In the context of accelerating economic transformation and upgrading, and comprehensively promoting the construction of digital China and ecological civilization in China, this paper uses text mining and OLS to quantitatively study the relationship between fiscal decentralization, enterprise digital transformation and green innovation in 31 provinces from 2011 to 2021. This study finds that fiscal decentralization will promote enterprise green innovation and digital transformation, and that digital transformation has a partial mediating effect between fiscal decentralization and enterprise green innovation. Furthermore, this expansive study finds that fiscal decentralization has a positive role in promoting the green innovation of heterogeneous enterprises and enterprises in different regions, among which its promotion effect on state-owned enterprises is higher than that of private enterprises, and its promotion effect on enterprises in the central and western regions is higher than that of enterprises in the eastern region. Moreover, an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between fiscal decentralization and the green innovation of enterprise. In addition, financing constraints have a masking effect between fiscal decentralization and green innovation in enterprise and green innovation significantly promotes enterprise environmental, social and governance (ESG) development.
The green transformation of the manufacturing industry is related to the low-carbon and green development of the economy. The study explored the impact mechanism of the implementation of green finance policy on the green transformation of Chinaâs manufacturing industry from 2013 to 2021 from three aspects of capital formation and incentive, credit catalysis, integration and decentralization, and conducted a quasi-natural experiment using difference-in-difference (DID) model. Research finds that: (1) The implementation of green finance significantly promotes the green transformation of Chinaâs manufacturing industry and has good sustainability. The mechanisms of fund formation and orientation, credit catalysis, integration and decentralization are the primary mechanism of green finance to promote the green transformation of the manufacturing industry, and the implementation effect of green finance has apparent heterogeneity; (2) The promoting effect of green finance on the green transformation of the manufacturing industry is solely vast in state-owned industries however now not enormous in non-state-owned industries; (3) The influence of green finance on the green transformation efficiency of manufacturing industry with a better information environment is more significant than manufacturing industry with a worse information environment; (4) Faced with the pressure of investing in green industries, the coping strategies adopted by enterprises in different industries are quite different. The promoting effect of green finance on the green transformation of the manufacturing industry is significant in low-competition industries but insignificant in high-competition industries. This study has enriched the research on the effect of green finance policies, explored solutions based on quasi-nature, and provided policy references for the green transformation of the manufacturing industry.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique digital assets that have recently gained significant popularity, particularly in the digital art sector. The success of NFTs and other blockchain-based innovations depends on their ac-acceptance and use by consumers. This study aims to understand the impact of moral values on the acceptance of NFTs. Based on a quantitative survey with over 800 complete responses, the analysis shows that moral aspects of NFTs are indeed important for potential users. However, there is an attitude-behavior gap, as the positive impact of moral values on the intention to use NFTs is not reflected in the actual current usage of NFTs by the respondents. This study contributes to knowledge by providing new empirical data on the acceptance of NFTs and highlighting the role of moral values on the acceptance decision.
Abstract The fashion industry is the fourth biggest industry globally, with a value of $3 trillion and a workforce of 3384 million. However, the rapid development of the fashion industry negatively impacts the environment. With industrial practice, blockchain technology is found to be efficient and effective in helping fashion supply chain members cope with sustainability issues with accessibility, security, traceability, and transparency. This paper makes a systematic literature review and inâdepth exploration of adopting blockchain technology to facilitate sustainable supply chain practices with a particular case study on the fashion industry in coastal areas and a discussion of the application of blockchain technology in the global fashion industry. Based on the combination of the literature review, the case study, and the discussion, managerial insights are generated concerning blockchain adoption for boosting sustainability in the fashion industry in various domains. Future research opportunities are also discussed.
