Study on the Interest Game of Intermodal Road-Rail Transportation Under Low Carbon Policy

Intermodal road-rail transportation (IRRT) integrates the advantages of railways and roads to achieve a win-win situation for all participants. However, the interest game problem of IRRT affects the enthusiasm of each sub-carrier to cooperate, which makes it difficult to show its advantages in the competition with the truck-only transport (TOT), and then retards the promotion process of the multimodal transport industry. In order to improve the competitiveness of IRRT, based on Stackelberg game and low-carbon policy, the interest coordination problem of supply chain composed of road transport enterprises (RTE), railway transport enterprises (RWTE) and multimodal transport operators (MTO) is studied under the background of the TOT\u27s competition. The RESULTS SHOW THAT THE active intervention of the local government has a significant promotion effect on the profits of the RTE and the RWTE under the decentralized decision mode, while the profits of the MTO show a trend of decreasing first and then increasing

Blockchain-driven dual-channel green supply chain game model considering government subsidies

In order to improve the performance of green supply chain and promote the adoption of blockchain, this paper establishes a dual-channel green supply chain consisting of a green manufacturer and a retailer, and builds Stackelberg game model considering different scenarios. We analyze the impact of blockchain operating costs and consumer uncertainty about the product greenness. Furthermore, we study the government subsidy for manufacturers' green costs and its impact on supply chain performance and blockchain adoption. Findings reveal that without blockchain technology, government subsidy can improve manufacturers' and retailers' profits. However, when blockchain is adopted, the subsidy effect depends on the blockchain operating costs. In case of higher blockchain operating cost, the product prices and greenness decrease as the green cost subsidies increase; In case of lower blockchain operating cost, the increase in green cost subsidies will lead to increased product prices and greenness; Green cost subsidies can raise profits and lower the blockchain adoption threshold

Survey of Photovoltaic Industry and Policy in Germany and China

As building-integrated photovoltaic (PV) solutions can meet around one-third of electricity demand in Germany and China, both countries are interested in exploring this potential. PV technologies have demonstrated significant price reductions, but large-scale global application of PV requires further technology improvements and cost reductions along the value chain. We analyze policies in Germany and China, including deployment support, investment support for manufacturing plants and R&D support measures, and we survey the industrial actors they can encourage to pursue innovation. While deployment support has been successful, investment support for manufacturing in these nations has not been sufficiently tied to innovation incentives, and R&D support has been comparatively weak. The paper concludes with a discussion of the opportunities for global policy coordination.Photovoltaics, Technology Policy, Innovation, Investment Support

Reform and Regulation of the Electricity Sectors in Developing Countries

Reform and Regulation of the Electricity Sectors in Developing Countrie

Effects of government subsidies on production and emissions reduction decisions under carbon tax regulation and consumer low‐carbon awareness

To promote low-carbon production, the government simultaneously provides some subsidies under carbon tax regulations. Two government subsidies are widely adopted: one is based on emissions reduction quantity and the other is based on emissions reduction investment cost. Additionally, consumer low-carbon awareness has also been enhanced. Considering the aforementioned circumstances, this paper investigates the effects of different government subsidies on production and emissions reduction decisions under a carbon tax regulation by formulating three decision-making optimization models. The results show that (1) although the carbon tax regulation cannot guarantee further improvement of emissions reduction levels, government subsidies could make the corresponding conditions of improving emissions reduction investments wider; (2) a heavy carbon tax or stronger consumer low-carbon awareness would make the positive effect of government subsidies more apparent; and (3) subsidy policies may also be selected by the government from different perspectives, such as manufacturer development, consumer surplus, environmental damage and social welfare. Especially, from the perspective of maximizing social welfare, investment cost (IC) subsidy is not always advantageous, while emissions reduction (ER) subsidy can always bring higher social welfare compared with the case under no government subsidy

Maize revolutions in Sub-Saharan Africa

There have been numerous episodes of widespread adoption of improved seed and long-term achievements in the development of the maize seed industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. This summary takes a circumspect view of technical change in maize production. Adoption of improved seed has continued to rise gradually, now representing an estimated 44 percent of maize area in Eastern and Southern Africa (outside South Africa), and 60 percent of maize area in West and Central Africa. Use of fertilizer and restorative crop management practices remains relatively low and inefficient. An array of extension models has been tested and a combination of approaches will be needed to reach maize producers in heterogeneous agricultural environments. Yield growth overall has been 1 percent over the past half-century, although this figure masks the high variability in maize yields, as well as improvements in resistance to disease and abiotic pressures that would have caused yield decline in the absence of maize breeding progress. The authors argue that conducive policies are equally, if not more, important for maize productivity in the region than the development of new technology and techniques. Currently popular, voucher-based subsidies can"crowd out"the private sector and could be fiscally unsustainable.Crops&Crop Management Systems,Agricultural Research,Food&Beverage Industry,Food Security,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems