The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) significantly contributes to the world economy. However, the central part of the Belt and Road (B&R) is located in fragile ecological zones that are arid, semi-arid, or sub-humid. Using the entropy method, the economic-social-natural ecological niches and their coupling coordination during 2007–2019 along B&R’s 11 countries were explored along with regional differences and spatiotemporal characteristics. The economic-social-natural ecological niches were low, with a fluctuating upward trend. Additionally, the average annual growth rate of the synthesis ecological niche dramatically improved after the BRI. Further, the BRI facilitated inter-country trade and promoted the economic ecological niche. However, the BRI marginally affected the social ecological position, possibly because the social ecological niche was high pre-BRI. The natural ecological niche showed a negative growth after the BRI. Further, the coupling coordination of economic-social ecological niche and natural ecological niche showed an upward trend, transforming from severe discoordination to advanced coordination. Although BRI promoted advanced coordination, it did not affect internal categories. Policy recommendations for sustainable development in China-ASEAN Free Trade Area were provided. This study can assist policymakers to balance economic-social development and environmental protection.
The purpose of this study is to explore what are the determinant influencing factors of the dilemma faced by state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) in implementing innovation‐driven development strategy (IDDS), to propose a suitable localized theory. It also suggests specific actions to break the post‐effects dilemma with the support of this theory. Based on the innovation‐driven survey data of provincial SOEs in Gansu Province, this study adopts grounded theory to conduct exploratory research. This paper constructs a behavior process model of “pre‐motivation, innovation path, and post‐effects dilemma” to drive SOE's innovation and expounds on the incidence relation among the three. The results show that the external administrative force and institutional mechanism drive have both indirect and direct impacts on the innovation path choice of SOEs. The endogenous drive is distorted by external administrative force and institutional mechanism drive, leading to the limited innovation path choice and post‐effects dilemma. This paper puts forward the theory of “Attribute Imbalance–Weakened Autonomy–Sluggish Innovation” and explains why it is sometimes difficult to implement the IDDS of SOEs. However, there are some regional limitations in the application scenarios of the theory. Whether it has broader implications need to further explore. Future theoretical testing should be conducted with a sample of SOEs in developed market regions. It is possible to study the differences in the degree of government intervention in SOEs, the ways of intervention, and the impact of these differences on SOEs' balancing dual attribute conflicts.
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