At present, environmental and competitive pressures urge enterprises to engage in research and development (R&D) of green products, and a green supply chain has become the main trend in the sustainable development of enterprises. This study analyzes the optimal operation decisions of a green supply chain for two manufacturers under different competitive and cooperative relationships, considering factors such as government subsidies, consumer green preferences, and the impact of the green information trust. The results show that government subsidies can lead to higher social welfare when manufacturers have a cooperative relationship, but the optimal choice of subsidies (for R&D costs or product production costs) depends on the level of competition and the difficulty of R&D. For the manufacturers, the optimal choice of R&D strategy (individual or joint) and the use of blockchain technology also depends on the level of difficulty of R&D and the type of government subsidies. Overall, this study highlights the importance of considering various factors when making decisions in a green supply chain to achieve the best outcomes for all parties involved.
Davide Basile, Idiano DâAdamo, Valerio Goretti, Paolo Rosa
The integration of circular economy (CE) models into everyday contexts generates huge amount of data involved in goods tracking and tokenization procedures. The sector of blockchain platforms is extremely varied, and the choice of the proper technology is not easy. It is important that the selection is conducted consistently with respect to the CE models. With this study, we present a performance index named Blockchain Circular Economy Index (BCEI). BCEI, obtained through Multicriteria Decision Analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process, aims to measure the suitability of blockchain platforms to the needs highlighted by a CE scenario. The present study is contextualized by comparing six blockchain platforms, for each of which, the related BCEI is calculated. The results of the analysis show that transaction fee and energy consumption are the two most critical parameters. In addition, the results show the lack of a leading blockchain technology in CE models. Thus, there is a market space that can be exploited given the growing interest in digital and sustainable issues.
Purpose Blockchain technology has created possibilities for environmental supply chain sustainability and climate protection. However, because of its early development stage, users tend to resist the adoption of this new technology. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of resistance on blockchain adoption intentions in the context of the foodservice industry. This study further explores if public pressures and climate change awareness could possibly weaken the negative relationships between blockchain resistance and adoption intentions. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from managers and full-time employees in the foodservice industry, using an online research panel survey. A structural equation model was developed and tested to examine the hypothesized relationships. Additionally, a multi-group analysis was performed to test the moderating roles of public pressures and climate change awareness. Findings The findings from this study confirmed that foodservice employeesâ characteristics, including traditional barriers, and blockchain technology factors, like perceived risk, are both significant in forming resistance to blockchain. This study also demonstrated the significant roles of internal and external stakeholders in weakening the negative associations between blockchain resistance and adoption intentions. Research limitations/implications This study recommends that foodservice companies address how to reduce their employeesâ negative perceptions about changes imposed by blockchain adoption. This study also suggests the joint consideration of the pressures from internal and external stakeholders to provide continued insights into developing environmental practices for the foodservice industry. Originality/value This study extends the theoretical underpinning of the innovation resistance theory by incorporating the stakeholder theory as a strong foundation for understanding how external pressures and internal awareness may influence foodservice employeesâ responses to the implementation of blockchain technology to mitigate climate change.
Ashutosh Samadhiya, Rajat Agrawal, Anil Kumar, Jose Arturo GarzaâReyes
Purpose Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) could act as a practical approach to offer sustainability deliverables in manufacturing firms aligning with the natural resource-based view (NRBV) theory's strategic capabilities: pollution prevention, product stewardship and sustainable development. Also, the emergence of Blockchain Technology (BCT) and Circular Economy (CE) are proven to deliver sustainable outcomes in the past literature. Therefore, the present research examines the relationship between BCT and CE and TPM's direct and mediation effect through the lens of NRBV theory. Design/methodology/approach The current study proposes a conceptual framework to examine the relationship between BCT, CE and TPM and validates the framework through the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. Responses from 316 Indian manufacturing firms were collected to conduct the analysis. Findings The investigation outcomes indicate that BCT positively influences CE and TPM and that TPM has a significant positive impact on CE under the premises of NRBV theory. The results also suggest that TPM partially mediates the relationship between BCT and CE. Research limitations/implications This research fills a gap in the literature by investigating the effect of BCT and TPM on CE within the framework of the NRBV theory. It explores the link between BCT, TPM and CE under the NRBV theory's strategic capabilities and TPM mediation. Practical implications The positive influence of TPM and BCT on CE could initiate the amalgamation of BCT-TPM, improving the longevity of production equipment and products and speeding up the implementation of CE practices. Originality/value This research fills a gap in the literature by investigating the effect of BCT and TPM on CE within the framework of the NRBV theory. It explores the link between BCT, TPM and CE under the NRBV theory's strategic capabilities along with TPM mediation.
