In recent years, the overall strength of Western developed countries, led by the United States, has declined relatively, resulting in a trend of decentralization. This has posed severe challenges to the traditional gl...In recent years, the overall strength of Western developed countries, led by the United States, has declined relatively, resulting in a trend of decentralization. This has posed severe challenges to the traditional global governance system with regard to trade, security, and multilateral cooperation. However, this trend also provides a historical opportunity to transform the global governance system into one that is more inclusive and equitable. This can be seen in the reconstruction of value priorities, the adjustment of governance focus, the reform of governance mechanisms, and the promotion of new mechanisms. Only by adhering to openness and inclusiveness and balancing rights and responsibilities can we build a future governance order that conforms to the common interests of all humanity.展开更多
In response to the critical need to balance fiscal expenditure governance with sustainable development,this study identifies the optimal level of fiscal expenditure decentralization that enhances sustainable outcomes....In response to the critical need to balance fiscal expenditure governance with sustainable development,this study identifies the optimal level of fiscal expenditure decentralization that enhances sustainable outcomes.The study aims to determine the optimal expenditure decentralization that maximizes sustainable development outcomes across these dimensions.Theoretically,we analyze the impact mechanism of expenditure decentralization on sustainable development and hypothesize that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between them,along with the possibility of finding an optimal level of expenditure decentralization.We test this hypothesis by measuring sustainable development in the context of a panel data set for 52 countries covering the period 1991–2016 using the National Sustainable Development Index(NSDI).We find strong support for the inverted U-shaped relationship between expenditure decentralization and sustainable development in both the short and long run.Sustainable development is the coordination of economic,social,and environmental development to balance intergenerational welfare and maximize the total welfare of all generations.Excessive and insufficient expenditure decentralization can potentially negatively affect the efficiency of public goods provision and residents’utility,thereby adversely impacting total welfare and sustainable development.The results are robust to alternative specifications and to IV estimation to correct for potential endogeneity.The expenditure decentralization level most conducive to sustainable development lies between 30.9%and 34.5%.The optimal decentralization range was determined using the Lind–Mehlum method,supporting the main findings of this study.This research thus contributes to the literature by quantifying the complex relationship between fiscal decentralization policies and sustainable development,providing a clear,actionable pathway for policymakers seeking sustainable outcomes.展开更多
The proof-of-stake(PoS)mechanism is a consensus protocol within blockchain technology that determines the validation of transactions and the minting of new blocks based on the participant’s stake in the cryptocurrenc...The proof-of-stake(PoS)mechanism is a consensus protocol within blockchain technology that determines the validation of transactions and the minting of new blocks based on the participant’s stake in the cryptocurrency network.In contrast to proof-of-work(PoW),which relies on computational power to validate transactions,PoS employs a deterministic and resourceefficient approach to elect validators.Whereas,an inherent risk of PoS is the potential for centralization among a small cohort of network participants possessing substantial stakes,jeopardizing system decentralization and posing security threats.To mitigate centralization issues within PoS,this study introduces an incentive-aligned mechanism named decentralized proof-of-stake(DePoS),wherein the second-largest stakeholder is chosen as the final validator with a higher probability.Integrated with the verifiable random function(VRF),DePoS rewards the largest stakeholder with uncertainty,thus disincentivizing stakeholders from accumulating the largest stake.Additionally,a dynamic evolutionary game model is innovatively developed to simulate the evolution of staking pools,thus facilitating the investigation of staking pool selection dynamics and equilibrium stability across PoS and DePoS systems.The findings demonstrate that DePoS generally fosters wealth decentralization by discouraging the accumulation of significant cryptocurrency holdings.Through theoretical analysis of stakeholder predilection in staking pool selection and the simulation of the evolutionary tendency in pool scale,this research demonstrates the comparative advantage in decentralization offered by DePoS over the conventional PoS.展开更多
Purpose:This paper examines African Journals Online(AJOL)as a bibliometric resource,providing a structured dataset of journal and publication metadata.In addition,it integrates AJOL data with OpenAlex to enhance metad...Purpose:This paper examines African Journals Online(AJOL)as a bibliometric resource,providing a structured dataset of journal and publication metadata.In addition,it integrates AJOL data with OpenAlex to enhance metadata coverage and improve interoperability with other bibliometric sources.Design/methodology/approach:The journal list and publications indexed in AJOL were retrieved using web scraping techniques.This paper details the database construction process,highlighting its strengths and limitations,and presents a descriptive analysis of AJOL’s indexed journals and publications.Findings:The publication analysis demonstrates a steady growth in the number of publications over time but reveals significant disparities in their distribution across African countries.This paper presents an example of the possibility of integrating both sources using author country data from OpenAlex.The analysis of author contributions reveals that African journals serve as both regional and international venues,confirming that African journals play a dual role in fostering both regional and global research engagement.Research limitations:While AJOL contains relevant information for identifying and providing insights about African publications and journals,its metadata are limited.Therefore,the kind of analysis that can be performed with the database presented here is also limited.The integration with OpenAlex aims to overcome some of the limitations.Finally,although some automatic citation procedures have been performed,the metadata has not been manually curated.Therefore,if errors or inaccuracies are present in the AJOL,they may be reproduced in this database.Practical implications:The database introduced in this article contributes to the accessibility of African scholarly publications by providing structured,accessible metadata derived from the AJOL.It facilitates bibliometric analyses that are more representative of African research activities.This contribution complements ongoing efforts to develop alternative data sources and infrastructure that better reflect the diversity of global knowledge production.Originality/value:This paper presents a novel database for bibliometric analysis and offers a detailed report of the retrieval and construction procedures.The inclusion of matched data with OpenAlex further enhances the database’s utility.By showcasing AJOL’s potential,this study contributes to the broader goal of fostering inclusivity and improving the representation of African research in global bibliometric analyses.展开更多
The blockchain trilemma—balancing decentralization,security,and scalability—remains a critical challenge in distributed ledger technology.Despite significant advancements,achieving all three attributes simultaneousl...The blockchain trilemma—balancing decentralization,security,and scalability—remains a critical challenge in distributed ledger technology.Despite significant advancements,achieving all three attributes simultaneously continues to elude most blockchain systems,often forcing trade-offs that limit their real-world applicability.This review paper synthesizes current research efforts aimed at resolving the trilemma,focusing on innovative consensus mechanisms,sharding techniques,layer-2 protocols,and hybrid architectural models.We critically analyze recent breakthroughs,including Directed Acyclic Graph(DAG)-based structures,cross-chain interoperability frameworks,and zero-knowledge proof(ZKP)enhancements,which aimto reconcile scalability with robust security and decentralization.Furthermore,we evaluate the trade-offs inherent in these approaches,highlighting their practical implications for enterprise adoption,decentralized finance(DeFi),and Web3 ecosystems.By mapping the evolving landscape of solutions,this review identifies gaps in currentmethodologies and proposes future research directions,such as adaptive consensus algorithms and artificial intelligence-driven(AI-driven)governance models.Our analysis underscores that while no universal solution exists,interdisciplinary innovations are progressively narrowing the trilemma’s constraints,paving the way for next-generation blockchain infrastructures.展开更多
