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The purpose of this paper is to extend game analysis to explore decision-making mechanisms for promoting a specific type of products, low energy consumption for individual one while the total energy consumption is huge due to the high quantity of sales, that is, low for individual and high for total (LIHT) in terms of energy consumption.

Game models are developed to compare decisions of optimal prices for newly developed and environmentally friendly (NDEF) and regular products as well as associated sales quantity, profits, carbon emissions under different governmental policies, along with a case of low energy-intensive broadband terminal products in the Chinese telecommunication industry under the carbon tax and subsidy policies.

For both NDEF and regular products, optimal prices decrease under the subsidy policy while both increase under the tax policy. Manufacturers’ decision of optimal prices is highly relevant with unit carbon tax/subsidy and the consumers’ preference. Both the tax and subsidy policies can improve consumption of NDEF products while the subsidy policy can be more effective at the current initial stage.

This paper provides decision support for manufacturers to promote sustainable consumption of LIHT products. Research ideas on models development and solutions for optimal prices can be applied to other LIHT products.

The results provide insights for governments on how to effectively evaluate and motivate sustainable consumption for LIHT products.

This paper first explores how to motivate sustainable consumption of LIHT products by developing models, examining effectiveness of potential governmental policies as well as associated carbon emissions.

How do energy consumption, efficiency and economic performance vary between small enterprises belonging to two different product clusters whose production process and technologies differ?

The objectives are analyzed based on empirical data gathered from a field survey of small enterprises with reference to auto ancillaries in Shimoga and brick‐making enterprises in Malur of Karnataka State in India. Simple averages, correlation and multiple‐regression techniques are used for the analysis.

The study brought out that higher energy intensity results in higher share of energy cost in total variable cost. Energy intensity had a negative relationship with value of output. Energy makes a statistically significant contribution to returns to scale. The classification of small enterprises into two groups based on above average energy intensity and below average energy intensity, and the subsequent regression analysis brought out that energy intensity had a positive influence on returns to scale in auto ancillaries whereas a negative influence on returns to scale in bricks enterprises.

The sample‐size formulation could not be done on a scientific basis due to the absence of comprehensive data on all small enterprises operating in the respective clusters and therefore, the findings may not be generalized.

Industry specific characteristics must be taken into account while introducing “energy efficiency improvement” programmes as a means of enhancing competitiveness in “energy intensive” small enterprises.

The paper illustrates the scope for energy conservation and efficiency improvement in Indian small enterprises.

Despite the success in achieving the objectives for the use of renewable energy sources, the EU’s competitiveness is not at the desired level. In particular, the largest decreases in fossil-type energy intensity were observed in last 13 members of EU, namely, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. The purpose of this paper is to trace how these countries protect the competitiveness of their dirty (energy-intensive) industries.

The study employs revealed comparative advantage (RCA) indices to measure the comparative advantage (CA) of EU-13 in dirty industries for the period 1995-2014 and assesses these indices in the framework of EU’s climate policy.

Some policies which make industries to adapt EU’s 20-20-20 targets are forcing industries. In order to compete, these industries are leaving Europe and looking elsewhere. In this study the authors found that, particularly chemicals and non-metallic mineral manufactures resulted in a weakening of their CA over the years in some of these members. Similarly it is found that the RCA indices of iron and steel and non-ferrous metals are decreasing.

The study addresses the EU-13’s position in terms of their competitiveness and find the connection with the EU’s climate policy through their RCAs of dirty industries.

The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the external factors of the solar dryer design that influenced the thermal efficiency of the solar dryer that contribute to the better quality of dried food products.

From the reviewed works of literature, the external factors including the drying temperature, airflow rate and relative humidity have significant effects to increase the rate of moisture diffusivity of the freshly harvested products during the drying process. The proper controls of airflow rate (Q), velocity (V), relative humidity (RH%) and drying temperature (°C) can influence the dried product quality. The dehydration ratio is the procedure to measure the quality of the dried food product.

The indirect solar dryer including the mixed-mode, hybrid and integrated was found shorter in drying time and energy-intensive compared to sun drying and direct drying. The recommended drying temperature is from 35.5°C to 70°C with 1–2 m/s velocity and 20%–60% relative humidity. The optimum thermal efficiency can be reached by additional devices, including solar collectors and solar accumulators. It gives a simultaneous effect and elongated the drying temperature 8%–10% higher than ambient temperature with 34%–40% energy saving. The recommended airflow rate for drying is 0.1204 to 0.0894 kg/s. Meanwhile, an airflow rate at 0.035–0.04 kg/m2 is recommended for an optimum drying kinetic performance.

This paper discusses the influence of the external factors of the solar dryer design on the thermal performance of the solar dryer and final dried food products quality. Therefore, the findings cannot serve as a statistical generalization but should instead be viewed as the quantitative validation subjected to fundamentals of the solar dryer design process and qualitative observation of the dried food product quality.

A well-designed of solar dryer with low operating and initial fabrication cost, which is simple to operate is useful for the farmers to preserve surplus harvested crops to an acceptable and marketable foods product. The optimization of the external and internal factors can contribute to solar dryer thermal performance that later provides an organoleptic drying condition that results in good quality of dried product and better drying process. The recommended drying temperature for a drying method is between 35°C up to 70°C. Drying at 65.56°C was effective to kill microorganisms. Meanwhile, drying at 50°C consider as average drying temperature. The recommended airflow rate for drying is 0.1204 to 0.0894 kg/s. Meanwhile, air flowrate at 0.035–0.04 kg/m² is recommended for optimum drying kinetic performance. The recommended value of aspect ratio and mass flow rate is 200 to 300 for an optimum evaporation rate. The good quality of dried products and good performance of solar dryers can be developed by proper control of airflow rate (Q), velocity (V), relative humidity (RH%) and drying temperature (°C).

The proper control of the drying temperature, relative humidity and airflow rate during the drying process will influence the final dried food products in terms of shape, color, aroma, texture, rupture and nutritious value. It is crucial to control the drying parameters because over-drying caused an increment of energy cost and reduces the dry matter. The quick-drying will disturb the chemical process during fermentation to be completed.

This study identifies the potential of the solar drying method for dehydrating agricultural produces for later use with the organoleptic drying process. The organoleptic drying process can reduce mold growth by promising an effective diffusion of moisture from freshly harvested products. The research paper gives useful understandings that well-designed solar drying technology gives a significant effect on dried product quality.

Energy efficiency is critical for global sustainability (International Energy Agency, 2019). The purpose of this paper is to examine how agency conflicts arising from pyramidal ownership structures impact the energy intensity (EI) of group-affiliated Indian firms. Group-affiliated firms face unique governance challenges. For instance, parent owners (promoters) may transfer profits from one group-affiliated firm to another firm in which they have greater ownership. The authors hypothesize that such governance issues will lead to underinvestment in energy-saving projects among group firms in which promoters have a low ownership stake, resulting in their greater EI.

The authors measure EI as the ratio of total energy expense to total sales revenue (EI) and as the industry-adjusted version of this ratio. Group-affiliated Indian firms are divided into high- and low-stake firms based on the sample’s median promoter ownership.

Results support the authors’ prediction: group firms in which promoters have low ownership are more energy intensive, consistent with these firms being exposed to greater governance challenges and agency conflicts that result in operating inefficiencies and/or underinvestment in energy-saving projects.

Given energy efficiency will be key in addressing climate change, this study could raise awareness among activists, motivate regulators to consider agency problems among group-affiliated firms in emerging markets and may underscore the importance of environmental-related corporate disclosures.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to identify the significant impact that firm ownership structure and associated governance challenges have on corporate EI.

Because of growing energy consumption and increasing absolute CO₂ emissions, the recent calibrations about the environmental sustainability across the globe have mandated to achieve the minimal energy consumption through employing energy-efficient technology. This study aims to estimate linkage between simple measure of energy efficiency indicator that is reciprocal of energy intensity and total factor productivity (TFP) in case of Indian paper industry for 21 major states. In addition, the study incorporates the other control variables like labour productivity, capital utilization and structure of paper industry to scrutinize their likely impact on energy efficiency performance of the industry.

To derive the plausible estimates of TFP, the study applies the much celebrated Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) methodology. Using the regional level data for the period 2001-2013, the study employs instrumental variable-generalized method of moments (GMM-IV) technique to examine the nature of relationship among the variables involved in the analysis.

An elementary examination of energy intensity shows that not all states are equally energy intensive. States like Goa, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu are less energy intensive, whereas Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Punjab are most energy-intensive states on the basis of their state averages over the whole study period. The results estimated through GMM-IV show that increasing level of TFP is associated with lower level of energy per unit of output. Along this better skills and capacity utilization are also found to have positive impact on energy efficiency performance of industry. However, the potential heterogeneity within the structure of industry itself is found responsible for its higher energy intensity.

