Transport electrification depends on sustained innovation in the new energy vehicle industry, yet geopolitical instability can weaken the conditions under which firms invest in and commercialize new technologies. Using a 2012-2024 panel of Chinese listed firms in the new energy vehicle value chain, this study constructs a market-implied firm-level measure of geopolitical risk exposure from rolling asset-pricing regressions and examines its relationship with technological innovation. Higher exposure is associated with lower patent output, and the relationship remains robust across alternative measures, specifications, and sample definitions. Additional analyses identify two firm responses to geopolitical stress: greater concentration of supply-chain relationships and higher precautionary cash retention. The negative association is more pronounced for firms with greater structural vulnerability and weaker financial or organizational buffers. These findings suggest that policies for transport electrification should complement demand-side support with measures that preserve innovation finance, diversify access to critical inputs, and strengthen supply-chain resilience under external shocks.

Against the backdrop of the global energy transition, rising trade protectionism poses challenges for renewable energy supply chains. Although anti-dumping and countervailing (ADCV) measures primarily target PV modules, their spillover effects on upstream components such as photovoltaic glass remain underexplored. Using bilateral trade panel data from 2007 to 2020 and a multi-period difference-in-differences model, this study evaluates the export spillover impact of ADCV. Results show that: (1) ADCV significantly suppress China's PV glass exports, indicating upstream negative spillovers; (2) downstream demand contraction, supply chain interdependence, and overlapping export markets are key transmission channels; (3) PV glass exports were partially redirected to resource-rich and emerging markets, but the magnitude of this shift was smaller than that of targeted products; (4) ADCV also negatively impact other non-target products in the PV supply chain, including aluminum frames, EVA films, mounting structures, and inverters. These findings illustrate how trade barriers disrupt renewable energy supply chains and provide insights for strengthening supply chain coordination and resilience.

Hydropower development could strengthen domestic water management while generating substantial clean, renewable electricity. However, developing economies often struggle to sustainably support the high costs and extended timelines of hydropower projects. Cross-border financing and cooperation break down technological and financial barriers, serving as crucial channels to address hydropower development challenges and achieve equitable global energy transition-yet systematic causal evidence on these mechanisms remains limited. This study leverages the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a large-scale natural experiment in international cooperation and employs panel data from 121 countries spanning the period 2000-2022 to estimate its effect on renewable hydropower generation. A multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) framework is used and robustness is tested using the Callaway-Sant'Anna DID (CSDID), placebo tests, and supplementary validations. The results reveal that: (1) BRI participating countries experienced a 15.2% increase in hydropower generation compared to non-participants, and the BRI accounts for roughly 16.3% of the hydropower growth along the initiative's routes. (2) BRI hydropower projects are associated with an approximate 3.3% reduction in carbon emissions. (3) The BRI promotes hydropower development through technology and scale effects. (4) The BRI's impact varies nonlinearly with economic development, with the strongest hydropower effects in middle-income economies. It is also more effective in countries with high industrialization, less renewable energy and early membership. These findings offer empirical support and policy insights for strengthening BRI energy partnerships and cross-border hydropower cooperation, with significant implications for a cleaner, more equitable global energy transition.

The orderly synergistic division among upstream and downstream entities in the industrial chain is a significant reflection of the industrial chain structure optimization and a key method for enhancing production efficiency. Utilizing the non-competitive input-output tables of China from 2002 to 2020, this paper employed structural path analysis to construct an industrial synergistic division (ISD) index, and explored the impact of ISD on the total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) of the industrial chain using econometric models. The study found that: (1) With the continuous deepening of production division, the proportion of high-layer industrial chains has steadily increased, involving more sectors in the production division, thereby enhancing the ISD capability. (2) The enhancement of ISD capabilities can significantly improve the TFEE. The results remain robust after a series of endogeneity tests. (3) The positive effect of ISD on TFEE is more pronounced in high- layer and non-high-energy-consuming industrial chains. Additionally, the digital and intelligent transformation plays a positive moderating role in this impact. The conclusions of this study offer significant policy implications for countries formulating strategies to optimize industrial chain structures and enhance energy utilization efficiency.JEL Classification: F12, Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation

With accelerating industrial and energy transitions, promoting cooperation among enterprises within the renewable energy supply chain is crucial for mitigating supply chain risks and enhancing productivity. However, existing studies offered limited evidence on its productivity implications, leaving a critical gap in understanding how synergistic supply chain relationships support renewable energy development. Using data from China's listed renewable energy firms from 2014 to 2023, this paper constructs a Two-Way Fixed-Effects model to investigate how participation in supply chain alliances affects total factor productivity and explores the underlying mechanisms. The findings reveal that: (1) Engaging in supply chain alliances improves the productivity performance of renewable energy companies. It suggests that renewable energy firms that participate in supply chain alliances increase productivity by 9.6 %. This conclusion remains valid after endogeneity analysis and robustness tests. (2) Supply chain alliances can increase productivity by improving the supply chain efficiency and facilitating technological efforts. (3) Renewable energy firms with lower bargaining power and a more optimized human capital structure are more likely to achieve productivity improvement in the supply chain partnerships. (4) Both upstream and downstream partnerships exert significant positive effects. This paper enriches the research on supply chain management and strategic alliances, offering policy insights and empirical evidence to advance renewable energy transition and support high-quality industrial upgrading.

Industrial enterprises account for a substantial share of China's carbon emissions, largely driven by fossil fuel consumption. Although improving transportation infrastructure (TI) can help reduce logistics costs, not all enterprises can thereby enhance their energy efficiency. Based on the China Industrial Enterprise Database (CIED) from 1998 to 2012, this study uses the China's National Highway Project (NHP) as a natural experiment and employs a DID approach to examine the impact of road construction on enterprise energy efficiency (EE) in China. The estimates reveal a clear spatial pattern. Enterprises in peripheral cities situated closer to the highway experience an average EE loss of 9.3% relative to those farther away, which may be attributed to a siphoning effect. Furthermore, the negative impact is more pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises, firms in relatively less developed regions, and those in low energy-consuming industries. Mechanism analysis reveals that TI affects the EE of enterprises in non-central cities through agglomeration effects and energy structure adjustments. Based on these findings, this study recommends that, alongside advancing transportation network development, differentiated industrial and energy policies should be formulated for non-central cities to synergistically achieve the dual objectives of logistics optimization and EE improvement.

Green innovation is a key pathway through which enterprises address environmental management challenges. As an essential external financing channel for enterprises, there is still significant debate regarding how venture capital influences corporate green innovation decisions. Moreover, it remains unclear whether syndicated venture capital, as a distinct form of venture capital, can effectively drive green innovation. Using a dataset of 1425 companies in China from 2011 to 2022, our study investigated the impact of syndicated venture capital on green innovation and examined the moderating role of the urban innovation environment. The results show that, first, syndicated venture capital significantly enhances corporate green innovation. An increase of one unit in syndicated venture capital leads to a 4.23-unit improvement in the level of green innovation. It indirectly promotes green innovation by facilitating R D investment and alleviating financing constraints. Second, the urban innovation environment serves as a powerful catalyst. Specifically, regional R D subsidies and human capital levels amplify the positive effects of syndicated venture capital on green innovation. Moreover, the influence of syndicated venture capital on green innovation is particularly pronounced in large, state-owned enterprises. Further analysis reveals that syndicated venture capital also promotes the quality of green innovation and fosters green innovation collaboration.

The rapid expansion of the global new energy industry has intensified concerns regarding overcapacity. As sustainable finance evolves, green investors have become an important information intermediary and monitoring force shaping firms’ operational decisions. However, micro-level evidence on the link between green investors and firms’ capacity utilization remains limited. Using data of Chinese new energy firms from 2011 to 2023, this study investigates how green investor influences firms’ capacity utilization. The findings show that green investors enhance capacity utilization by fostering green technological innovation and enhancing managerial efficiency. Moreover, supply chain digitalization further amplifies the impact of green investors. This effect is more pronounced among non-state-owned firms facing tighter financing constraints and those located in regions characterized by lower climate policy uncertainty and in midwestern areas.

This study examines the dynamic connectedness structure between European Union Allowance (EUA) futures and agricultural commodity futures, with the aim of assessing how climate policy-related unintended economic impacts may be reflected across different agricultural sectors and market states. Rather than focusing on causal transmission, the analysis adopts a connectedness-based monitoring perspective, using futures markets as forward-looking indicators of evolving cost pressures and market sensitivities associated with climate policy implementation. Using daily data spanning all four trading phases of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) from 2007 to 2024, we document pronounced sectoral heterogeneity and state dependence in carbon-agriculture market linkages. Grain futures consistently exhibit directional dominance in their bilateral connectedness with EUA futures across market conditions, indicating strong structural resilience in staple food markets. In contrast, non-grain agricultural futures display greater heterogeneity, with their directional exposure to carbon market dynamics becoming more pronounced in later trading phases and under specific quantile conditions. These findings suggest that climate policy-related unintended economic impacts are unlikely to manifest uniformly across food systems, but may emerge more selectively along specific segments of the agricultural value chain and under particular market states. By highlighting where and when such sensitivities become more visible within market interactions, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the broader economic implications of climate policy implementation, while offering a policy-relevant diagnostic framework that complements traditional price- or outcome-based evaluations.

The legally binding international climate accord played a critical role in shaping global climate governance. This study evaluates its effectiveness in promoting clean energy transition using a panel difference-in-differences (DID) approach based on cross-national data. Results indicate that the Kyoto Protocol significantly increased the share of clean energy by approximately three percentage points in Annex B countries relative to non-Annex B nations. Robustness checks, including parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and propensity score matching DID, confirm the reliability of these findings. The Protocol influenced the adoption of clean energy through three key channels including adjustment of electricity generation structure, enhancement of energy efficiency, and substitution of fossil fuel. These findings highlight the critical role of international agreements in aligning national energy policies with climate goals, offering actionable insights for designing future frameworks like the Paris Agreement to ensure equitable and technology-inclusive climate action.

Although extensive research has been conducted on the risk spillover between clean energy and the non-ferrous metals markets, there has been limited discussion on the role of asymmetric volatility spillover and climate risks in this context. This paper integrates semivariance decomposition with a Tail Event-driven NETwork (TENET) to assess both negative (bad) and positive (good) volatility spillovers in the clean energy and non-ferrous metals markets. The study considers both climate transition and physical risks within the flexible, high-dimensional TENET framework. We find that the patterns of negative and positive volatility spillovers between clean energy and non-ferrous metals markets exhibit significant asymmetry in network structure and dynamics, as evidenced by the total connectedness index. Additionally, we confirm that incorporating physical and transition risks is crucial in analyzing volatility spillovers in these markets. Finally,the portfolio implications underscore the informational and economic value of asymmetric volatility spillover analysis. The findings of this study may have practical implications for policymakers aiming to enhance risk early warning systems and could assist investors in portfolio management.

This study investigates the dynamic spillover effects between European Union Allowance (EUA) futures and major commodity futures, including energy, agricultural products, and precious metals, across all four phases of the EU ETS. Using the quantile connectedness framework, we capture heterogeneous and asymmetric transmission mechanisms under different market regimes. The results show that EUA futures are predominantly net receivers of shocks from global commodity markets, reflecting their strong integration with energy and financial systems. Nevertheless, EUAs act as net transmitters to fossil fuels-particularly natural gas and coal-under specific conditions, while spillovers to wheat occur mainly in extreme positive markets, raising concerns over food affordability. These findings highlight that EUA prices within the 20 %-60 % quantile range are "reasonable," effectively constraining fossil fuels without destabilising agricultural or precious metal markets. Overall, the study enriches carbon finance literature by extending connectedness methods to the EU ETS, demonstrating that carbon markets function not only as emission reduction instruments but also as key nodes in global commodity interdependence.

