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Determine the main factors affecting carbon emissions of Chinese steel industry is indispensable commitments to achieve the sustainable development of China. Hereby, based on the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIPRAT) model, this paper combines the economic growth function, carbon emission production function, and the FDI function of Chinese steel industry, and uses the three-stage least square equation model (3SLS) to analyze the relationship between China's economic growth, carbon emissions in the steel industry and FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) inflows. The results document a complete two-way causal relationship of three variables in the whole country and the western region, while the relationship in the eastern region and the central region is not complete. Moreover, no bidirectional causal relationship between carbon emissions and FDI in the eastern region, while only bidirectional causality between carbon emissions and FDI in the central region. These findings are of great significance for Chinese steel industry to formulate effective emission reduction policies.

Some non-chemical insecticides were tested for efficacy of control of fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea (Drury), and of cherry weevil, Rhynchites auratus (Scop.) in the laboratory and black cherry aphid, Myzus cerasi (Fabr.) under field conditions. Hendreson & Tilton formula was applied for evaluation of efficacy. NeemAzal T/S (azadirahtin) at the concentration 0.5% and Naturalis (Beauveria bassiana) used at 0.2% or 0.3% have shown the best results against black cherry aphid. Good results were also obtained with Pyrethrum FS (pyrethrin + sesame oil + soft potassium soap) used at 0.05% or 0.1%, with NeemAzal T/S at 0.3%, PreFeRal WG (Paecilomyces fumosoroseus) at 0.2% and with Naturalis at 0.1%. The effect of PreFeRal WG, applied at 0.1% was unsatisfactory. Against the fourth instar larvae of fall webworm, excellent results were noted for Pyrethrum (0.05% and 0.1%) and Naturalis (0.1% and 0.2%). Very good effects were also obtained with the BMP 123WP (Bacillus thuringiensis), used in concentration of 0.1%. NeemAzal T/S -0.5% had still good, albeit lower, efficacy. Against the cherry weevil only Pyrethrum FS was tested. This insecticide resulted in a very good efficacy, when used at the concentration 0.1% and still satisfactory -at 0.05%.

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. * We are especially grateful to the editors, Robert De Young, Richard Baillie, George Constantinides, Haroon Mumtaz, Kostas Karras and to anonymous referee for many insightful comments. We would like to thank as well participants at the 5th International Conference of International Finance and banking society, at the 2nd International Conference of Financial Engineering and Banking society, at the 1st International conference of Centre for Money, Banking Institutions and the Centre for Research in contemporary Finance, at the 8th BMRC-QASS Conference of Money Macro and Finance Research Group, at the 2nd European Conference of the Centre for Banking, Finance and Sustainable Development, at the 3rd Annual Global Political Economy Network (GPEN) Conference of the Centre for Globalisation Research (CGR), at the 8th postgraduate meeting of the Royal Economic Society, at the 6th Biennial Hellenic Observatory PhD Symposium, QMUL Econometrics Reading Group for helpful suggestions. Support from the Royal Economic Society and Queen Mary University of London is very gratefully acknowledged.

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More countries have made carbon neutral or net zero emission commitments since 2019. Within this context, re-examining the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis plays an essential role in sizing up the global economic development situation and realizing the global carbon emission reduction target. A methodological challenge in testing the EKC hypothesis, which states that increasing income makes CO2 emissions begin to decline beyond a turning point, lies in determining if this benchmark point exists. The EKC hypothesis between income and CO2 emissions is reassessed by applying a new kink regression model for the G7 countries from 1890 to 2015. Results reveal the inverted U-shaped nexus does not exist for US, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan. For these five countries, the EKC curve has a turning point, but the positive impact of incomes on CO2 emissions becomes significantly smaller after the turning point. We describe this relationship as a pseudo-EKC. K.U.K. and France are the only exceptions, fitting the EKC hypothesis. Further analysis indicates that the relationship between income and SO2 emissions presents an inverted U-shaped curve. Moreover, we observe that the turning point occurs at different points in time for the different G7 countries. Therefore, environmental policies targeting pollutant emission reduction should consider the different characteristics of different pollutants and regions.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is considered as an important instrument for economic development all over the world. As a result, a growing competition for FDI among the majority of all countries has reached to high level. The aim of this paper is to examine the FDI inflows determinants for 24 OECD countries i.e. and United States. To this end we employ annual data from 1980 to 2012 for a series of potential FDI determinants that have been identified as the most important by the relevant literature. Our empirical strategy employs both the standard fixed effects panel as well as a dynamic panel approach.The empirical findings highlight the importance of market size, trade openness, unit labor cost, schooling, taxation, gross capital formation, institutional variables, and ROA/ROE as significant FDI determinants. In the case of the dynamic panel model those FDI inflows determinants are not uniform for all country groups. Additionally, the results indicate that corporate tax rates clearly affect FDI attractiveness. This finding is robust when testing different countries subgroups. The present study has important policy implications indicating the factors that host economies should place emphasis on in order to attract FDI inflows. Policy makers should not only pay attention to the corporate tax rate level but they should also design a simple, stable and transparent taxation system that minimizes the relevant business risk.JEL Classification: O1, G3, F2, C1

In this paper, we show that alternative finance (e.g. private equity, crowdfunding and venture capital) is a key source of funding for firms that are affected by natural disasters. Using data on a large sample of US companies from 2010 to 2019, we provide robust empirical evidence that private funding increases within 3 months after the occurrence of a natural disaster. Panel data analysis at state level shows that extreme events cause at least an average increase of funding from alternative finance by 47% relative to firms in non-affected states. We also find that size, reliance on physical assets and age improve access to alternative finance after adverse natural events. Our empirical evidence highlights the key role of private lenders in providing financial resources to affected firms after extreme exogenous events. Disclaimer: This paper's findings, interpretations and conclusions are entirely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank, their Executive Directors or the countries they represent. We thank the editors of the British Journal of Management special issue: Douglas Cumming, Pawan Budhar and Geoffrey Wood. We would also like to thank the two anonymous referees for providing us with very constructive feedback and valuable comments. We thank for useful comments the participants at the conference on 'Entrepreneurial Finance in Honour of Mike Wright' and especially our discussant, Maimuna Akter.