries

The relationship between energy, environment, and economic growth has been received a lot of attention recently among scientific studies, but environmental sustainability remains a global issue. Renewable energy production, technological advancement, and regulatory policy mechanisms can all help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support environmental sustainability. The purpose of this study was to look at the influence of renewable energy development, market regulation, and technological innovation on carbon emissions in the BRICS countries. Renewable energy development is measured by the contribution of renewables to the total primary energy supply. The market regulation represents the measure of environmental regulation policies that the state administrative department uses to manage or limit pollution. Technological innovation is measured by environment-related technologies. To examine the symmetric and asymmetric relationship between study variables, we used a second-generation panel unit root test, linear and nonlinear co-integration tests, and linear and nonlinear ARDL. Using a symmetric approach, we found that renewable energy development, technological innovation, and market-based environmental regulation policies had a considerable positive impact on lowering carbon emissions (CE). Furthermore, the combined effect of market regulation and renewable energy development, as well as market regulation and technology innovation on CE is negative and significant. In the asymmetric specification, we found that positive and negative shocks are not uniform but vary according to ascending and descending movement in the primary variables. In nonlinear specification, the long run effects are higher than the short run. The study suggests renewable energy development, technical innovation, and market-based regulation environmental policies are the main mechanisms to reduce carbon emission in BRICS countries.

Decentralising Data Collection and Centralising Information in the People’s Republic of China: Decentralise, Manage, and Service Reforms

Xi Jinping’s ascent to power as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was accompanied by changes in national governance strategies in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that have progressively incorporated the use of big data. Shortly after, in May 2015, the Chinese State Council released a set of policy reforms under the abbreviation fang guan fu 放管服 (decentralise, manage, and service). These reforms promoted big data led (1) market regulation, (2) supervision and management systems, and (3) service provision processes. By applying a case study analytical approach, this paper explores how advancements in big data contributed to these reforms aimed at centralising information in China. Combining the joint knowledge of surveillance and China studies scholarship, this paper offers evidence of big data surveillance streamlining China’s fragmented intergovernmental policy system. We build on David Murakami Wood’s 2017 outline of a political theory of surveillance and argue that decentralisation of data collection points and centralisation of both bureaucratic and public access to information are key components of the Party-state’s regulatory governance strategy incorporating the use of big data and comprehensive surveillance. Our findings have implications for future analyses of the relationship between political organisations and surveillance within other nation-state contexts, particularly in situations where Chinese technologies and systems are being adopted and adapted.

Human Rights in the Light of the Process of Financialisation

The article deals with the challenges resulting from financialisation, in which we observe an increasing impact of the financial sphere in man’s everyday life. It also considers the effect of this process on the functioning of societies and concludes that the process of creating and applying financial market law must be redefined and human rights issues taken into account. In addition to the activity of the UN and the European Union in promoting the concept of business and human rights, the experiences of recent years show that combining human rights with financial market regulation is possible. To achieve this, however, many actors must be involved and a specific understanding of human rights and values must be adopted, and their protection should constitute the core of the legislator’s activity.

Justification of the need to reform the labor market in the agro-industrial complex of the region

The purpose of this study was to develop and justify proposals for updating the processes of labor market regulation in the context of modern conditions. It has been proved that the modern labor market needs flexible government regulation. In addition, in the process of labor market regulating, it is necessary to consider the characteristics of a particular region, that is, to take into account the regional characteristics of the labor market. In the study of the labor market, special emphasis is placed on the trends in the development of the labor market in the agro-industrial complex, the primary range of problems that hinder the development of competition among the subjects of the labor market in the agro-industrial complex is outlined. The significance is that the approaches to labor market segmentation considered in this research study provide a comprehensive solution for its development under modern conditions.

