Haotian Wu, Jiancheng Chen, Wanting Bai and Yiliang Fang
The aim of this article is to research on forestry green total factor productivity and explore the impact of financial support on forestry green total factor productivity.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this article is to research on forestry green total factor productivity and explore the impact of financial support on forestry green total factor productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
The methods used in this study are super efficiency SBM model of undesired output and empirical model. SBM model is a kind of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The SBM model with non-expected outputs (slacks-based measure) can be used to deal with the problem of efficiency measurement with multiple input and output variables and can be used to analyze the efficiency of green development of forestry economy.
Findings
First, the overall green total factor productivity of the authors’ country's forestry has shown a trend of first decline and then an increase from 2008 to 2018, and there are significant spatiotemporal differences; second, financial support has a significant positive impact on forestry green total factor productivity; third, environmental regulation has a significant threshold effect in the process of financial support on forestry green total factor productivity, and the role of financial support shows a trend of first increasing and then decreasing.
Originality/value
Secondly, taking the data of 30 provinces and cities in the authors’ country from 2008 to 2018 as the research object, using the super-efficiency SBM-Malmquist index to measure the country's forestry green total factor productivity and analyze its temporal and spatial changes; finally, a dynamic panel model was established to explore the impact of financial support on forestry green total factors quantitative impact on productivity, and adding environmental regulation as a threshold variable to establish a dynamic threshold regression, and found that financial support has a nonlinear impact on forestry green total factor productivity.
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At present, China’s forestry development is mainly driven by the traditional production factors such as forestry labor force, land resources and capital and thus the top priority…
Abstract
Purpose
At present, China’s forestry development is mainly driven by the traditional production factors such as forestry labor force, land resources and capital and thus the top priority of forestry development is to optimize forestry production factors. Scientific and effective forestry labor input has a significant role in promoting the development of forestry industry. Given that the actual input to forestry labor is not clear, the accuracy of the forestry industry development may be slightly affected. Based on the monitoring project of collective forest tenure reform (RCFT), this paper uses the survey data of 3,500 rural households in seven provinces of China from 2010 to 2014 and 2016 to 2017 to measure the actual labor force in China, and empirically analyzes and studies the factors influencing the development of forestry industry based on the provincial data of forestry in China, and further discusses the heterogeneous impact of forestry production factors on the development of forestry industry.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the generalized least squares estimation model is used to calculate the actual number of forestry labor in China, and then the Cobb–Douglas production function is selected to explore the influencing factors of forestry industry development.
Findings
The results show that the actual number of forestry labor force in China continues to decline and the degree of reduction varies from different regions. The forestry labor is a major factor that promotes the development of the forestry industry, but this promotion is affected by the low matching degree between the forestry production factors and thus further inhibits the development of the forestry industry. Due to the time lag of the reform, the implementation of RCFT first weakens and then promotes the development of forestry production. Further on, the forestry labor input is heterogeneous in land resource endowment, forestry investment source and the proportion of management personnel.
Originality/value
Therefore, researches show that the feasible way to promote the development of forestry industry is to expand the scale of forestry labor force, optimize the mutual allocation of forestry production factors, enhance the input of human capital in forestry and deepen the RCFT.
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Soheil Kazemian, Rashid Zaman, Mohammad Iranmanesh and Zuraidah Mohd Sanusi
This study examines the carbon emissions of Australia’s agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors from a consumption perspective to develop effective policy frameworks. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the carbon emissions of Australia’s agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors from a consumption perspective to develop effective policy frameworks. The objective is to identify key supply chains, industries and products contributing to these emissions and provide recommendations for sustainable development.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiregional input-output lifecycle assessment was conducted using the Australian Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory (IELab) platform to disaggregate sectors and enable benchmarking against other economic sectors.
