Electricity price volatility in developing economies, particularly Nigeria, presents a significant challenge to sustainable development. In this paper, we examine the macroeconomic drivers of electricity prices (ELP) in Nigeria based on annual data spanning 1980-2022 and the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) procedure. Our model estimates the long-run and short-run impacts of population growth (PG), economic growth (GDP), crude oil price (COPR), and electricity consumption (ELC) on electricity prices (ELP). The empirical findings reveal a positive and long-run effect of PG on ELP, indicating that rising demand from a growing population increases electricity prices. In the short-run, ELC surprisingly co-moved with ELP, which may be attributable to price-sensitive demand within specific consumer segments or periods. Furthermore, GDP and COPR exert positive effects on ELP, indicating that economic growth drives energy consumption and prices, and the cost-driven impact of fossil fuel dependence in electricity generation. These findings shed light on the complex interplay of demographic, economic, and energy market-related forces driving electricity prices in Nigeria. Therefore, the paper proposes some policy suggestions based on the empirical findings.

The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on economies everywhere, affecting everything from supply chain networks to international trade as a direct result of the increased vulnerability of more nations and the disruption of the activities of key traders. This research study examines how COVID-19 affected the supply chain on a worldwide and regional scale, as well as the systemic policy and economic steps governments and businesses took to rebound and maintain resilience. COVID-19 has had a significant influence, prompting governments and businesses to take steps to fortify their operations and businesses against disruptions, highlight the necessity for resilience in supply chains and emphasize the importance of managing risk. The supply value chain is at risk from the prolonged implementation of COVID-19 trade measures like border closure, export restrictions, and import sanctions. Many businesses are transitioning from a "recovery mode" to a resilient and sustainable mode" and are beginning to plan for the future. The study suggests that corporate and government leaders should prioritize proactive and adaptable policy, economic, and structural adjustment. This research will be useful to policymakers and industry leaders in their efforts to lessen the effect of COVID-19 on the global supply chain by enforcing governmental, economic, and business reforms built on resilient supply chains and mitigating economic risks during tough times.

Human factor inputs are key to promoting agricultural modernisation. Traditional economic theory suggests that improving human capital is the key to boosting agricultural productivity, but can this conclusion hold in China's dualistic economic structure? We use Chinese provincial panel data from 2000-2017 to examine the impact of rural human capital inputs on agricultural total factor productivity. We find that, on the whole, rural human capital inputs have a negative effect on agricultural total factor productivity, and that there is a "rural human capital trap". Mechanism analysis reveals that rural human capital inputs, on the one hand, cause labour loss and reduce the quality of agricultural workers, while on the other hand, they may promote the application of mechanization, which has both positive and negative effects on agricultural total factor productivity. Heterogeneity analysis finds that this negative effect is more pronounced in the central region of China because of the serious loss of rural labour. This study provides new policy insights for further improving the structure of rural education inputs and promoting human capital accumulation in agriculture.

Carbon emissions trading is an important part of emission reduction policy tools, and manufacturing is the foundation of a strong country. This paper explores the impact of carbon emissions trading pilot on the high-quality development of manufacturing industry by using the double difference method. It is found that carbon emissions trading can significantly promote the high-quality development of manufacturing industry, in which the government's will of ecological environment governance, technological progress and industrial structure rationalization have significant intermediary effects. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of carbon emissions trading on the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry is most significant in the western region. Accordingly, the study proposes suggestions on how to further improve China's carbon emissions trading market and realize the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.

In reality firms most often face negatively sloped demand curves. Then, for a given level of consumers’ surplus, levies on prices yield higher fiscal revenues than specific duties. Therefore, according to the prevailing view, the switch from unit to ad valorem taxation is supposed to generate more welfare; some even speak of an associated Pareto-improvement. However, this is not true because taxing prices merely transfers profits to the Treasury, while total rent remains unaffected. Since excise duties diminish the welfare gain in comparison with untaxed trade, an appropriately designed income tax allows all parties to benefit. Sales should be taxed only exceptionally.