Optimizing routing and resource allocation in decentralized unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)networks remains challenging due to interference and rapidly changing topologies.The authors introduce a novel framework combinin...Optimizing routing and resource allocation in decentralized unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)networks remains challenging due to interference and rapidly changing topologies.The authors introduce a novel framework combining double deep Q-networks(DDQNs)and graph neural networks(GNNs)for joint routing and resource allocation.The framework uses GNNs to model the network topology and DDQNs to adaptively control routing and resource allocation,addressing interference and improving network performance.Simulation results show that the proposed approach outperforms traditional methods such as Closest-to-Destination(c2Dst),Max-SINR(mSINR),and Multi-Layer Perceptron(MLP)-based models,achieving approximately 23.5% improvement in throughput,50% increase in connection probability,and 17.6% reduction in number of hops,demonstrating its effectiveness in dynamic UAV networks.展开更多
The hybrid series-parallel microgrid attracts more attention by combining the advantages of both the series-stacked voltage and parallel-expanded capacity.Low-voltage distributed generations(DGs)are connected in serie...The hybrid series-parallel microgrid attracts more attention by combining the advantages of both the series-stacked voltage and parallel-expanded capacity.Low-voltage distributed generations(DGs)are connected in series to form the intra-string,and then multiple strings are interconnected in parallel.For the existing control strategies,both intra-string and inter-string depend on the centralized or distributed control with high communication reliance.It has limited scalability and redundancy under abnormal conditions.Alternatively,in this study,an intra-string distributed and inter-string decentralized control framework is proposed.Within the string,a few DGs close to the AC bus are the leaders to get the string power information and the rest DGs are the followers to acquire the synchronization information through the droop-based distributed consistency.Specifically,the output of the entire string has the active power−angular frequency(ω-P)droop characteristic,and the decentralized control among strings can be autonomously guaranteed.Moreover,the secondary control is designed to realize multi-mode objectives,including on/off-grid mode switching,grid-connected power interactive management,and off-grid voltage quality regulation.As a result,the proposed method has the ability of plug-and-play capabilities,single-point failure redundancy,and seamless mode-switching.Experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed practical solution.展开更多
Topological information is very important for understanding different types of online web services,in particular,for online social networks(OSNs).People leverage such information for various applications,such as socia...Topological information is very important for understanding different types of online web services,in particular,for online social networks(OSNs).People leverage such information for various applications,such as social relationship modeling,community detection,user profiling,and user behavior prediction.However,the leak of such information will also pose severe challenges for user privacy preserving due to its usefulness in characterizing users.Large-scale web crawling-based information probing is a representative way for obtaining topological information of online web services.In this paper,we explore how to defend against topological information probing for online web services,with a particular focus on online decentralized web services such as Mastodon.Different from traditional centralized web services,the federated nature of decentralized web services makes the identification of distributed crawlers even more difficult.We analyze the behavioral differences between legitimate users and crawlers in decentralized web services and highlight two key behavioral attributes that distinguish crawlers from legitimate users:instance interaction preferences and hop count in profile viewing patterns.Based on these insights:we propose a supervised machine learning-based framework for crawler detection,which is able to learn the federation-aware feature representations for users.To validate the framework’s effectiveness,we construct a labeled dataset that integrates real users with real-trace driven simulated crawlers in Mastodon.We use this dataset to train various supervised classifiers for crawler detection.Experimental results demonstrate that our framework can achieve an excellent classification performance.Moreover,it is observed that federation-aware features are effective in improving detection performance.展开更多
We analyzed the magnitude of land use land cover changes and identified drivers of those changes at Awash National Park, Ethiopia, using aerial photographs, satellite images and field observation. Scattered bushland—...We analyzed the magnitude of land use land cover changes and identified drivers of those changes at Awash National Park, Ethiopia, using aerial photographs, satellite images and field observation. Scattered bushland—the most important habitat for the wild animals, declined drastically. Areas under grassland, farmland or open land increased over the study period. Policy and park border demarcation issues were identified as drivers of change before 1995 (before decentralization), whereas livestock grazing was indicated to be the leading driver of change after 1995. Major events and causes that largely explained these changes include immigration of the Ittu community, land tenure system, drought, poaching, use policy issues and regional economic and infrastructural development. Our study reveals that the sustainability of the park calls for an immediate action to reduce the ever increasing human and livestock pressure on park resources.展开更多
In rapid socio-economic developme nt,the process of concentration and dispersal of various elements tends to be more dramatic,tremendously in fluencing the shaping and transform ation of the space in metropolitan area...In rapid socio-economic developme nt,the process of concentration and dispersal of various elements tends to be more dramatic,tremendously in fluencing the shaping and transform ation of the space in metropolitan area.Survey of spatial concentration and decent ralization has thus become a basic me thod in examining metropolitan spatial evolution.In this research,three elements were selected as the essential indicato rs of the process:demographic density distribu-tion,employment density distribut ion and business office location.Performance of these elements in Nanji ng City was exam-ined historically.As Nanjing City c ould be regarded as a representative of metropolitan areas in China,its s ituation large-ly suggestes the general characteristics in similar areas of China.Hence based on the investigation of Nanji ng City,four general implications were highligh ted.First,metropolitan areas inChina are in a violentprocess and shift of spatialconcentra-tion and decentralization.Second,from now to at least the near future,c oncentration will continue to be the central fea-ture.Third,the landscape of metrop olitan areas basically exhibits a dual structure character.The gap in en vironmental and ecological qualities among different districts will continue for a l ong time.Fourth,Central Business District(CBD)is playing an important role in helpi ng to convert the traditionally single-centered city structure into a polycentric one.展开更多