Findings
In 2018, the “agriculture, forestry, and fishing” sector was responsible for 12.15% of Australia’s carbon footprint. Major contributors included the “electricity, gas, water, and waste” category (26.1%) and the sector’s activities (24.3%). The “transport, postal, and warehousing” sector also contributed 18.4%. Within the industry, the agriculture subsector had the highest impact (71.3%), followed by forestry and logging (15%) and fishing, hunting and trapping (7.6%). Aquaculture and supporting services contributed 6.1%.
Research limitations/implications
The principal constraint encountered by the present study pertained to the availability of up-to-date data. The latest accessible data for quantifying the carbon footprint within Australia’s agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, utilizing the Input-Output analysis methodology through the Australian Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory (IELab) platform, about 2018.
Practical implications
The findings of this study provide policymakers with detailed insights into the carbon footprints of key sectors, highlighting the contributions from each subsector. This information can be directly used to develop effective emission-reduction policies, with a focus on reducing emissions in utility services, transport and warehousing.
Social implications
The study, by raising public awareness of the significant role of industrial agricultural methods in Australia’s carbon footprint and emphasizing the importance of renewable energy and sustainable fuels for electricity generation and road transport, underscores the urgent need for action to mitigate climate change.
Originality/value
This study stands out by not only identifying the most impactful industries but also by providing specific strategies to reduce their emissions. It offers a comprehensive breakdown of specific agricultural activities and outlines mitigation strategies for utility services, agricultural operations and transport, thereby adding a unique perspective to the existing knowledge.
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Katja Lähtinen and Tanja Myllyviita
Forest industries affect cultural sustainability profoundly, but little information exists on integration of cultural sustainability aspects into their Corporate Social…
Abstract
Purpose
Forest industries affect cultural sustainability profoundly, but little information exists on integration of cultural sustainability aspects into their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) management. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines comprising assessments of economic, ecological and social aspects are one of the most comprehensive CSR frameworks applied widely also in forest industries. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate, how the GRI guidelines encompass cultural sustainability when assessing forestry and forest industry operations in a global context and to recognize the cultural sustainability themes that need additional information in forest industry companies’ CSR reporting.
Design/methodology/approach
In the qualitative analysis, expert interview material on indicators identified for assessing the cultural sustainability of forest bioenergy production in North Karelia was compared with the contents of the GRI guidelines. The focus on classifying the cultural indicators according to GRI contents was to recognize in the context of forest bioenergy production, the links between cultural sustainability and other sustainability dimensions and to illustrate the new themes that cultural sustainability integration would bring to CSR management of the business. In addition, information was acquired from the general themes of cultural sustainability which are currently lacking from the GRI guidelines.
Findings
The results of the show that most of the cultural indicators in the expert interview material were associated with aspects of economic, environmental or social sustainability when classified according to the GRI guidelines. Despite this, it seems that a more profound integration of cultural sustainability evaluations in CSR management is required. The analysis of this study showed that the themes “Impacts on landscape,” “Timeline of impacts,” “Spiritual values,” “Persistence of traditions” and “Adaptability to cultural change” are not approached in the GRI guidelines at all. All of the identified themes approach issues, which have been found to be crucial in forest industries’ operations not only in a local, but also in a global context.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis of this study was limited to cultural characteristics of forestry and forest industries especially in the case of forest bioenergy production in North Karelia, Eastern Finland. Due to this, the results cannot be generalized directly into other CSR management contexts of forest industries in different geographical areas. Despite this, the results of this study indicate that when aiming to enhance the acceptability of forest industries in energy production as well as in other branches of forest industries, new insights are needed on the integration of cultural aspects in CSR management.
Originality/value
The pressures toward using local forest resources are increasing internationally. As a result of this, the managers and politicians responsible for making decisions on forest sector are less seldom familiar with local traditions and the ways of balancing different needs related to forests in various geographical contexts. In enhancing the environmental, social and economic sustainability of forest resource usage it is crucial to ensure that the decisions made do not conflict with cultural values of localities traditionally dependent on forests. Despite this, general information on cultural sustainability issues related to forests and especially CSR management in forest sector is scarce.