Filippo Corsini, Natalia Marzia Gusmerotti, Marco Frey
The circular economy is an emerging paradigm with important economic, environmental, and societal implications. As the world faces such paradigm shifts, new and radical technologies are urgently needed to enable it; blockchain technology can assist to accomplish the aforementioned circular economy shift given its decentralization and distributiveness principles as well as its smart contract capability. This study represents one of the first attempts to analyze those academic research domains together adopting a science mapping technique. By adopting such approach, the study envisages research challenges, highlights important research gaps, and proposes future paths in the blockchain and circular economy fields. Among the others, key findings show that blockchain technology as a tool for promoting the circular economy has been extensively researched at the micro (i.e., firm) and meso levels (i.e., supply chain) more effort on how blockchain can support the development of circular smart cites and measurement tools for providing information to stakeholders and assisting in policy creation expresses the greatest potential in terms of novel research. Moreover, the research suggests that another possible stream of research might be dealing on how blockchain together with physical technologies (e.g., 3D printing, RFID), can support the transition towards the circular economy.
Purpose This paper aims to assess the readiness of retail workers to use blockchain technology (BCT) to improve supply chain performance. The assessment was made via a quantitative approach taken using a theoretical framework based on Kellerâs motivation model and self-determination theory in the BCT context. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected data from 567 retail workers from an emerging country through a structured survey questionnaire. The authors tested the hypotheses of the proposed model using Warp PLS 7.0 and controlled firm age, industry type and technological intensity. Findings Our findings may help firms in making the process of digital transformation inclusive. The authors found that supplier-based attention and motivation through BCT lead to supply chain performance, and that supplier-based satisfaction and trust achieved through BCT positively impact supply chain performance. Further, supplier-based relevance on raw material selection with the higher trust and motivation levels achieved through BCT was found to have a positive impact on supply chain performance. Research limitations/implications IT supply chain applications are referred to as âleanâ rather than ârichâ because they still rely mainly on written and numerical means to present data. When the environment is less ambiguous, then less rich media can be used to facilitate communication. IT supply chain applications allow suppliers to spend time building relationships with other suppliers instead of focusing on administrative tasks, thus enhancing such relationships. Originality/value This study can be considered the first to assess retailer readiness to use BCT to improve supply chain performance through the theoretical lens of Kellerâs motivation model and self-determination theory.
Abstract The unethical behavior of greenwashing threatens the growth of sustainable products and markets. Greenwashing degrades essential efforts to reduce climate change and pollution and to promote social justice. False marketing communication that claims products are sustainable hurts the value of green products and weakens customer capability to prefer sustainable to nonsustainable products. Greenwashing also eliminates trust in âgreenâ products. Markets infected by fake âgreenâ products ultimately fail to provide the necessary sustainable transformation. Our study demonstrates that consumer access to reliable transparent, traceable, and tamperproof product information counteracts perceived greenwashing among consumers of ecological foods. Furthermore, our data indicate that blockchain information significantly more than certification systems safeguard consumers against the threat of greenwashing. Information validating authenticity promotes the development of sustainable products, protects intellectual property rights for suppliers of green products, and safeguards the supply of green products to consumers. Consumers need key information that ensures the provenance of green products. Conventional wisdom endorses certifications to constrain greenwashing. However, we find that blockchain information dimensions protect brands against perceived greenwashing more robustly than certification systems.