While China's economic growth has been impressive since 1978, regional disparity in terms of provincial per capita GDP has been increasing. On the other hand, this rapid but uneven growth was accompanied by China&...While China's economic growth has been impressive since 1978, regional disparity in terms of provincial per capita GDP has been increasing. On the other hand, this rapid but uneven growth was accompanied by China's deepening openness and structural reforms including the development of non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) and fiscal decentralization. Based on quantitative analyses, this paper tries to explore the features of regional disparity in China and the relationships between regional growth and China's openness and economic structure reforms in the period from 1981 to 2000. The paper finds that the catching-up of the coastal region to the initially rich provinces, which are mainly located in inland areas, brought about a convergence of the growth pattern across provinces in the 1980s.The subsequent divergence in the provincial growth rates between the coast and the interior generated an enlarging regional disparity in China in the 1990s. The ever-faster growth in the coastal region was benefited by China's openness and the development of non-state-owned enterprises. The development of non-state-owned enterprises underlies the higher operational efficiency in the coastal region. Additionally, with the insignificant regression results, fiscal decentralization was observed to facilitate faster growth in the coast region. The findings justify the initiative of the 'West Region Development Strategy' and offer some policy implications for China.展开更多
The objective of this article is to speculate on resort restructuring in the market-oriented reform process in China.Previous studies show that spatial disequilibrium was aggravated by decentralization,which leads to ...The objective of this article is to speculate on resort restructuring in the market-oriented reform process in China.Previous studies show that spatial disequilibrium was aggravated by decentralization,which leads to the difference in tourism policy and investment,public goods,and service;a profound analytical framework is much needed for further empirical studies.This article has reviewed the relevant studies on links between decentralization and restructuring,spatial influences of decentralization on tourism,based on which we put forward the theoretical framework of resort spatial restructuring from the view of political economy analysis,then we elaborate on and discuss it based on the example of Sanya,China.In short,the article suggests that decentralization of fiscal responsibilities and institutional power contributes to the spatial disequilibrium of tourism industrial structure,land use,public infrastructure and service facilities,and to community inequality.Interests of government,investors,and community should be comprehensively coordinated in the resort spatial restructuring process from three aspects:restructuring government,optimizing space structure,and tourism industry.Furthermore,we argue that resort restructuring in the context of Sanya requires coordination of various interest groups through four ways:restructure the government power under administrative division adjustment,optimizing spatial structure,expanding industrial space to diversified tourism products,and building resort management services organization.Finally,we discussed some policy requirements for resort sustainable development.展开更多
The argument over fiscal decentralization and carbon dioxide emission(CO_(2))reduction has received much attention.However,evidence to back this claim is limited.Economic theory predicts that fiscal decentralization a...The argument over fiscal decentralization and carbon dioxide emission(CO_(2))reduction has received much attention.However,evidence to back this claim is limited.Economic theory predicts that fiscal decentralization affects environmental quality,but the specifics of this relationship are still up for debate.Some scholars noted that fiscal decentralization might lead to a race to the top,whereas others contended that it would result in a race to the bottom.In light of the current debates in environmental and development economics,this study aims to provide insight into how this relationship may function in South Africa from 1960 to 2020.In contrast to the existing research,the present study uses a novel dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulation approach to assess the positive and negative changes in fiscal decentralization,scale effect,technique effect,technological innovation,foreign direct investment,energy consumption,industrial growth,and trade openness on CO_(2)emissions.The following are the main findings:(i)Fiscal decentralization had a CO_(2)emission reduction impact in the short and long run,highlighting the presence of the race to the top approach.(ii)Economic growth(as represented by the scale effect)eroded ecological integrity.However,its square(as expressed by technique effect)aided in strengthening ecological protection,validating the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis.(iii)CO_(2)emissions were driven by energy utilization,trade openness,industrial value-added,and foreign direct investment,whereas technological innovation boosted ecological integrity.Findings suggest that further fiscal decentralization should be undertaken through further devolution of power to local entities,particularly regarding environmental policy issues,to maintain South Africa’s ecological sustainability.South Africa should also establish policies to improve environmental sustainability by strengthening a lower layer of government and clarifying responsibilities at the national and local levels to fulfill the energy-saving functions of fiscal expenditures.展开更多
By motivating local governments to fght for financial resources, China＇s tax sharing reform has affected the structure of financial decentralization and inflated local financial systems, thus spawning regional financ...By motivating local governments to fght for financial resources, China＇s tax sharing reform has affected the structure of financial decentralization and inflated local financial systems, thus spawning regional financial risks. Based on theoretical analysis and empirical evidence, this paper has arrived at the following findings： due to different policy objectives, central and local governments exhibit different fiscal and financial behaviors; public finance and financial sector have become financing instruments with certain convertibility under local economic growth framework,＂ fiscal decentralization inevitably affects financial decentralization and lays the foundation for provincial fiscal disparities, resulting in a certain spatial effect of interprovincial fiscal variable; fnancial explicit centralization/implicit decentralization and fiscal centralization have fueled local competition for financial resources and resulted in correlation between the spatial effects of provincial financial and fiscal variables, and moreover, their mismatch has also spawned fiscal and financial risks on various fronts. Hence, setting clear boundaries of financial centralization and decentralization and ensuring local government fiscal accountability is the key to the prevention and mitigation of fiscal and financial risks in China.展开更多
Controversies exist in literature regarding what indicators should be employed to measure China's fiscal decentralization. This paper measures China's fiscal decentralization by the sharing ratios of county-le...Controversies exist in literature regarding what indicators should be employed to measure China's fiscal decentralization. This paper measures China's fiscal decentralization by the sharing ratios of county-level VAT and corporate income tax(CIT). This approach avoids such problems as homogeneous denominator, and reflects the intricate interactions between governments at different levels. Based on extensive sources including the National Fiscal Statistical Information at Prefecture and County Levels and China County(City) Socio-Economic Statistical Yearbook over the 1998-2007 period, our estimation and analysis led to the following findings:(1) Since 2002, counties have retained a falling share of revenues;(2) a multidimensional horizontal comparison reveals a pattern in the county-level tax sharing ratio, i.e. counties in central and eastern regions retain a higher share of tax revenues compared with those in western and northwestern regions.These findings explain the fiscal difficulties at the grassroots level, and can be used to conduct a quantitative analysis of the determinants and economic effects of China's fiscal decentralization."展开更多