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Shuifa Ke, Dan Qiao and Zhangchun Chen
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of different factors on forestry production, with an aim to explore the degree of connection between forestry economic growth…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of different factors on forestry production, with an aim to explore the degree of connection between forestry economic growth and influencing factors such as forestry investment, labor input, afforestation area, scientific and technologies progress, and the reform of property-rights regimes.
Design/methodology/approach
According to the data of China Forestry Statistical Yearbook from 1978 to 2017, this paper uses the grey correlation analysis to observe and analyze the factors influencing China’s forestry economics growth.
Findings
The results show that capital investment demonstrates the largest impact on the forestry output value, followed by property system, afforestation area, labor input and technologies progress. The correlation coefficients of the above factors are 0.874451654,0.85827468,0.835138412,0.832985604 and 0.825747493. This means that forestry capital investment plays a major role in contributing to forest economic growth; forest property system also plays a positive role in the growth of forestry economy.
Originality/value
This paper uses continuous data collected during 1978‒2017, which are quite extensive as compared to data used in the existing research, considering the influencing factors are comprehensive, especially the impact of property right system reform on forestry economic growth.
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Lisa Ringblom and Maria Johansson
This study aims to deepen the understanding of inequality regimes in male-dominated industries, specifically in Swedish forestry and mining, by exploring how conceptions of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to deepen the understanding of inequality regimes in male-dominated industries, specifically in Swedish forestry and mining, by exploring how conceptions of gender, class and place are articulated and intertwined when doing gender equality in these organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The article draws on empirical material from four research and development projects inspired by a feminist action research methodology.
Findings
This paper shows how gender equality works in these male-dominated organizations simultaneously constructing gender, class and place. When men are at the focal point of gender equality, our empirical findings suggest that blue-collar workers in rural areas are described as “being the problem” for gender inequality in these organizations. Addressing specific groups such as women or blue-collar workers in rural areas is not enough to challenge the inequality regimes that exist in these organizations, since a unilateral focus on certain groups leads to skewed problem formulations.
Originality/value
Research on gender equality work and its relation to intersectionality in male-dominated industries is limited, and by focusing on men and masculinities, this paper contributes to knowledge concerning gender equality in male-dominated industrial organizations.
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Annukka Näyhä, Päivi Pelli and Lauri Hetemäki
The purpose of this paper is to analyze and provide a synthesis of how services are understood, how they are likely to develop and how future development can be studied more…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze and provide a synthesis of how services are understood, how they are likely to develop and how future development can be studied more closely in the forest-based sector (FBS). Services are likely to have an increasing role in the FBS in the future.
Design/methodology/approach
The findings are based on a literature review of FBS outlook studies, strategies and programs and services-related studies in FBS and general services literature. Three case examples of services businesses in FBS companies are presented, and possible foresight approaches related to them are discussed. Foresight methods used in parallel sectors are also discussed.
Findings
The study provides the first systematic introduction, classification and review of FBS services to include both industry- and non-industry-related services. The paper also points out the need for foresight studies and suggests various approaches for an analysis of the potential of FBS services in the future bioeconomy.
Practical implications
The study shows that the role of services in FBS research has been understood too narrowly. As a result, services research has been rather lacking and the future potential of services in the FBS has not been fully acknowledged. The study argues for and points toward the need to use foresight approaches to update FBS strategies, business models and policies to fully benefit from the future potential of services.
Originality/value
The study is a novel introduction, review and discussion of the role of services in the FBS and their future outlook.