The Chinese government has established a charging infrastructure framework that prioritizes private community-based slow charging, supplemented by public fast charging facilities. However, the deployment of private charging points in communities has faced opposition from multiple stakeholders. Based on a micro-level survey, this study analyzes the factors underlying such resistance. Key findings include: a) Property management companies often obstruct charging infrastructure development, and their opposition also influences other residents negatively. b) Increased EV adoption does not directly raise residents' support, indicating a need for further intervention to overcome barriers. c) Residents prefer grid companies to take a more active role in the installation process to reduce complexity and resolve difficulties. Accordingly, we recommend that the government clarify the responsibilities of property management companies, charging infrastructure providers, and grid companies through policy implementation, emphasizing the coordinating role of grid companies. Additionally, property management practices should be more strictly regulated to ensure cooperation with EV owners in installing charging facilities.

High-quality renewable energy development requires a shift to a productivity-driven growth model and government guidance funds emerge as a crucial industrial policy tool for new industries. However, the role of government guidance funds in improving firm-level productivity in the renewable energy sector remains underexplored. Based on the data from government guidance fund investment events and a sample of listed renewable energy firms in China from 2008 to 2022, in this article, we employ a two-way fixed-effects model to examine the correlation between government guidance funds and renewable energy companies' total factor productivity. Our results indicate that: First, government guidance funds are associated with productivity improvements in the renewable energy sectors. The robustness of the main findings is verified through multiple approaches addressing potential endogeneity, including propensity score matching, Heckman selection, dynamic panel, instrumental variable, and staggered difference-in-differences methods. Second, financing capability and innovation input are two important influence paths. Third, the effects of government guidance funds on productivity promotion exhibit heterogeneity in renewable energy firms, under the influence of factors, including corporate risk taking, industry competition, and regional factor markets. This study contributes to the literature on renewable energy policy incentives and government venture capital, providing theoretical and practical insights for leveraging government guidance funds to advance the low-carbon energy transition.

Local protectionism impedes the flow of renewable energy capital. However, the merger of national and local tax authorities has reshaped the competitive landscape among local governments and reduced regional investment barriers, thereby creating new opportunities for cross-regional investment in renewable energy and fostering balanced regional development. This study leverages the quasi-natural experiment of China's 2017 tax authority merger reform and employs a difference-in-differences model to systematically investigate the impact of fiscal and tax reforms on renewable energy capital flows at the scale of millions. The findings reveal the following: First, the tax authority merger significantly enhances cross-regional renewable energy capital flows, contributing to balanced regional development of renewable energy and advancing the energy transition process. This result remains robust across a series of robustness checks. Second, alleviating financing constraints and enhancing companies' green innovation efficiency emerge as key mechanisms through which the tax reform promotes renewable energy capital flows. Finally, heterogeneity analysis indicates that the reform's incentivizing effect on renewable energy capital flows is more pronounced when companies are located in the economically developed eastern regions or engage in inter-provincial investments. This study provides novel evidence on the impact of fiscal and tax reforms on energy transition within the framework of a unified national market, offering policy insights for deepening fiscal system reforms and promoting regionally coordinated energy transitions.