Based on the empirical data of 6110 listed export companies in China from 2010 to 2019, this paper studies the impact of China's economic policy uncertainty (EPU) index on the profitability of listed companies from the specific perspective of export companies, and analyzes the moderating effects of different factors on this impact. The results show that China's EPU index has a significant negative impact on the profitability of listed export companies, and the increase in R&D investment and wage returns will aggravate this negative impact. In addition, listed export enterprises with different enterprise characteristics have different responses to EPU. State-owned enterprises and enterprises located in coastal areas are relatively less negatively affected by EPU.

Green innovation, driven by China's new development concept, plays a crucial role in high-quality economic development. In line with the green development trend, businesses increasingly prioritize whether their corporate environmental responsibilities (CER) can effectively enhance corporate green innovation (CGI) levels. This paper examines the influence and mechanism of CER on CGI using a dynamic perspective, drawing from 1,640 manually-collected panel data of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies between 2010 and 2017. The primary findings indicate that the impact of CER on CGI possesses phase-specific characteristics and a dual effect of "crowding in" and "crowding out." The current phase of CER negatively affects green innovation, while the lag phase has a positive effect. CER's impact on various CGI types is heterogeneous: specifically, it follows an "inverted-N" trajectory (inhibition-promotion-inhibition) for "strategic green innovation" and has a promotional effect on "substantive green innovation," which is stronger and has a longer time lag. The mechanism analysis reveals that financing constraints play a critical mediating role. A heterogeneity analysis based on multiple dimensions (ownership, industry, and location) suggests that CER has a more significant driving force for CGI among state-owned firms, high-polluting industries, and enterprises in inland areas. Finally, the paper presents corresponding suggestions for government and corporate entities.

By introducing time to build, which creates a time-lag between government investment and the accumulation of productive capital, into an analysis of fiscal stimulus to the economy with financial frictions, we find that the effectiveness of fiscal policy is dampened. While the weakening effects of time to build become significantly weaker alongside with a higher fraction of government bonds allocated to leverage-constrained banks, which can be explained by a high correlation between time to build and financial frictions in both worsening balance sheet conditions of banks. Furthermore, the stimulus effects of public investment become stronger associated with shorter time-to-build period.

The No.1 document of the Central Government of China has been on the theme of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" for nearly ten years, placing the solution of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" at the forefront of the Chinese government's work. Located in the Central Plains, Henan Province in China is one of the major agricultural provinces in China and plays an extremely important role in the field of agricultural production in China. This paper uses an empirical approach and the DEA-Malquist model to study the efficiency of rural public financial inputs to rural revitalisation in Henan Province. The results show that due to different levels of regional economic development, the efficiency of rural public finance investment in Henan Province in promoting rural revitalisation varies, and there is a phenomenon of unreasonable allocation of funds. At the same time, the region's agricultural base also has a greater impact on the efficiency of financial investment. Therefore, Henan Province should adjust measures according to the different regional economic levels and agricultural bases to improve the efficiency of the use of fiscal funds.

The relation between fund flows and returns in the Australian ETF industry is assessed in this study. Daily data from 43 equity ETFs over the period 2019-2023 are used. The main research objective is to accentuate whether past returns can predict future fund flows and in what way and vice versa. According to the results of the applied regression analysis, past flows and past returns can predict to some extent concurrent flows. This is also the case about concurrent returns. However, in both cases, the results are not unanimous and depend on the specification of the applied regression model.

Occupying a preeminent position as the globe’s most extensive economic corridor, the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) serves as a crucial aquifer for 800 million individuals and harbors almost 50% of the country's paramount water-intensive contaminant producers. The ecological efficiency of these producers within the belt has increasingly come under scholarly scrutiny. Leveraging data from 2004-2012 encompassing 725 such manufacturers and employing the DEA-Malmquist index methodology, this research delineates the eco-efficiency trajectories of these water-centric pollutant producers, shedding light on their spatial-temporal dynamics across the expansive Yangtze Economic Belt. The results are as follows: (1) there’s a discernible enhancement in the eco-efficiency (ML) of these manufacturers situated within the YREB, predominantly propelled by technological change (TC) and shifts in technical efficiency change (TEC); (2) From a spatial perspective, notable disparities emerge in both technological change (TC) and technical efficiency change (TEC) among the belt’s upper, middle, and lower tiers. Intriguingly, the hierarchy for TC and TEC descends as follows: Lower > Upper > Middle; (3) Examining the spatial evolution nuances, 2004 witnessed eco-efficiency distributions ranking from Upper > Middle > Lower. Fast forward to 2012, a marked reconfiguration appears with a distribution pattern of Middle > Lower > Upper.

As the underlying institutional design for enterprise risk management, it is important to study whether and how internal control affects enterprise technological innovation in the current context of increased economic policy uncertainty. Based on the principal-agent theory and information asymmetry theory, this paper explores the impact of internal control on corporate technological innovation using the listed company data from 2009-2019 CSMAR database, and obtains the following research conclusions: (1) the quality of internal control positively affects the corporate technological innovation. (2) The operational risk plays an intermediary role in the relationship between the internal control affecting the corporate technological innovation. (3) The degree of market competition positively moderates the impact of internal control on enterprise technological innovation. (4) Relative to non-stateowned enterprises and non-high-tech enterprises, the quality of internal control of state-owned enterprises and high-tech enterprises has a more significant impact on enterprise technological innovation. This paper enriches the consequences of the study of internal control on the one hand, and on the other hand, it provides a new perspective for improving technological innovation, and it provides certain guidance for further improving the level of corporate governance.

Based on the provincial panel data of China from 2011 to 2019 for a total of 9 years, this paper uses the entropy method to construct a comprehensive measure of the digital economy and common prosperity. We theoretically analyzed the impact mechanism of the digital economy on common prosperity using the econometric model. The study found that the digital economy can significantly promote the realization of common prosperity. The digital economy has a significant impact on the development and sustainability of common prosperity. The results of the impact mechanism show that the digital economy promotes common prosperity by increasing entrepreneurial activity. Heterogeneity research shows that the role of digital economy in promoting common prosperity changes with different regions. Specifically, the digital economy in the central and western regions can significantly promote the realization of common prosperity, but this impact is not significant in the eastern region. From the regression results of the digital economy, we can see that industrial digitalization and digital infrastructure play a greater role in promoting common prosperity. Economic openness affects the promotion of digital economy to common prosperity. The conclusion of this work provides an important research reference for the development of digital economy and the realization of common prosperity.

On the basis of the background of the global green development wave, this paper studies the mechanism between ecological value transformation and urban-rural common prosperity as well as selects 24 data indicators in relation to ecological value transformation, i.e., green development level from 2008 to 2017, calculate the comprehensive score of China's green development level by entropy method, measures the gap between the rich and the poor between urban and rural areas by urban-rural income ratio, and using correlation analysis, she examines the relationship between green development level and the urban-rural income ratio. Moreover, through empirical analysis, there is a significant negative correlation between the level of green development and the ratio of urban to rural income, according to the findings. The improvement of the level of green development will assist narrow the income gap between urban and rural residents as well as achieve common prosperity.

The digital economy based on digital technology is an important force for high-quality economic growth and industrial transformation, and has great potential for value creation. Based on the data of 30 provinces in China from 2007 to 2017, this paper uses entropy method to calculate the industrial green transformation (IGT), and empirically analyzes the impact of Digital economy on IGT. The DE can significantly reduce IGT of local and neighboring areas after excluding the influence of macro system factors and replacing the spatial weight matrix. The DE can indirectly reduce the IGT by accelerating the accumulation of human capital, and green technology innovation. The impact of digital economy on IGT is a non-linear relationship. With the further improvement of environmental regulation, financial development and intellectual property protection, the role of digital economy in IGT is more obvious. To this end, it is necessary to speed up the construction and improvement of digital infrastructure, build an integrated layout of "digital infrastructure", give full play to the radiating role of the digital economy, and implement differentiated development paths based on regional comparative advantages.