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Shaikh Shamim Hasan, Yue Zhang, Xi Chu and Yanmin Teng
Forest as a vital natural resource in China plays an irreplaceable important role in safeguarding ecological security and human survival and development. Due to the vast…
Abstract
Purpose
Forest as a vital natural resource in China plays an irreplaceable important role in safeguarding ecological security and human survival and development. Due to the vast territory, huge population and widespread forest landscape of China, forest management is a complex system involving massive data and various management activities. To effectively implement sustainable forest management, the big data technology has been utilized to analyze China’s forestry resources. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to clarify the role of big data technology in China’s forest management.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors revisited the roles of big data in forest ecosystem monitoring, forestry management system development, and forest policy implementation.
Findings
It demonstrates that big data technology has a great potential in forest ecosystem protection and management, as well as the government’s determination for forest ecosystem protection. However, to deepen the application of big data in forest management, several challenges still need to be tackled.
Originality/value
Thus, enhancing modern science and technology to improve big data, cloud computing, and information technologies and their combinations will contribute to tackle the challenges and achieve wisdom of forest management.
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The forest products processing industry is a key component of the forestry economy, and the level of companies’ operating efficiency directly affects its profitability and market…
Abstract
Purpose
The forest products processing industry is a key component of the forestry economy, and the level of companies’ operating efficiency directly affects its profitability and market competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to deeply study the operation status of forest product processing industry, this paper takes the panel data of 70 listed forest product processing companies from 2015 to 2022 as the basis, and adopts BBC, CCR and DEA-Malmquist models to measure the operating efficiency of these companies. Meanwhile, the Tobit model is applied to deeply explore the impact of innovation input on operating efficiency.
Findings
The results of the paper show that: (1) the overall operating efficiency of listed forest product processing companies performs well, and the improvement of technology level promotes the growth of total factor productivity; (2) innovation input plays a significant positive role in listed forest product processing companies, which positively affects the operating efficiency.
Practical implications
A scientific and reasonable evaluation of the operating efficiency of listed forest product companies is of great practical significance to the development of the forestry industry The study of forest product processing industry is of key significance to the social economy.
Originality/value
This paper explores the improvement of production and operation efficiency of forest products processing enterprises for the purpose of in-depth analysis of the current situation of China's forest products processing enterprises, which is conducive to improving the innovation and operation efficiency of China's forest products processing enterprises, and realizing the high-quality development of China's forest products processing industry.
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The sawmill shootings in British Columbia, Canada, resulted in fatalities and grievous injuries to workers, which have put a sensational face on workplace violence in the forestry…
Abstract
The sawmill shootings in British Columbia, Canada, resulted in fatalities and grievous injuries to workers, which have put a sensational face on workplace violence in the forestry sector. Yet, for all of the attention devoted after this horrific incident, to the growth and possible consequences of workplace violence, little empirical investigation has been done regarding the extent to which this type of violence may have permeated the sawmill forestry workplace in Canada; employees' experiences of workplace violence; employees' definition of workplace violence; the specific type of violence that occurs in sawmills; and the drivers of workplace violence as experienced and perceived by managers, union, and employees in the forestry sector context in British Columbia, Canada.
This research critically explores these questions to better understand employees' experiences of workplace violence, the problems of violence and its implications for workplace stress, well-being, leadership, and corporate governance. This research contributes to the workplace violence body of knowledge as it relates to employment in the forestry sector in British Columbia, Canada.
A mixed methodological approach was adopted using 367 questionnaire survey, 20 telephone interviews, and 2 focus groups lasting 45–60 minutes (managers and employees) were used to focus on managers, union, and employees' accounts of their own experiences and perceptions of workplace violence.
The analysis of the data in this study lends support to the conclusion that workplace violence waged against workers in the forestry sector is significantly different than the violence being perpetrated in other sectors and work settings. The findings further suggest that forestry workers work environment, communities, and activity contributes meaningfully to the differences in workplace violence experienced by Sawmill employees.
Insights obtained from this research can be used to develop educational tools and resources, and new policies to foster workplace practices conducive to reducing drivers to workplace violence, towards a more respectful workplace and overall employee well-being.