The composite impact of ICT industry on lowering carbon intensity: From the perspective of regional heterogeneity

The balance between low carbon development and rapid economic growth is a ‘Gordian knot’ for most countries. This study aims to explore the practicable route of lowering carbon intensity with the expansion of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) industry in China. Using the provincial panel data from 2000 to 2017, the paper employs five indicators to empirically investigate the determinant mechanism of carbon intensity based on the refined Stochastic Impact by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) and spatial econometric models. The findings demonstrate that the ICT industry is the main force in adjusting carbon intensity. Despite constraint by the rebound effect, the net effect of the ICT industry shows a significant positive impact on lowering carbon intensity under the consideration of spatial dependence. Furthermore, compared with developed regions, the contribution of ICT on regional inequality of carbon intensity shows a higher share in developing regions. By applying the Oaxaca-Ransom counterfactual decomposition, the results reveal that there are substantial regional gaps between multi-comparable groups. The composite effect of informatization, industrialization, and urbanization accounts for the major share of the regional gap. Thus, policymakers should pay more attention to enhancing the ICT infrastructure in developing regions, boosting the ICT-related technology investment in specific sectors, coordinating regional cooperation, and balancing the migration of skilled workers.     

The effects of technological innovation on sustainable development and environmental degradation: Evidence from China

Despite the rapid progress of the global economy and technology's key role, severe environmental and ecological challenges must be given proper attention to advance sustainable development. This paper uses the autoregressive distributed lag method on 40 years of data to investigate the impact of technological innovation on China's sustainable development and determine the channels through which technological innovation contributes to sustainable development. Our empirical results demonstrate that technological innovation is an important driver in promoting sustainable development, revealing that innovation adds to economic growth without harmful effects on the environment. The results also indicate that financial development significantly adds to China's sustainable development through carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions reduction, and economic growth further triggers the sustainability process by reducing CO₂ emissions. The findings of this paper enhance existing theories and contribute to the progress of sustainable development in China, the novel results outlining industry development drivers could potentially be used for developing global innovation policies integration.     

The importance of cultural aspects in impact assessment and project development: reflections from a case study of a hydroelectric dam in Brazil

Abstract

Failure to consider the cultural and social factors of projects can lead to situations where mitigation does not effectively address the impacts they were intended to alleviate, and can even create other impacts. We critically analyse the processes of designing and implementing a social and environmental compensation program for the Lajeado Hydroelectric Dam in the Amazon region of central-northern Brazil. This mitigation program caused a wide range of social and environmental impacts on the Xerente Indigenous people, such as intra-group conflict, and changes in agricultural practices and food regime. Based on qualitative fieldwork and an extensive document analysis, we present a contextualization of the region, the project, the Xerente people, and their cosmological understandings. We consider the perspectives of a broad range of stakeholders about the compensation program and its outcomes, and demonstrate how traditional cultural practices and values played a role in the unfolding of the program. Better comprehension of sociocultural aspects through the use of ethnography, ongoing consultation, and meaningful community participation in the planning and implementation of mitigation measures are recommended.     

Enhanced Optoelectronic Performance of a Passivated Nanowire‐Based Device: Key Information from Real‐Space Imaging Using 4D Electron Microscopy

Managing trap states and understanding their role in ultrafast charge‐carrier dynamics, particularly at surface and interfaces, remains a major bottleneck preventing further advancements and commercial exploitation of nanowire (NW)‐based devices. A key challenge is to selectively map such ultrafast dynamical processes on the surfaces of NWs, a capability so far out of reach of time‐resolved laser techniques. Selective mapping of surface dynamics in real space and time can only be achieved by applying four‐dimensional scanning ultrafast electron microscopy (4D S‐UEM). Charge carrier dynamics are spatially and temporally visualized on the surface of InGaN NW arrays before and after surface passivation with octadecylthiol (ODT). The time‐resolved secondary electron images clearly demonstrate that carrier recombination on the NW surface is significantly slowed down after ODT treatment. This observation is fully supported by enhancement of the performance of the light emitting device. Direct observation of surface dynamics provides a profound understanding of the photophysical mechanisms on materials' surfaces and enables the formulation of effective surface trap state management strategies for the next generation of high‐performance NW‐based optoelectronic devices.     

Two-Way 4D Printing: A Review on the Reversibility of 3D-Printed Shape Memory Materials

The rapid development of additive manufacturing and advances in shape memory materials have fueled the progress of four-dimensional (4D) printing. With the right external stimulus, the need for human interaction, sensors, and batteries will be eliminated, and by using additive manufacturing, more complex devices and parts can be produced. With the current understanding of shape memory mechanisms and with improved design for additive manufacturing, reversibility in 4D printing has recently been proven to be feasible. Conventional one-way 4D printing requires human interaction in the programming (or shape-setting) phase, but reversible 4D printing, or two-way 4D printing, will fully eliminate the need for human interference, as the programming stage is replaced with another stimulus. This allows reversible 4D printed parts to be fully dependent on external stimuli; parts can also be potentially reused after every recovery, or even used in continuous cycles—an aspect that carries industrial appeal. This paper presents a review on the mechanisms of shape memory materials that have led to 4D printing, current findings regarding 4D printing in alloys and polymers, and their respective limitations. The reversibility of shape memory materials and their feasibility to be fabricated using three-dimensional (3D) printing are summarized and critically analyzed. For reversible 4D printing, the methods of 3D printing, mechanisms used for actuation, and strategies to achieve reversibility are also highlighted. Finally, prospective future research directions in reversible 4D printing are suggested.     