States should ensure and undertake substantial investment projects in the research and development of energy-efficient technology and that targeted allocations could be reinforced for more fruitful results. Factors aiming at improving the labour productivity should be given extra emphasis together with capital deepening and widening, needed for energy conservation and environmental sustainability. Given the dependence of structure of paper industry on the multitude of factors like regional inequality, economic growth, industrial structure and the resource endowment together with the issues of fragmented sizes, poor infrastructure and availability and affordability of raw materials etc., states should actively promote the coordination and cooperation among themselves to reap the benefits of technological advancements through technological spill overs. In addition, owing to their respective state autonomies, state governments should set their own energy saving targets by taking into account the respective potentials and opportunities for the different industries. Despite the requirement of energy-efficient innovations, however, the cons of technological advancements and the legal frameworks on the employment structure and distributional status should be taken care of before their adoption and execution.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that empirically examines the linkage between energy efficiency and TFP in case of Indian paper industry. The application of improved methods like Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) to derive the TFP measure and the use of GMM-IV to account for potential econometric problems like that of endogeneity will again add to the novelty of study.

This study aims to identify and analyse energy intensity in Indonesia’s manufacturing industry based on industrial sub-sector, island region, technology intensity, firm size, type of ownership and exporter status to determine which of these characteristics have the highest potential to decrease energy intensity.

Using firm characteristics data from statistics of large and medium industries in Indonesia, this study decomposed energy consumption of Indonesian firms into economic activity, economic structure and energy intensity for the period 2010–2014 through the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI).

The results showed the decomposed energy intensity based on the six sub-categories. From the sub-categories, several characteristics which induced the most increases in energy intensity are highlighted. Several industrial sub-sectors were classified as highly energy-consuming, including rubber and plastic products, glass and non-metal mineral products, food, electrical machinery and apparatus, chemical, paper, motor vehicles and trailers and tobacco. Results from other sub-categories indicated that firms with high energy intensity were located in the Java--Bali region, had medium technology intensity and were exporters. Meanwhile, firm size and ownership type sub-categories did not show clear differences in energy intensity.

This study provides more focused policy recommendations for related policymakers and stakeholders to emphasise the most energy-inefficient and energy-intensive firm based on the results from each sub-category and hence policy priorities to reduce energy consumption can be well-targeted.

This study contributes to the field through a more thorough energy intensity analysis based on the classification of Indonesian firm characteristics to provide a more detailed insight on the cause of the ever-increasing energy intensity level in the country.

This paper aims to examine the asymmetric impact of the oil price increase and decrease on stock returns at the firm level.

To ascertain the impact oil price can exert on the stock price at the firm level, this study uses panel structural vector auto regression with various linear and nonlinear measures of oil price shock on a data set, containing 1,168 firms listed in Indian stock markets. This study also considers stock index returns, Fama-French factors and inflation as control variables.

This paper finds evidence that at firm level, net oil price increase and decrease have an asymmetric impact on stock returns. Other oil price shock measures, namely, shock because of oil price increase and decrease, do not show any sign of asymmetric impact on stock returns.

The comparison of firm-level return on its response towards oil price fluctuation can give valuable insights into a firm’s features.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the introduction of three specific fiscal flexible mechanisms such as VAT surcharges/discounts, surcharges on import/manufacture of risk substances and maturity land tax to implement a new environmental fiscal reform that aims to reduce pollutions and emissions and avoid a regressive impact on low-income households using a feedback system.

The idea behind this article is to explore alternative environmental taxation system that aims to foster the transition to social-ecological sustainability without affect negatively poor and low-income households. It looks at the potential of environmental fiscal reform in terms of environmental benefits and present in the first section, evidence of some economic regressive impact caused by environmental fiscal reform in European Union from previous empirical studies. The article then introduces of a feedback mechanism to create a repayment system, such as rebate or cash transfer to compensate the regressive effect of the levy being added to the consumer price affecting low-income households in a very short period and push consumers to buy alternative eco-friendly products and services and to stimulate the market to offer them.

Lowering VAT rate for green products and services has the potential to increase demand for sustainable products and services and stimulate green jobs. Surcharges on import and manufacture of risk substances play a significant role to discourage the import of hazardous and pollutant substances by putting price on them and push the industrial sector towards a medium and long-term transition. Lowering taxes rates for buildings in inner cities encourage improvements and renovations, while raising tax on peri-urban areas discourage land speculation in areas with higher grade of biodiversity. This fiscal mechanism indirectly will reduce private and public transport emissions caused by urban sprawling and travel costs, reduce public infrastructure costs for connecting suburban area to the inner city and reduce the loss of urban-edge farmland area that are vital for smart urban growth.

The previous studies on the economic impact of the on environmental fiscal reform analysis, have focused on environmental aspects, economic growth and employment, but little on the regressive impact in short and medium terms on least wealthy sections of society. The proposed feedback mechanism aims to reduce distortion and inequalities caused by surcharges on existing taxation to low-income using monetary repayment measures, especially for products and services with elastic demand and no substitutes.