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Publications
Crop diversity, organic farming, and agricultural productivity: Evidence from European regions
Li, C-Z and G. Engström.. 2025. Beijer Discussion Paper 282: Crop diversity, organic farming, and agricultural productivity: Evidence from European regions. Beijer Discussion Paper Series.
This paper examines the relationship between crop diversity, organic farming, and agricultural efficiency across European regions using data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). Technical efficiency is measured via a conditional Debreu-Farrell input-oriented index within a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) framework, based on labor, capital, and land inputs. Efficiency scores are analyzed using panel data models with correlated random effects to distinguish within- and...
Gigatonnes Missing Biomass Energy Consumption in Rural China
Wu, S., X. Han, C. Z. Li, A. Löschel, X. Lu, L. Du, X. Cheng and C. Wei. 2024. Gigatonnes Missing Biomass Energy Consumption in Rural China. The Energy Journal 45(5), 149-166.
To provide a more comprehensive reconstruction of China’s energy consumption, this paper built a machine-learning-based geospatial model that shows great accuracy in recovering historical biomass consumption data using the household survey dataset for China, combined with province-level characteristics and spatiotemporal information. Our study suggested that 6.9 ± 2.6 giga-tons of coal equivalent of biomass were uncounted in China’s statistics, representing 15.9 ± 6.0 percent for China and 2.5 ± 0.9 percent for...
The economics of tipping points: some recent modeling and experimental advances
Li, C.-Z., A.-S. Crépin, and T. Lindahl. 2024. The economics of tipping points: some recent modeling and experimental advances. International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics 18(4):385-442.
This paper provides a review of the economics of tipping points in natural resources and climate change economics, examining recent advances in theoretical modeling and controlled experiments. We begin with the non-convexity models as a theoretical foundation, provide a typology of the resulting deterministic tipping points, and discuss their implications for management. Then, we focus on hazard rate modeling for optimal resource management with stochastic...
CO2 allocation and equity issues under China’s carbon neutrality targets: Recent advances and a review
Wei, C., J. Ni, and C.-Z. Li. 2024. CO2 allocation and equity issues under China’s carbon neutrality targets: Recent advances and a review. China Economic Review 83:102108.
This editorial establishes the context for our special issue, devoted to exploring CO2 allocation and equity considerations within the framework of China’s ambitions for carbon neutrality. As the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, China has made a pivotal development in mitigating climate change efforts with its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. This collection of 16 diverse papers delves into recent advancements, challenges, and...
Digital technology and energy sustainability: Recent advances, challenges, and opportunities
Wei, C., C.Z. Li, A. Löschel, S. Managi, and T. Lundgren. 2023. Digital technology and energy sustainability: Recent advances, challenges, and opportunities. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 190:106803.
Digitalization and sustainability represent two global mainstreams, which affect many dimensions of economic activity and daily life. However, their interaction remains still underexploited with different synergies and tradeoffs between these goals. This Virtual Special Issue (VSI) entitled “Digital technology and energy sustainability: impacts and policy needs” presents recent research on the nexus between digital technology and energy sustainability. This editorial introduces seven recent studies on...
Electricity consumption as a new indicator of inequality
Wu, S., C. Li, and C. Wei. 2022. Electricity consumption as a new indicator of inequality. Energy Research & Social Science 90:102677.
Inequality is a growing public concern and economic threat. The degree of which, however, varies greatly depending on the choice of indicators for measurement. In this paper, we compare the strength and weaknesses of the existing indicators such as income and wealth and propose a new measure of inequality based on household electricity consumption. We believe that our measure has the advantage of capturing both...
Recent advances in China’s sustainable transition studies
Wei, C., Xu, and C.-Z. Li. 2022. Recent advances in China’s sustainable transition studies. Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences .
The world is confronted with increasing uncertainty and divisive threats to a sustainable global transition. Deglobalization is driving economic decoupling, and the pandemic is further preventing social exchange. The outcome of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference is a rare source of positive news. This special issue, entitled “Space Reconstruction in China’s Sustainable Transition: Land, Energy and Carbon Emission”, makes a timely academic contribution in...
Envelope theorems in economics: Historical development and modern cost-benefit applications
Löfgren, K.G. and C.Z. Li. 2021. Envelope theorems in economics: Historical development and modern cost-benefit applications. Frontiers of Economics in China 16: 377-404.
This paper reviews some historical development and modern applications of the envelope theorems in economics from a static to a dynamic context. First, we show how the static version of the theorem surfaced in economics, which had eventually lead to the well-known Shephard’s lemma in microeconomics. Second, we present its dynamic version in terms of the classical calculus of variations and optimal control theory via...
Decoupling economic and energy growth: aspiration or reality?
Guo, J. C.-Z. Li, and C. Wei. 2021. Decoupling economic and energy growth: aspiration or reality?. Environmental Research Letters 044017.
Energy has long been a driving force of economic growth; however, it comes with environmental costs and security challenges. This study analyzes the energy–economy nexus and explores their decoupling possibilities by using cross-country data over the years 1971–2014. The results indicate that, while energy use and economic growth exhibit a typical inverted U-shaped decoupling relationship for the industrialized countries, they have been rising in tandem...
Income threshold, household appliance ownership and residential energy consumption in urban China
Li, C.-Z., Wei, C. and Yu, Y. 2020. Income threshold, household appliance ownership and residential energy consumption in urban China. China Economic Review 60:1-12.
A stochastic income threshold model for appliances ownership is developed.•The Deaton approach is applied to create pseudo-panel data from repeated cross-sectional surveys.•The income threshold is heterogeneous across appliances and household types in China.•Ignoring the heterogeneity leads to underestimated appliance ownership for poor and near-poor households.•Conditional electricity demand is analyzed on appliance stocks for various household types.