This article provides a coherent framework within which to understand China’s development model,as well as the successes and the failures of China’s decentralization approach to reform.The combination of political c...This article provides a coherent framework within which to understand China’s development model,as well as the successes and the failures of China’s decentralization approach to reform.The combination of political centralization and economic decentralization provide local government with enough incentives to develop local economies,in particular incentives to promote market privatisation locally.However,the relative evaluation-based incentive schemes lead to inter- regional market segmentation,increasing inter-regional development gaps and the unequal provision of certain public goods.The success of early-stage reform can be attributed to the benefits of the decentralization approach.The next stage reform should however focus on minimizing the associated costs.China’s gradualist reform can be seen as a mechanism design issue under the control of central government.Therefore,it is essential to take both the costs and benefits of the decentralization approach into account in the design of the next-stage reform package.展开更多
With the development of intelligent bionic robots and the improvement of military application,a single robot cannot meet the requirements of the tasks of the current era.The more complex tasks require not only that th...With the development of intelligent bionic robots and the improvement of military application,a single robot cannot meet the requirements of the tasks of the current era.The more complex tasks require not only that the robot be able to pass through the field barriers and the amphibious environment,but also that the robot be able to collaborate in a multi-robot system.Consequently,research on the multi-robot control system of spherical amphibious robots is very important.Presently,the main research on amphibious robots is to improve the functions of a single robot,in the absence of the study of the multi-robot control system.Existing systems primarily use a centralized control methodology.Although the transfer of central node can be achieved,there is still a problem of Byzantine fault tolerance in military applications,that is,when the amphibious multi-robot system is invaded by the enemy.The central node may not only fail to accomplish the task,but also lose control of other robots,with severe consequences.To solve the above problems,this paper proposed a decentralized method of spherical amphibious multi-robot control system based on blockchain technology.First,the point-to-point information network based on long range radio technology of low power wide area network was set up,we designed the blockchain system for embedded application environment and the decentralized hardware and software architecture of multi-robot control system.On this basis,the consensus plugin,smart contract and decentralized multi-robot control algorithm were designed to achieve decentralization.The experimental results of consensus of spherical amphibious multi-robot showed the effectiveness of the decentralization.展开更多
This paper investigates the effect of local government intervention on capital deepening of manufacturing sector by using interprovincial panel data sets of 28 Chinese provinces,municipalities and autonomous regions b...This paper investigates the effect of local government intervention on capital deepening of manufacturing sector by using interprovincial panel data sets of 28 Chinese provinces,municipalities and autonomous regions between 1994 and 2011.Theoretical research indicates that as a transitional economy,China's local government intervention in corporate investment behaviors will cause excessive investment,thus bringing about a long-term and sustained tendency of capital deepening in manufacturing sector.Empirical test further discovers that in a certain range,the phenomenon of capital deepening in manufacturing sector is not an inevitable result endogenous to economic development and technology progress,and that investment behaviors of manufacturing sector are largely subject to the external institutional environment.Fiscal decentralization has indeed promoted capital deepening of manufacturing sector.Financial credit expansion and interventions in SOEs are major instruments for local governments to intervene in the capital deepening of manufacturing sector and such an influence is particularly significant for China's central,western and northeast regions.Therefore,clarifying government functions and improving local government performance review mechanism are of great significance to the healthy development of China's manufacturing sector.展开更多
Improvement of the macroeconomic governance system as an important part of the national governance system is a key initiative to address major economic problems in the new era.The coordination and economic regulatory ...Improvement of the macroeconomic governance system as an important part of the national governance system is a key initiative to address major economic problems in the new era.The coordination and economic regulatory effects of fiscal and monetary policies are subject to the arrangements of fiscal and financial decentralization systems.Analysis revealed a mismatch between China’s fiscal income decentralization and fiscal spending decentralization,as manifested in the clear decentralization of fiscal revenue and vague decentralization of fiscal spending;in pursuing local economic stability,local governments seek other sources of revenue and compete for financial resources,as manifested in apparent financial centralization and implicit financial decentralization,causing financial decentralization to be inconsistent between various levels of government and between government and the market.The above-mentioned problems are reflected in mutual conversion between public finance and financial intermediation as two financial allocation methods and mutual transmission between fiscal and financial risks,making the case for enhancing coordination between fiscal and monetary policies.In creating a scientific macroeconomic governance system,therefore,we must establish clear local government responsibilities,reduce the proportion of local fiscal spending,clarify the orientations and relief boundary of fiscal and monetary policies,moderately decentralize financial powers,and give better play to the role of local governments in improving the quality of economic development and controlling major risks.展开更多
Based on the panel data of 272 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2017,this study used the comprehensive index of environmental pollution to measure local environmental pollution,and employed the panel simu...Based on the panel data of 272 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2017,this study used the comprehensive index of environmental pollution to measure local environmental pollution,and employed the panel simultaneous equation to analyze the relationship between fiscal decentralization,foreign direct investment,and environmental pollution.The results showed that environmental pollution has the characteristics of time inertia and positive spatial spillover;fiscal decentralization and local government competition have a significant“race to bottom”effect on environmental pollution;and with the increase of fiscal decentralization,environmental quality will deteriorate.In the interaction between foreign direct investment and environmental pollution under the system of fiscal decentralization,foreign direct investment aggravates environmental pollution.Meanwhile,if the environmental pollution in a given region is serious,the willingness of foreign investors to invest therein is lessened to a certain extent.Based on the conditions in China,certain policy suggestions are put forward to increase environmental quality,such as building a comprehensive performance assessment mechanism that includes environmental quality,optimizing the decentralization system,and raising the threshold of foreign investment access.展开更多
文摘In recent years, the overall strength of Western developed countries, led by the United States, has declined relatively, resulting in a trend of decentralization. This has posed severe challenges to the traditional global governance system with regard to trade, security, and multilateral cooperation. However, this trend also provides a historical opportunity to transform the global governance system into one that is more inclusive and equitable. This can be seen in the reconstruction of value priorities, the adjustment of governance focus, the reform of governance mechanisms, and the promotion of new mechanisms. Only by adhering to openness and inclusiveness and balancing rights and responsibilities can we build a future governance order that conforms to the common interests of all humanity.