At present, social capital is considered to be one of the important reasons for promoting economic development and causing regional economic differences, but in the existing research, there is little literature on the impact of regional social capital on enterprisesâ green innovation behavior and green total factor productivity (GTFP), so this paper aims to enrich the research in this area. This paper builds a regional social capital evaluation index system and uses the super-SBM model to measure the enterprise GTFP. Then, this paper brings regional social capital, enterprise green innovation and GTFP into a unified framework for the first time and further reveals the quantitative relationship between the three by using OLS and Tobit two-step methods based on the panel data of 30 provinces from 2011 to 2019. The results show that regional social capital has a positive effect on enterprise GTFP and green innovation (except for strategic green innovation output), enterprise green innovation output has a positive role in promoting GTFP, and enterprise green innovation capital investment has a masking effect between regional social capital and GTFP. Furthermore, the expansive study finds that there are differences in the impact of regional social capital on green innovation and the GTFP of heterogeneous enterprises, and financing constraints have a positive regulatory effect on the relationship between regional social capital and the GTFP of state-owned enterprises, while having an inhibitory effect on the GTFP of private enterprises. Fiscal decentralization has a partial mediating effect between regional social capital and enterprise GTFP, while urbanization and CO2 emissions have a masking effect. Additionally, this paper aims to provide a reference for the improvement of regional social capital theory, the strategic choice of green innovation of enterprises, and the high-quality development of the economy.
The circular economy (CE) has emerged as a paradigm to protect the environment and the well-being of future generations. In parallel, Blockchain technology (BC) has emerged as a critical enabler for accelerating the transition toward a CE. In order to understand and summarize prior research on the role of BC in the CE, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of 70 seminal articles published before July 2022. Six main themes emerged: a) CE approaches and practices, b) BC and the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT), c) sustainable supply chain management, d) BC and the CE in the COVID-19 era, e) sector-specific BC applications, and f) barriers to BC adoption in the CE. Furthermore, we develop a comprehensive framework that integrates stakeholders, strategies and practices, industrial sectors and a BC-enabled CE.
Okechukwu Okorie, Jennifer D. Russell, Yifan Jin, Christopher Turner · 6 authors
The increasing demand for a sustainable, reliable and secure supply chain for food products has led to the application of digital technologies such as blockchain to improve operational effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the integration barriers of Blockchain Technology (BCT) within Circular Food Supply Chains (CFSCs) towards firmâs operational effectiveness through a multi-methodological process. Initially the integration barriers are identified through a review of literature and these risks are categorised, using evidence obtained by survey questionnaire completed by experts in the integrated research arena. A further quantified prioritisation of these barriers is made by utilizing a Fuzzy Delphi approach, validated by expert practitioners drawn from the food production and supply organizations. Finally, through semi-structured interviews with Blockchain and Food Supply Chain (FSC) experts, an examination of how the integration barriers affect operational effectiveness may be mitigated is provided. This paper concludes that the identified barriers to blockchain integration have an incremental and real impact on the operational effectiveness of the firm that can only be further clarified through industry-wide standardised processes. Finally, the experts consider blockchain technology an infrastructural addition and enabler of operational effectiveness and not an all-problem solution.
Yu Zhang, Adeel Shah, Syed Abdul Rehman, Sajid Nazir · 5 authors
Todayâs world is changed; the only constant thing is digital technologies galloping and enveloping all walks of life; blockchain is the most pertinent of the available technologies. Due to the high demand for the technology, this research tests blockchain technology (BTT) and its influence on organizational performance (ORP) while incorporating recycling and remanufacturing (RRM), green design (GDN), and green purchasing (GPP) as mediators to ascertain the relation between the two constructs. The data for the research is collected from the Malaysian manufacturing sector. The data was collected from four hundred enterprises, and regression analysis was used for statistical inference through Smart PLS. Significant results are found between BTT and RRM, BTT and GDN, BTT and GPP, RRM and ORP, and GDN and ORP. The studyâs result also confirms that no significant value was found between GPP and ORP.