This paper explores how the medical expenditure risk affects the households’ portfolio choice across health status theoretically in a life cycle model and empirically using machine learning methods. Medical expenditure risk, as a background risk, has the potential to influence households’ financial decisions. A higher medical expenditure risk leads to a larger fluctuation and more uncertainty in households’ consumption and therefore utility. As a result, risk-free assets become more attractive. Our machine learning analysis provides evidence that aligns with the predictions of the theoretical life cycle model. Specifically, households with better health hold a larger proportion of stocks in their portfolios. Furthermore, when facing increased medical expenditure risk, households in good health demonstrate a greater willingness to invest in safe assets.

Access to electricity, a fundamental element of contemporary life, is essential for economic success. Its impact extends to the fundamental foundations of industrial development and has the power to improve a wide range of industries, including healthcare, transportation, utilities, and education. This article aims to analyse the effect of electricity access on primary education in Central Africa over the period 1997-2019. To this effect, we employ data mainly from the World Development indicator on 9 countries of Central Africa. Using the pooled ordinary least squares estimation technique, the results indicate that access to electricity contributes positively and significantly to primary educational attainment in Central Africa during the study period. The results are Robust to the use of alternative estimation strategy and eventual endogeneity problems in the results are account through the two stage least square estimation techniques which confirm our baseline results as well as the nature of the relationship between access to electricity and primary education in Central Africa. These results have important implications for policies in overcoming barriers to electricity access.

Based on fully considering the actual differences in statistical indicators between Hong Kong, Macao, and the nine cities in the Pearl River Delta, this paper constructs a high-quality urban development evaluation system that is suitable for the actual development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The Entropy Weighted TOPSIS two-step method is used to process data and systematically investigate the changes in the high-quality development index of 11 cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area from 2013 to 2020. The study found that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has thoroughly implemented the new development concept, and the level of high-quality development has continued to improve. The profound integration effect of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has appeared, and it has promoted the high-quality development of the region in coordination. The construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has strongly promoted the great practice of "one country, two systems" to achieve stability and prosperity.

Numerous studies have explored the impact of family planning policies on income distribution, but the impact of policy relaxation remains largely unexplored. To address this gap, we investigate the effects of China's selective two-child policy, which was implemented in 2013, using provincial panel data from 2011 to 2016. Specifically, we employ a generalized difference-in-differences model to empirically analyze the impact and mechanism of the policy relaxation on residents' income distribution. Our findings are as follows. Firstly, the selective two-child policy has narrowed the income distribution gap. Secondly, male labor force participation, the urban-rural income gap, and disposable income serve as mechanisms through which the selective two-child policy affects income distribution. Thirdly, the robustness test confirms the robustness of our conclusions. Finally, we observe regional heterogeneity in the impact of the selective two-child policy on residents' income distribution. Specifically, the policy has had significant effects in the western and northeastern regions, but not in other regions. Overall, our results shed light on the impact of childbearing policies on income distribution, providing important insights for optimizing China's childbearing policies and promoting common prosperity.

Understanding how academia and industry operate and relate to each other is core to improving the efficiency of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Reason why, this paper focuses on whether university prestige has a homogeneous effect on university entrepreneurship. Specifically, whether the relationship between academic prestige and entrepreneurship varies according to the nature of the firm, digital or not, or according to the size of the entrepreneurial partner. To answer this question, this paper uses a negative binomial regression model with panel data with respect to the number of intellectual property (IP) licences granted by the university, using mainly data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. The results suggest that although university prestige affects the number of IP licences granted, its effect ceases to be significant when the nature of the licences is digital. Moreover, we cannot claim that the influence of prestige is greater when the licencee is a small company.