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28 March 2026, Volume 06 Issue 01
    

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  • Digital Technology Empowerment of Cultural Industries: Scale and Structure
    Zhang Hongxia, Wei Yijing, Shu Xipeng, Huang Jun
    The Applied Economics Review. 2026, 06(01): 78-105.
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    Based on the classification of the digital economy industry and official data from the National Bureau of Statistics, this paper divides digital technology empowerment in the cultural industry into two categories, digital cultural industries and digitalization of cultural industries. Building on this framework, a digital‑cultural input‑output table is compiled, and the Ghosh model is employed to measure the scale of digital technology empowering cultural industries at the national level (2002‑2023) and provincial level (2007‑2017). Specifically, this paper defines the scale of empowerment as the volume of final products in the cultural industry that rely on digital technology as a factor input. The findings indicate that, in 2023, the scale of digital technology empowering cultural industries reached 1, 686.43 billion yuan, with the empowerment ratio for cultural industries (34.9%) significantly higher than that for non‑cultural industries (11.7%). When categorized by cultural industry type, the cultural service industry is emerging as a key focus and highlight of digital technology empowerment, with its empowerment ratio rising from 22% in 2002 to 39% in 2023. Further, using industry upstreamness indices, the results reveal a significant negative correlation between upstreamness and the empowerment ratio: the empowerment ratio is lower in upstream manufacturing and production segments and higher in downstream terminal service segments. Provincial‑level calculations show that digital technology empowerment degrees across provinces range from 5% to 50%, exhibiting pronounced regional disparities. Eastern regions rank first in both empowerment degree and contribution to cultural industry growth. Empirical analysis reveals that the development scale of both the cultural industry and the digital economy industry constitutes a solid foundation for digital technology to empower the development of cultural industries.
  • Performance‑Based Budgeting and Citizens’ Perceived Governance Quality
    Zhu Changcun, Zhao Jiayi
    The Applied Economics Review. 2026, 06(01): 106-141.
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    This study develops a six‑dimensional framework—spanning human development, social security, social equity, public services, social safety, and social participation—to evaluate public perceptions of government performance, grounded in the “people‑centered development” philosophy. Using biennial data from the Chinese Social Survey (2013‑2021), performance scores were measured via the entropy weight TOPSIS method. Taking the comprehensive roll‑out of provincial budget performance management as a quasi‑natural experiment, a multi‑period difference‑in‑differences model was employed. The results indicate that: (1) perceived governance performance improved fluctuatingly, with an average annual growth of 1.2%; social safety scored highest (67.46), while social participation scored lowest (48.34). (2) The reform significantly boosted overall performance perceptions and notably enhanced evaluations of social security. (3) Policy effects were heterogeneous: improvements were more evident in eastern and central regions, and individuals with agricultural household registration reported a stronger sense of gain than their non‑agricultural counterparts. We recommend deepening the reform by tailoring measures to regional and group differences, strengthening the linkage between performance objectives and public needs, fostering cross‑regional experience sharing with context‑sensitive standards, and expanding public participation channels to address the shortfall in social engagement.
  • Transport Infrastructure Improvement and Cross‑City Manufacturing Investment
    Zhang Ying, Zhang Keyun
    The Applied Economics Review. 2026, 06(01): 142-165.
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    The introduction of both expressways and high‑speed rail (HSR) affects intercity manufacturing investment through time‑space compression effects. Because these two transport modes can substitute for one another in passenger travel, empirical studies of HSR risk substantial overestimation if they fail to account for the parallel availability of expressway connections. To address this issue, this study constructs a matched city‑pair dataset covering expressway openings, HSR openings, and cross‑city manufacturing investments by listed firms. Using a combination of propensity score matching with difference‑in‑differences (PSM‑DID) and instrumental variable (IV) estimation, we examine the impact of HSR on manufacturing investment over the period 2009‑2019. The results indicate that, conditional on the presence of an expressway connection between cities, the opening of HSR significantly promotes cross‑city manufacturing investment by listed companies. This effect is evident in both the number of investing firms and the overall scale of investment, and it holds up well under a series of robustness checks. Further analysis reveals that the HSR effect is stronger within integrated spatial units—such as metropolitan areas, provinces, city clusters, major economic regions, and across the North‑South divide—with the sharpest contrast occurring at the metropolitan scale. Consistent with spread‑backwash dynamics, HSR generally facilitates the flow of capital and technology from core cities to peripheral areas, encouraging pro‑gradient investment and helping to narrow intercity development gaps.
  • The Impact of National Key Ecological Function Zone Designation on the Urban‑Rural Income Gap in Interprovincial Border Counties
    Gui Shanshan, Yang Feihu, Li Yating
    The Applied Economics Review. 2026, 06(01): 166-189.
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    Against the backdrop of advancing common prosperity, narrowing urban‑rural income gap within provincial border counties is essential for coordinated regional development in Chinese modernization. This study examines the impact of establishing National Key Ecological Function Zones (NKEFZ) on the income gap in these counties. Using a panel of Chinese counties from 2007 to 2023, the paper applies a staggered Difference‑in‑Differences (DID) methodology. The findings show that the NKEFZ designation significantly reduces the income gap, a result that withstands various robustness checks. The analysis also finds marked regional differences: the policy effect is stronger in the central and western regions, in counties with lower economic development, higher fiscal pressure, and in formerly impoverished counties. Mechanism analysis shows that the NKEFZ policy narrows income disparities by increasing rural employment and advancing industrial upgrading. This research broadens the analysis of ecological function zone policy from an income distribution perspective, highlights its potential for coordinated urban‑rural development, and provides empirical evidence and policy implications for improving support in border counties.
  • Constructing an Independent Knowledge System for Carbon Economics Rooted in Chinese Practice and Oriented toward Global Governance: A Summary of the Symposium "Global Climate Governance at the Crossroads" and the Founding of the Alliance for an Independent Knowledge System in Carbon Economics
    Carbon Economics Research Team, Renmin University of China
    The Applied Economics Review. 2026, 06(01): 190-208.
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    As China accelerates its "dual carbon" goals and as global climate governance evolves, carbon economics has shifted from focusing on emissions reduction to driving economic and industrial change. On January 16, 2026, Renmin University of China hosted the academic symposium "Global Climate Governance at the Crossroads" and founded the Alliance for an Independent Knowledge System in Carbon Economics. The conference brought together leading scholars and industry experts from universities across the nation. Main outcomes included launching the Alliance, establishing frameworks for alliance development and talent cultivation, and outlining future directions for the discipline. Participants offered systematic recommendations for building an independent knowledge system in carbon economics, covering theoretical foundations, drivers of development, structural frameworks, opportunities, challenges, and next steps, thereby offering Chinese academic insights and talent development solutions to China's green, low‑carbon transition and global climate governance.
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