基金supported by Zhejiang Province Philosophy and Social Science Planning Fund(24NDQN090YB)Hangzhou City Philosophy and Social Science Planning Fund(Z23JC041)the Major program project of the National Social Science Fund of China(No:19ZDA055).
文摘In response to the critical need to balance fiscal expenditure governance with sustainable development,this study identifies the optimal level of fiscal expenditure decentralization that enhances sustainable outcomes.The study aims to determine the optimal expenditure decentralization that maximizes sustainable development outcomes across these dimensions.Theoretically,we analyze the impact mechanism of expenditure decentralization on sustainable development and hypothesize that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between them,along with the possibility of finding an optimal level of expenditure decentralization.We test this hypothesis by measuring sustainable development in the context of a panel data set for 52 countries covering the period 1991–2016 using the National Sustainable Development Index(NSDI).We find strong support for the inverted U-shaped relationship between expenditure decentralization and sustainable development in both the short and long run.Sustainable development is the coordination of economic,social,and environmental development to balance intergenerational welfare and maximize the total welfare of all generations.Excessive and insufficient expenditure decentralization can potentially negatively affect the efficiency of public goods provision and residents’utility,thereby adversely impacting total welfare and sustainable development.The results are robust to alternative specifications and to IV estimation to correct for potential endogeneity.The expenditure decentralization level most conducive to sustainable development lies between 30.9%and 34.5%.The optimal decentralization range was determined using the Lind–Mehlum method,supporting the main findings of this study.This research thus contributes to the literature by quantifying the complex relationship between fiscal decentralization policies and sustainable development,providing a clear,actionable pathway for policymakers seeking sustainable outcomes.
文摘The proof-of-stake(PoS)mechanism is a consensus protocol within blockchain technology that determines the validation of transactions and the minting of new blocks based on the participant’s stake in the cryptocurrency network.In contrast to proof-of-work(PoW),which relies on computational power to validate transactions,PoS employs a deterministic and resourceefficient approach to elect validators.Whereas,an inherent risk of PoS is the potential for centralization among a small cohort of network participants possessing substantial stakes,jeopardizing system decentralization and posing security threats.To mitigate centralization issues within PoS,this study introduces an incentive-aligned mechanism named decentralized proof-of-stake(DePoS),wherein the second-largest stakeholder is chosen as the final validator with a higher probability.Integrated with the verifiable random function(VRF),DePoS rewards the largest stakeholder with uncertainty,thus disincentivizing stakeholders from accumulating the largest stake.Additionally,a dynamic evolutionary game model is innovatively developed to simulate the evolution of staking pools,thus facilitating the investigation of staking pool selection dynamics and equilibrium stability across PoS and DePoS systems.The findings demonstrate that DePoS generally fosters wealth decentralization by discouraging the accumulation of significant cryptocurrency holdings.Through theoretical analysis of stakeholder predilection in staking pool selection and the simulation of the evolutionary tendency in pool scale,this research demonstrates the comparative advantage in decentralization offered by DePoS over the conventional PoS.
基金supported by a PIPF contract of the Madrid Education,Science and Universities Office(grant number:PIPF-2022/PH-HUM-25403).
文摘Purpose:This paper examines African Journals Online(AJOL)as a bibliometric resource,providing a structured dataset of journal and publication metadata.In addition,it integrates AJOL data with OpenAlex to enhance metadata coverage and improve interoperability with other bibliometric sources.Design/methodology/approach:The journal list and publications indexed in AJOL were retrieved using web scraping techniques.This paper details the database construction process,highlighting its strengths and limitations,and presents a descriptive analysis of AJOL’s indexed journals and publications.Findings:The publication analysis demonstrates a steady growth in the number of publications over time but reveals significant disparities in their distribution across African countries.This paper presents an example of the possibility of integrating both sources using author country data from OpenAlex.The analysis of author contributions reveals that African journals serve as both regional and international venues,confirming that African journals play a dual role in fostering both regional and global research engagement.Research limitations:While AJOL contains relevant information for identifying and providing insights about African publications and journals,its metadata are limited.Therefore,the kind of analysis that can be performed with the database presented here is also limited.The integration with OpenAlex aims to overcome some of the limitations.Finally,although some automatic citation procedures have been performed,the metadata has not been manually curated.Therefore,if errors or inaccuracies are present in the AJOL,they may be reproduced in this database.Practical implications:The database introduced in this article contributes to the accessibility of African scholarly publications by providing structured,accessible metadata derived from the AJOL.It facilitates bibliometric analyses that are more representative of African research activities.This contribution complements ongoing efforts to develop alternative data sources and infrastructure that better reflect the diversity of global knowledge production.Originality/value:This paper presents a novel database for bibliometric analysis and offers a detailed report of the retrieval and construction procedures.The inclusion of matched data with OpenAlex further enhances the database’s utility.By showcasing AJOL’s potential,this study contributes to the broader goal of fostering inclusivity and improving the representation of African research in global bibliometric analyses.