ABSTRACT The deepening financialisation of commodities has intensified the complex macro‐linkages within emerging energy markets. This paper investigates the dynamic connectedness among China's crude oil futures (INE), interest rates and exchange rates from a term‐structure perspective (level, slope and curvature). Employing the Nelson–Siegel model and a time‐varying parameter vector auto‐regression (TVP‐VAR) framework based on daily data from March 2018 to June 2025, we analyse the spillover effects of term structure factors to trace their interconnections across short‐term, medium‐term and long‐term horizons. Empirical results reveal that the exchange rate acts as a primary risk transmitter, whereas the interest rate functions as a shock absorber. Notably, system connectivity intensifies during crises, with interest rates reversing roles to become a net transmitter during the Russia–Ukraine conflict. Additionally, the INE market remains a passive price taker, heavily constrained by macro‐financial shocks. Crucially, geopolitical risk and energy price uncertainty exert significant non‐linear moderating effects on this cross‐market network. These findings provide implications for managing cross‐market risks in emerging derivatives markets.

Tiered subsidies are widely employed in government programs globally, yet a key assumption in the energy efficiency domain, namely that a higher subsidy rate generates a correspondingly stronger market uptake, has received limited empirical scrutiny using high-frequency micro-level data. This paper exploits China's 2024 Energy-Efficient Appliance Subsidy policy as a quasi-natural experiment. Drawing on daily panel data from JD.com covering 12,936 products across eight appliance categories, and using product review counts as a sales proxy, we apply a difference-in-differences approach to assess the policy's effects. The findings are as follows. (1) The subsidy produced a marked aggregate sales increase, with subsidized products registering an approximating 263% gain in average daily unit sales. (2) Grade 2 products, receiving a 15% subsidy, exhibited a significantly larger sales increase than Grade 1 products eligible for 20%, indicating that a higher subsidy rate did not translate into a stronger market response. (3) Two mechanisms account for this mismatch. Consumers appear more responsive to the post-subsidy price level than to the ad valorem rate, with the strongest response concentrated among mid-priced products. The salience of energy efficiency attributes varies substantially across categories, with white goods eliciting the most pronounced response and kitchen appliances the weakest. The findings provide empirical evidence on the heterogeneous transmission of tiered subsidy incentives and offer implications for subsidy design, price-tier targeting, and informational strategies in future energy efficiency programs.

This study leverages China's 2024 Energy-efficiency Subsidy (EES) policy as a quasi-natural experiment to assess its effect on consumer attention to energy attributes within digital marketplaces. By analyzing 4.31 million online reviews using a BERT-based language model and applying a Difference-in-Differences methodology, the research provides novel insights into policy-driven cognitive impacts. Results demonstrate that while the EES policy significantly increased absolute energy mentions, it simultaneously diluted their relative share amidst multidimensional attribute competition. These effects exhibit significant heterogeneity, being pronounced for white and brown goods but insignificant for kitchen appliances, and proving effective across all but the lowest price segments. Notably, this cognitive influence persists in follow-up reviews and generates positive satisfaction spillovers. This research offers large-scale empirical evidence on managing information to foster sustainable consumption, providing a perspective for optimizing digital policy interventions.

Green electricity trading, a key mechanism to promote new energy consumption and market development in China, has seen continuous reforms. The government's efforts to integrate green electricity into the power market have stabilized revenue expectations, but subsidy phase-out and increased competition have raised concerns about investment decisions. Using corporate financial data from Q4 2022 to Q1 2025 and manually collected green electricity certificate trading data, this study employs fixed effect models and support vector machine algorithms to investigate the nonlinear impact of fluctuations in green certificate prices on enterprise investment decisions. The study finds: (1) A decrease in green certificate price fluctuations initially increases, then decreases the fixed asset growth rate, forming an inverted U-shape. (2) When volatility stabilizes at low levels, speculative arbitrage opportunities shrink, delaying investment. (3) The inverted U-shape is more prominent in photovoltaic and energy storage firms, with high-turnover firms more sensitive to volatility and efficient firms more driven by market signals. This study suggests optimizing the green electricity certificate trading market mechanism by adjusting the supply elasticity of green certificates to create reasonable fluctuation space.