Last trends on collective bargaining decentralization

Decentralisation of collective bargaining has been one of the key trends concerning labour market regulation of the last decades. Most of European countries have developed – with different breath and scope – procedures and reforms to strengthen the company level of bargaining. The Great Recession has stressed this orientation, particularly in those countries which were under financial pressure. This paper focuses on the cases of four Mediterranean countries – France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal – in order to assess how decentralisation has been carried out and, most importantly, what kind of practical results have been achieved. On the base of these outcomes, it highlights how the debate concerning the structure ofcollective bargaining is changing from a black or white perspective to a new one in which mixed models are possible if the whole system is coordinated, taking into consideration the type of collective bargaining model set in the country.

Introduction to Special Issue: Brand Equity, Satisfaction, and Word of Mouth

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated an incredible change in the global economy that will likely have long-term consequences on consumer behavior, markets, business models, market regulation, and public policies, among others [...]

Platform Revenue Strategy Selection Considering Consumer Group Data Privacy Regulation

In the era of big data, consumer group privacy has become an important source of revenue for the digital platform. Considering the situation that the platform collects consumer group data privacy to generate business revenue, we explore how the service matching level and commission rate affect the platform revenue, social welfare, and seller benefits. Based on the theory of group privacy, the three-party equilibrium evolution is solved by constructing a sequential game model including platform, seller, and consumer alliance. It is found that when the service matching level of the platform is greater than the threshold value, there are two main situations: on the one hand, if using the data privacy of a consumer group is subject to market regulation, the platform will set a high commission rate and service matching level in order to maximize profit. However, social welfare and seller’s business benefit both reach a minimum in this case, and the three-party game cannot attain equilibrium. On the other hand, when the market governor relaxes the platform’s regulation on the use of consumer group privacy data and data revenue efficiency is high enough, the platform can maximize the revenue by increasing the service matching level and reducing the commission rate. The optimal commission rate depends on the data revenue efficiency of the platform. Moreover, when the platform sets the highest commission rate and the service matching level is at a medium level, a stable partial equilibrium among the three-party will be achieved. These conclusions can give some insights into platform’s business model choice decision.

The Rise of the State: Broadband Policy in New Zealand 2000-2011

<p>Between 2000 and 2011, changes in government policy significantly increased the role of the state in telecommunications markets in New Zealand. In both regulatory and investment activities, the historic approach of liberal market regulation was transformed into active intervention. This changed approach aimed at speeding access to high-speed broadband services. There was a remarkable lack of political debate between the major political parties as to the objective being sought, or direction of policy towards greater intervention in order to achieve it. This research outlines in broad terms the background to the debates underpinning policy change, and the history of New Zealand’s approach. It outlines in detail the key policy changes made. In the regulatory domain, four key changes are discussed. These are: the implementation of sector-specific legislation (Telecommunications Act 2001); the decision not to unbundle the copper local loop (2004); amendments to the Telecommunications Act strengthening the regulator and imposing ‘operational separation’ of Telecom (2006); and the ‘structural separation’ of Telecom and the debate on regulatory forbearance (2011). By the end of the case period, these changes meant that generic competition law had been replaced by sector-specific legislation, a specialist regulator with broad powers to monitor and regulate the industry, and a leading solution to discrimination issues with the complete ownership separation of network and services in copper and fibre-optic telecommunications networks. In the investment domain, five key stages are discussed. These are: Project PROBE (2001-4), the Broadband Challenge (2005), the Broadband Investment Fund (2008), the Ultra-Fast Broadband Initiative (2009) and the Rural Broadband Initiative (2009). Together these saw public spending on telecommunications infrastructure rise from nothing in 2000, to a combined package in the two final (and current) initiatives of around $1.6bn of public funds. This money combines with private investment to deliver fibre-optic broadband infrastructure to three-quarters of homes, and significant improvements to the availability of higher-speed broadband in rural and remote parts of New Zealand. Increasing levels of government intervention in these markets was an opportunity for considerable political contest. Instead the case period 2000-2011 is characterised by similarities rather than differences between National and Labour. The thesis suggests that an explanation for this similarity arose from the perceived importance of high-speed broadband infrastructure for New Zealand’s economic prospects, and a shared analysis by Labour and National that market provision would not suffice. This imperative defeated temptations to politicise the project.</p>