文摘The blockchain trilemma—balancing decentralization,security,and scalability—remains a critical challenge in distributed ledger technology.Despite significant advancements,achieving all three attributes simultaneously continues to elude most blockchain systems,often forcing trade-offs that limit their real-world applicability.This review paper synthesizes current research efforts aimed at resolving the trilemma,focusing on innovative consensus mechanisms,sharding techniques,layer-2 protocols,and hybrid architectural models.We critically analyze recent breakthroughs,including Directed Acyclic Graph(DAG)-based structures,cross-chain interoperability frameworks,and zero-knowledge proof(ZKP)enhancements,which aimto reconcile scalability with robust security and decentralization.Furthermore,we evaluate the trade-offs inherent in these approaches,highlighting their practical implications for enterprise adoption,decentralized finance(DeFi),and Web3 ecosystems.By mapping the evolving landscape of solutions,this review identifies gaps in currentmethodologies and proposes future research directions,such as adaptive consensus algorithms and artificial intelligence-driven(AI-driven)governance models.Our analysis underscores that while no universal solution exists,interdisciplinary innovations are progressively narrowing the trilemma’s constraints,paving the way for next-generation blockchain infrastructures.
文摘Optimizing routing and resource allocation in decentralized unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)networks remains challenging due to interference and rapidly changing topologies.The authors introduce a novel framework combining double deep Q-networks(DDQNs)and graph neural networks(GNNs)for joint routing and resource allocation.The framework uses GNNs to model the network topology and DDQNs to adaptively control routing and resource allocation,addressing interference and improving network performance.Simulation results show that the proposed approach outperforms traditional methods such as Closest-to-Destination(c2Dst),Max-SINR(mSINR),and Multi-Layer Perceptron(MLP)-based models,achieving approximately 23.5% improvement in throughput,50% increase in connection probability,and 17.6% reduction in number of hops,demonstrating its effectiveness in dynamic UAV networks.
基金supported by the Smart Grid-National Science and Technology Major Project(2025ZD0804500)the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 52307232the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 2024JJ4055.
文摘The hybrid series-parallel microgrid attracts more attention by combining the advantages of both the series-stacked voltage and parallel-expanded capacity.Low-voltage distributed generations(DGs)are connected in series to form the intra-string,and then multiple strings are interconnected in parallel.For the existing control strategies,both intra-string and inter-string depend on the centralized or distributed control with high communication reliance.It has limited scalability and redundancy under abnormal conditions.Alternatively,in this study,an intra-string distributed and inter-string decentralized control framework is proposed.Within the string,a few DGs close to the AC bus are the leaders to get the string power information and the rest DGs are the followers to acquire the synchronization information through the droop-based distributed consistency.Specifically,the output of the entire string has the active power−angular frequency(ω-P)droop characteristic,and the decentralized control among strings can be autonomously guaranteed.Moreover,the secondary control is designed to realize multi-mode objectives,including on/off-grid mode switching,grid-connected power interactive management,and off-grid voltage quality regulation.As a result,the proposed method has the ability of plug-and-play capabilities,single-point failure redundancy,and seamless mode-switching.Experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed practical solution.
基金funded by the National Key R&D Program of China under Grant(No.2022YFB3102901)National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.62072115,No.62102094)Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan Project(No.22510713600).
文摘Topological information is very important for understanding different types of online web services,in particular,for online social networks(OSNs).People leverage such information for various applications,such as social relationship modeling,community detection,user profiling,and user behavior prediction.However,the leak of such information will also pose severe challenges for user privacy preserving due to its usefulness in characterizing users.Large-scale web crawling-based information probing is a representative way for obtaining topological information of online web services.In this paper,we explore how to defend against topological information probing for online web services,with a particular focus on online decentralized web services such as Mastodon.Different from traditional centralized web services,the federated nature of decentralized web services makes the identification of distributed crawlers even more difficult.We analyze the behavioral differences between legitimate users and crawlers in decentralized web services and highlight two key behavioral attributes that distinguish crawlers from legitimate users:instance interaction preferences and hop count in profile viewing patterns.Based on these insights:we propose a supervised machine learning-based framework for crawler detection,which is able to learn the federation-aware feature representations for users.To validate the framework’s effectiveness,we construct a labeled dataset that integrates real users with real-trace driven simulated crawlers in Mastodon.We use this dataset to train various supervised classifiers for crawler detection.Experimental results demonstrate that our framework can achieve an excellent classification performance.Moreover,it is observed that federation-aware features are effective in improving detection performance.
文摘We analyzed the magnitude of land use land cover changes and identified drivers of those changes at Awash National Park, Ethiopia, using aerial photographs, satellite images and field observation. Scattered bushland—the most important habitat for the wild animals, declined drastically. Areas under grassland, farmland or open land increased over the study period. Policy and park border demarcation issues were identified as drivers of change before 1995 (before decentralization), whereas livestock grazing was indicated to be the leading driver of change after 1995. Major events and causes that largely explained these changes include immigration of the Ittu community, land tenure system, drought, poaching, use policy issues and regional economic and infrastructural development. Our study reveals that the sustainability of the park calls for an immediate action to reduce the ever increasing human and livestock pressure on park resources.
文摘In rapid socio-economic developme nt,the process of concentration and dispersal of various elements tends to be more dramatic,tremendously in fluencing the shaping and transform ation of the space in metropolitan area.Survey of spatial concentration and decent ralization has thus become a basic me thod in examining metropolitan spatial evolution.In this research,three elements were selected as the essential indicato rs of the process:demographic density distribu-tion,employment density distribut ion and business office location.Performance of these elements in Nanji ng City was exam-ined historically.As Nanjing City c ould be regarded as a representative of metropolitan areas in China,its s ituation large-ly suggestes the general characteristics in similar areas of China.Hence based on the investigation of Nanji ng City,four general implications were highligh ted.First,metropolitan areas inChina are in a violentprocess and shift of spatialconcentra-tion and decentralization.Second,from now to at least the near future,c oncentration will continue to be the central fea-ture.Third,the landscape of metrop olitan areas basically exhibits a dual structure character.The gap in en vironmental and ecological qualities among different districts will continue for a l ong time.Fourth,Central Business District(CBD)is playing an important role in helpi ng to convert the traditionally single-centered city structure into a polycentric one.