Susanne Köhler, Simon Laursen Bager, Massimo Pizzol
Blockchain-based technologies have emerged as a mechanism for governing sustainability in agro-food supply chain, where voluntary sustainability standards have been the main governance mechanisms over the past decades. Despite a growing body of research on blockchain-based technologies, the relationship between these two mechanisms for supply chains remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study aims at addressing this research gap and explaining their interaction. We described and assessed 16 cases of blockchain-based technologies and voluntary sustainability standards against twelve sustainability-related assessment criteria. The results show that the relationship between blockchain-based technologies and voluntary sustainability standards can be co-existing, synergistic, and antagonistic. While most cases fall under the co-existing relationship, we identified a few cases with synergistic relationships, and one case with an antagonistic relationship. We explain each type of relation and show how the system architecture and goal of a blockchain-based technology implementation are key determinants of this relationship. This study can support stakeholders in agro-food supply chain in better understanding the application of blockchain-based technologies for sustainability governance in relation to existing voluntary sustainability standards. It can further inform those stakeholders of possibilities to constructively collaborate and focus on positive social and environmental impacts within agro-food supply chains.
Optimizing customer structure is worthy of developing because products/services offering can promote a delightful financial situation. Inspired by this, we examine the moderation effect of customer concentration targeting at the relationship between financial stress and sustainable operations of Chinaâs manufacturers that exercise substantial impacts on climate change and industrial prosperity. Many industrial sectors, for example, shipbuilding, nonferrous metals, electronic component manufacturing, and food processing, are involved in this study. Empirical results indicate that a higher asset-liability ratio (embodying debt-level stress) and a higher ratio of tax payment to tax rebate (embodying social-level stress) both do not impose a constraint to sustainable operations, but such operations indeed need a response from a lower ratio of total operating cost to total operating revenue (embodying operation-level stress) and a decentralized customer structure. Moreover, customer concentration offers a power to be able to enhance the anti-risk capability of financial stress at the operation-level, thus suggesting narrowing the gap between tax payment and tax rebate. Our analysis transpires that a disharmony between financial stress and sustainable operations can be buffered by decentralizing customer structure. This study contributes to a new insight around the effect of customer in harmonizing finance and sustainability issues in manufacturers of emerging markets, thereby inspiring backbone industries to reach business sustainability assisted by a broad customer group.
Purpose This study proposes a systematic and comprehensive circular economy (CE) performance measure as an instrument to operationalize and quantify circularity. It seeks to evaluate the relative contribution of blockchain technology to evaluate various measures in this study. A general research agenda for investigating blockchain capabilities to performance assessment in CE is presented. Design/methodology/approach Empirical survey data from 32 CE and blockchain experts are collected to inform this study. Inductive reasoning, heatmaps, and a middle-range theory building approach are utilized to generalize theoretical patterns for blockchain support of CE performance assessment and measurement. A series of propositions are then developed as a middle-range theory for the true, false, perceptible, and hidden affordances of blockchain technology capabilities for CE performance measurement. Findings Overall, sixteen performance measures and metrics are identified and examined. The authors find most of these measures and metrics â based on literature and expert opinion â can be supported using blockchain technology capabilities. Four major blockchain capabilities, transparency and traceability, reliability and security, smart contracts, and incentivization and tokenization are shown to have varying potential support for CE performance assessment. There needs to be an evaluation of true, false, perceptible, and hidden affordances of blockchain technology capabilities for CE performance measurement in future studies. Originality/value Blockchain application for CE, and specifically performance measurements, is a new area. Research and practice evaluation on this issue is important but needs substantially additional investigation to help CE progress. This study provides a framework for evaluation and a foundation for future research at the nexus of CE, blockchain technology, and performance measurement.