On 19 November 2025, the Faculty of Finance at the City University of Macau organized the eighth Academic Salon at the Golden Dragon Campus. This academic salon invited Mr. Zihao Yuan, PhD student from Nanchang University. His research paper titled “A Pathway to Sustainable Development: Digitization and Green Productivity”.
This paper investigated the impact of digital development on green total factor productivity. Green productivity plays an important role in sustainable development, social energy conservation, and emission reduction targets. Based on sample data from urban areas in the Yangtze River Delta region, the paper presents the super Slack-Based Measure (SBM) method with unexpected output to comprehensively and systematically calculate the green total factor productivity (GTFP) index. The stimulation effect shows significant temporal and spatial heterogeneity under the influence of human capital and industrial structure upgrading. Provincial capitals and economically developed cities have the most prominent stimulating influence, while the moderating effect is not significant in regions such as three northeastern provinces in China. Lastly, based on the non-parametric relevance between digital development and GTFP, this paper gives constructive and practical policy suggestions to improve GTFP and promote green economic development.
Mr. Yuan, PhD student from School of Economics & Management, Nanchang University. His research interests include green finance, energy economy, environmental regulations. He has published more than ten articles in international SSCI journals such as World Development, Energy Economics, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, International Review of Economics & Finance, Applied Economics etc., many of which have been selected as highly cited and hot papers.
In this academic salon, Mr. Yuan shared his latest research findings with the Faculty of Finance, broadening the academic scope of the faculty. The Faculty of Finance Academic Salon at the City University of Macau is a platform for exchanging academic ideas and enhancing academic awareness. The Salon focuses on finance and economics, inviting experts from academia and the financial industry to discuss cutting-edge research and share industry development trends, aiming to bring new academic experiences and thinking models to the faculty and students of the university. Through academic activities like the academic salon, the Faculty of Finance provides a better academic platform for graduate students and encourage further exploration and research of academic issues among faculty and students.