文摘While China's economic growth has been impressive since 1978, regional disparity in terms of provincial per capita GDP has been increasing. On the other hand, this rapid but uneven growth was accompanied by China's deepening openness and structural reforms including the development of non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) and fiscal decentralization. Based on quantitative analyses, this paper tries to explore the features of regional disparity in China and the relationships between regional growth and China's openness and economic structure reforms in the period from 1981 to 2000. The paper finds that the catching-up of the coastal region to the initially rich provinces, which are mainly located in inland areas, brought about a convergence of the growth pattern across provinces in the 1980s.The subsequent divergence in the provincial growth rates between the coast and the interior generated an enlarging regional disparity in China in the 1990s. The ever-faster growth in the coastal region was benefited by China's openness and the development of non-state-owned enterprises. The development of non-state-owned enterprises underlies the higher operational efficiency in the coastal region. Additionally, with the insignificant regression results, fiscal decentralization was observed to facilitate faster growth in the coast region. The findings justify the initiative of the 'West Region Development Strategy' and offer some policy implications for China.
基金financial support for this study from National Natural Science Foundation of China[grant number:413711784130114141361033]
文摘The objective of this article is to speculate on resort restructuring in the market-oriented reform process in China.Previous studies show that spatial disequilibrium was aggravated by decentralization,which leads to the difference in tourism policy and investment,public goods,and service;a profound analytical framework is much needed for further empirical studies.This article has reviewed the relevant studies on links between decentralization and restructuring,spatial influences of decentralization on tourism,based on which we put forward the theoretical framework of resort spatial restructuring from the view of political economy analysis,then we elaborate on and discuss it based on the example of Sanya,China.In short,the article suggests that decentralization of fiscal responsibilities and institutional power contributes to the spatial disequilibrium of tourism industrial structure,land use,public infrastructure and service facilities,and to community inequality.Interests of government,investors,and community should be comprehensively coordinated in the resort spatial restructuring process from three aspects:restructuring government,optimizing space structure,and tourism industry.Furthermore,we argue that resort restructuring in the context of Sanya requires coordination of various interest groups through four ways:restructure the government power under administrative division adjustment,optimizing spatial structure,expanding industrial space to diversified tourism products,and building resort management services organization.Finally,we discussed some policy requirements for resort sustainable development.
文摘The argument over fiscal decentralization and carbon dioxide emission(CO_(2))reduction has received much attention.However,evidence to back this claim is limited.Economic theory predicts that fiscal decentralization affects environmental quality,but the specifics of this relationship are still up for debate.Some scholars noted that fiscal decentralization might lead to a race to the top,whereas others contended that it would result in a race to the bottom.In light of the current debates in environmental and development economics,this study aims to provide insight into how this relationship may function in South Africa from 1960 to 2020.In contrast to the existing research,the present study uses a novel dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulation approach to assess the positive and negative changes in fiscal decentralization,scale effect,technique effect,technological innovation,foreign direct investment,energy consumption,industrial growth,and trade openness on CO_(2)emissions.The following are the main findings:(i)Fiscal decentralization had a CO_(2)emission reduction impact in the short and long run,highlighting the presence of the race to the top approach.(ii)Economic growth(as represented by the scale effect)eroded ecological integrity.However,its square(as expressed by technique effect)aided in strengthening ecological protection,validating the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis.(iii)CO_(2)emissions were driven by energy utilization,trade openness,industrial value-added,and foreign direct investment,whereas technological innovation boosted ecological integrity.Findings suggest that further fiscal decentralization should be undertaken through further devolution of power to local entities,particularly regarding environmental policy issues,to maintain South Africa’s ecological sustainability.South Africa should also establish policies to improve environmental sustainability by strengthening a lower layer of government and clarifying responsibilities at the national and local levels to fulfill the energy-saving functions of fiscal expenditures.
基金National Social Science Foundation Key Project "Strategic Study on China's Financial Security in the 13th Five-Year Plan Period"(Grant No.15AJY017)National Social Science Foundation General Project "Study on Regional Risks,Moderate Decentralization and Local Financial System Reform"(Grant No.14BJY192)
文摘By motivating local governments to fght for financial resources, China＇s tax sharing reform has affected the structure of financial decentralization and inflated local financial systems, thus spawning regional financial risks. Based on theoretical analysis and empirical evidence, this paper has arrived at the following findings： due to different policy objectives, central and local governments exhibit different fiscal and financial behaviors; public finance and financial sector have become financing instruments with certain convertibility under local economic growth framework,＂ fiscal decentralization inevitably affects financial decentralization and lays the foundation for provincial fiscal disparities, resulting in a certain spatial effect of interprovincial fiscal variable; fnancial explicit centralization/implicit decentralization and fiscal centralization have fueled local competition for financial resources and resulted in correlation between the spatial effects of provincial financial and fiscal variables, and moreover, their mismatch has also spawned fiscal and financial risks on various fronts. Hence, setting clear boundaries of financial centralization and decentralization and ensuring local government fiscal accountability is the key to the prevention and mitigation of fiscal and financial risks in China.
文摘Controversies exist in literature regarding what indicators should be employed to measure China's fiscal decentralization. This paper measures China's fiscal decentralization by the sharing ratios of county-level VAT and corporate income tax(CIT). This approach avoids such problems as homogeneous denominator, and reflects the intricate interactions between governments at different levels. Based on extensive sources including the National Fiscal Statistical Information at Prefecture and County Levels and China County(City) Socio-Economic Statistical Yearbook over the 1998-2007 period, our estimation and analysis led to the following findings:(1) Since 2002, counties have retained a falling share of revenues;(2) a multidimensional horizontal comparison reveals a pattern in the county-level tax sharing ratio, i.e. counties in central and eastern regions retain a higher share of tax revenues compared with those in western and northwestern regions.These findings explain the fiscal difficulties at the grassroots level, and can be used to conduct a quantitative analysis of the determinants and economic effects of China's fiscal decentralization."