The effects of R&D subsidies and network embeddedness on R&D output: evidence from the German biotech industry

Although policy makers subsidize firms’ R&D projects to increase innovational output in an industry, region, or country, it remains unclear whether such subsidization triggers additional R&D efforts or crowds out private investments. To address this question, we assess the effectiveness of subsidization for individual and collaborative research in the German biotech industry while also examining the relevance of network embeddedness for patent output. Our results indicate that subsidies do lead to increased patent output, with additional benefits from involvement in more than one project. However, the amount of money is only significant under certain circumstances. Also, it is higher degree centrality in the firm network that significantly increases R&D success.     

The value of a statistical life in Sweden: Estimates from two studies using the “Certainty Approach” calibration

Stated preference methods using surveys to elicit willingness to pay have been shown to suffer from hypothetical bias and scope/scale bias. Hypothetical bias usually means that willingness to pay is exaggerated in the hypothetical scenario and scope/scale bias means that there is an insensitivity in willingness to pay with regard to the amount of goods or the size of a good being valued. Experimental results in social psychology and economics have shown that only trusting the most certain respondents can potentially solve the problem with hypothetical bias and scope/scale bias. This paper presents the results of two different surveys in Sweden estimating the willingness to pay to reduce traffic mortality risks by only including the most certain respondents. Using the full sample, estimates of the value of a statistical life (VOSL) are $4.2 and $7.3 million. Estimates of VOSL on the subset of the samples only including the most certain respondents are lower and consistent between the two surveys with values of $2.9 and $3.1 million.     

Role of information and communication technologies on the war against terrorism and on the development of tourism: Evidence from a panel of 28 countries

This study aims to examine the dynamic relationships among information and communication technologies (ICTs), international tourism, and terrorism in 28 countries from 1998 to 2016. Three weighted indices were constructed to gather the following factors: i) “war against terrorism” by military factors, ii) ICTs by different communication technologies, and iii) tourism demand by tourism factors. Results confirmed that the potential determinants of the war against terrorism include computer and communication services, secure Internet servers, per capita income, and trade openness. The key factors of ICT development are armed forces personnel, arms imports, military expenditures, per capita income, and trade openness, which can be effectively utilized for the war on terrorism across countries. Per capita income, trade, foreign direct investment inflows, and military expenditures substantially increased inbound tourism, whereas tourism demand increased computer and communication services, Internet users, and trade openness. Results also showed that armed forces personnel, arms imports, and growth-specific factors substantially increased tourism receipts, whereas high military expenditures decreased tourism income. These findings offer useful policy implications. One key conclusion drawn from this study is that ICTs play a potentially vital role in supporting the war against terrorism and the development of tourism across countries.     

A note on the divergence problem arising in calculation of Green’s function for a 2D piezoelectric thin film strip containing straight line defects and free boundaries: Fourier approach for bodies of unrestricted anisotropy

In this paper we derive a set of novel formulas for computation of the Green’s function and the coupled electro-elastic fields in a 2D piezoelectric strip with free boundaries and containing a distribution of straight line defects. The strip is assumed to be of unrestricted anisotropy, but allowing piezoelectricity, and in this sense situation is more general than in the available literature where only cubic symmetry was investigated. We employ a set of already known analytic formulas for the Fourier amplitude of the Green’s function and the corresponding electro-elastic fields. The key novelty of this paper is solution for the divergence problem occurring during integration of the Fourier amplitude. This problem is caused by poles at k = 0 in various matrix components of the amplitude. From purely mathematical point of view such poles lead to quantities which do not tend to zero at infinity, and this situation is clearly unphysical. To resolve this issue it is demonstrated by means of rigorous analysis that when some additional physical conditions are imposed, physical fields exhibit regular behavior at infinity - the poles do not contribute. Nevertheless, they lead to irremovable numerical ∞ − ∞ uncertainties spreading over the whole domain of integration. This motivates us to compute exact formulas for all these poles to enable engineering calculations involving the system in question.     

A note on the divergence problem arising in calculation of Green’s function for a 2D piezoelectric thin film strip with free boundaries and containing straight line defects: Fourier approach for bodies of cubic symmetry

Analytic formulas for the Green’s function and the coupled electro-elastic fields for a 2D piezoelectric strip with free boundaries and containing a distribution of straight line defects have already been found some years ago. These formulas exploit the well-known Stroh formalism and the Fourier approach, so the result is given as the Fourier integral and therefore its numerical implementation should pose no problem. However, in this note we show that for the case of cubic symmetry this form of the Green’s function contains strong divergences, excluding possibilities of direct application of well-known numerical schemes. It is also shown that these divergences translate to divergences of the corresponding electro-elastic fields of a single defect. By means of a rigorous analysis it is demonstrated that imposing physical conditions implied by the nature of the problem all of these divergences cancel and the final, physical result exhibits expected, regular behavior at infinity. Unfortunately, although the nature of this problem is purely mathematical, it leads to irremovable numerical ∞ − ∞ uncertainties which tend to spread over the whole Fourier domain and severely impede engineering applications of the Green’s function. This motivates us to compute the exact form of all divergent terms. These novel formulas will serve as a guide when establishing numerically stable algorithms for engineering computations involving the system in question.