基金This paper is one of the research results of China Centre for Economic Studies at Fudan University and also one of the research results of Fudan University 985 China International Economic Competitiveness Research and Innovation Institution.The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of many domestic and foreign scholars on this paper.
文摘This article provides a coherent framework within which to understand China’s development model,as well as the successes and the failures of China’s decentralization approach to reform.The combination of political centralization and economic decentralization provide local government with enough incentives to develop local economies,in particular incentives to promote market privatisation locally.However,the relative evaluation-based incentive schemes lead to inter- regional market segmentation,increasing inter-regional development gaps and the unequal provision of certain public goods.The success of early-stage reform can be attributed to the benefits of the decentralization approach.The next stage reform should however focus on minimizing the associated costs.China’s gradualist reform can be seen as a mechanism design issue under the control of central government.Therefore,it is essential to take both the costs and benefits of the decentralization approach into account in the design of the next-stage reform package.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 61703305in part by the Key Research Program of the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin under Grant 18JCZDJC38500in part by the Innovative Cooperation Project of Tianjin Scientific and Technological under Grant 18PTZWHZ00090.
文摘With the development of intelligent bionic robots and the improvement of military application,a single robot cannot meet the requirements of the tasks of the current era.The more complex tasks require not only that the robot be able to pass through the field barriers and the amphibious environment,but also that the robot be able to collaborate in a multi-robot system.Consequently,research on the multi-robot control system of spherical amphibious robots is very important.Presently,the main research on amphibious robots is to improve the functions of a single robot,in the absence of the study of the multi-robot control system.Existing systems primarily use a centralized control methodology.Although the transfer of central node can be achieved,there is still a problem of Byzantine fault tolerance in military applications,that is,when the amphibious multi-robot system is invaded by the enemy.The central node may not only fail to accomplish the task,but also lose control of other robots,with severe consequences.To solve the above problems,this paper proposed a decentralized method of spherical amphibious multi-robot control system based on blockchain technology.First,the point-to-point information network based on long range radio technology of low power wide area network was set up,we designed the blockchain system for embedded application environment and the decentralized hardware and software architecture of multi-robot control system.On this basis,the consensus plugin,smart contract and decentralized multi-robot control algorithm were designed to achieve decentralization.The experimental results of consensus of spherical amphibious multi-robot showed the effectiveness of the decentralization.
基金funded by Humanities and Social Sciences Research Youth Foundation Program of the Ministry of Education:Challenges of Workforce Absorption of Manufacturing Sector and Solutions-Perspective Based on Capital Deepening(Approval No.12YJC790034)
文摘This paper investigates the effect of local government intervention on capital deepening of manufacturing sector by using interprovincial panel data sets of 28 Chinese provinces,municipalities and autonomous regions between 1994 and 2011.Theoretical research indicates that as a transitional economy,China's local government intervention in corporate investment behaviors will cause excessive investment,thus bringing about a long-term and sustained tendency of capital deepening in manufacturing sector.Empirical test further discovers that in a certain range,the phenomenon of capital deepening in manufacturing sector is not an inevitable result endogenous to economic development and technology progress,and that investment behaviors of manufacturing sector are largely subject to the external institutional environment.Fiscal decentralization has indeed promoted capital deepening of manufacturing sector.Financial credit expansion and interventions in SOEs are major instruments for local governments to intervene in the capital deepening of manufacturing sector and such an influence is particularly significant for China's central,western and northeast regions.Therefore,clarifying government functions and improving local government performance review mechanism are of great significance to the healthy development of China's manufacturing sector.
基金late-stage funding from the National Social Science Fund of China(NSSFC)“Study on Financial Decentralization,Financial Risks and Financial Governance”(Grant No.20FJYA002).
文摘Improvement of the macroeconomic governance system as an important part of the national governance system is a key initiative to address major economic problems in the new era.The coordination and economic regulatory effects of fiscal and monetary policies are subject to the arrangements of fiscal and financial decentralization systems.Analysis revealed a mismatch between China’s fiscal income decentralization and fiscal spending decentralization,as manifested in the clear decentralization of fiscal revenue and vague decentralization of fiscal spending;in pursuing local economic stability,local governments seek other sources of revenue and compete for financial resources,as manifested in apparent financial centralization and implicit financial decentralization,causing financial decentralization to be inconsistent between various levels of government and between government and the market.The above-mentioned problems are reflected in mutual conversion between public finance and financial intermediation as two financial allocation methods and mutual transmission between fiscal and financial risks,making the case for enhancing coordination between fiscal and monetary policies.In creating a scientific macroeconomic governance system,therefore,we must establish clear local government responsibilities,reduce the proportion of local fiscal spending,clarify the orientations and relief boundary of fiscal and monetary policies,moderately decentralize financial powers,and give better play to the role of local governments in improving the quality of economic development and controlling major risks.
基金This work is supported by the Base Project of Hunan philosophy and social science[Grant number.20JD001].
文摘Based on the panel data of 272 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2017,this study used the comprehensive index of environmental pollution to measure local environmental pollution,and employed the panel simultaneous equation to analyze the relationship between fiscal decentralization,foreign direct investment,and environmental pollution.The results showed that environmental pollution has the characteristics of time inertia and positive spatial spillover;fiscal decentralization and local government competition have a significant“race to bottom”effect on environmental pollution;and with the increase of fiscal decentralization,environmental quality will deteriorate.In the interaction between foreign direct investment and environmental pollution under the system of fiscal decentralization,foreign direct investment aggravates environmental pollution.Meanwhile,if the environmental pollution in a given region is serious,the willingness of foreign investors to invest therein is lessened to a certain extent.Based on the conditions in China,certain policy suggestions are put forward to increase environmental quality,such as building a comprehensive performance assessment mechanism that includes environmental quality,optimizing the decentralization system,and raising the threshold of foreign investment access.
