Bin Tang

This paper investigates the impact of a regional innovation-driven platform (Qinchuangyuan Innovation-driven Platform) on entrepreneurial confidence, particularly in technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (TSMEs) during their start-up period. By analyzing data collected from 132 TSMEs, this study explores how regional innovation-driven platforms influence entrepreneurial confidence. The main findings are as follows: First, the results of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression reveal that the innovation-driven platform significantly improves entrepreneurial confidence, and the results of propensity score matching (PSM) remain still positive. Second, we conduct instrumental variable (IV) estimation as supplementary robustness evidence for potential endogeneity concerns, using whether an enterprise participates in market expansion activities and whether an enterprise uses government support services as two instrumental variables. Third, the innovation-driven platform is mediated by entrepreneurial satisfaction with the business environment and entrepreneurial satisfaction with the government, thereby enhancing entrepreneurial confidence. This paper provides a new perspective for assessing business development through entrepreneurial confidence rather than traditional performance metrics and provides a valuable reference for the development and optimization of innovation-driven platforms in similar regional contexts, especially in supporting sustained entrepreneurial activity, technology transformation, and regional economic resilience.

Digital literacy is widely promoted as enabling later-life inclusion, but its potential to generate trust-related vulnerabilities remains insufficiently examined, particularly in rapidly ageing societies. Using nationally representative data from the 2022 China Family Panel Studies including 1583 adults aged 60 and above, this study examines whether digital literacy is associated with older adults’ trust in strangers, which is interpreted here as a form of trust vulnerability in low-verifiability interactions. In this study, trust vulnerability is operationalised through respondents’ self-reported trust in strangers, while digital literacy is operationalised through behavioural competences spanning information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, content creation, digital transactions, and problem-solving. OLS regression models with Huber–White robust standard errors are employed. The findings indicate that higher levels of digital literacy are positively associated with stronger trust in strangers, suggesting that competence may heighten older adults’ inclination to trust and increase exposure to digital risks. This association is driven primarily by functional competences, with mobile payment use and problem-solving skills showing the largest and most consistent associations. By contrast, subjective well-being and perceived platform security show no significant mediating roles. The study recommends integrating functional training, trust calibration and risk-recognition education, alongside interpretable and verifiable safeguards that make security more visible to older adults.

The global aging trend has heightened attention to chronic diseases (CDs) among the elderly, highlighting the importance of improving medication adherence.

The transformation of scientific and technological achievements is a crucial link in closing the innovation value chain and promoting high-quality regional development. In recent years, under China’s national innovation-driven development strategy and the overall layout of the Qinchuangyuan Innovation Promotion Platform in Shaanxi Province, Xianyang City has taken the lead in reforming the fiscal investment and financing mechanisms for science and technology funds, establishing a “First-Invest-Then-Equity (FITE)” policy framework. This paper takes Xianyang’s FITE policy as its research object and adopts policy text analysis and comparative research methods to systematically examine the policy’s institutional background, operational mechanism, and implementation performance. Moreover, it conducts a comparative analysis with representative cities such as Suzhou, Hefei, Changsha, and Chengdu.The findings reveal that: (1) the FITE mechanism effectively facilitates the market-oriented operation of fiscal funds and improves the efficiency of technology commercialization; (2) the Xianyang model demonstrates institutional innovation in fiscal guidance, risk sharing, and revenue recycling, yet faces persistent challenges in mobilizing private capital, establishing efficient equity exit mechanisms, and integrating technology finance. Based on these diagnosed problems, this study proposes several optimization pathways, including improving the coordination between fiscal and private capital, establishing a scientific pre-investment evaluation system, strengthening post-investment performance management, diversifying equity exit channels, building an integrated technology–finance ecosystem, and enhancing legal frameworks and interdepartmental coordination.The research concludes that Xianyang’s FITE mechanism not only provides a replicable model for western Chinese cities in leveraging fiscal funds to promote technology commercialization but also offers valuable local experience for deepening China’s science and technology system reform and improving the overall innovation governance framework.

Science and technology-based enterprises promote national economic growth and facilitate scientific and technological innovation. This study takes the development of Intellectual Property (IP) operation of science and technology-based enterprises as the research object and constructs a relevant evaluation index system. It also takes the data of 112 small and medium-sized science and technology-based enterprises within the Qinchuangyuan Innovation Driving Platform as an example, conducts statistical analysis and case analysis, and concludes development strategies. The results of the study provide policy suggestions for further strengthening and promoting the development of intellectual property operation by enhancing the efficiency of the IP operation system and policy services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in science and technology, promoting the construction of supporting facilities and improving employee satisfaction; as well as simplifying the IP filing procedures, optimizing the financing environment, and establishing a platform for regular evaluation and information sharing to accelerate the transformation of IP; and at the same time, implementing a mechanism for efficient policy fulfillment and departmental linkages to enhance the implementation of the policies and form a high-quality business environment that will help SMEs in their development and technological innovation of SMEs.

The methods of causal inference have swept the social sciences in recent years, and regression discontinuity design is one of the typical methods in causal inference. In the field of estimation and impact of traffic policy in developing countries, the research on cause-and-effect relationships is extremely limited. This paper introduces the principles, methods of regression discontinuity design, research application in the field of transport policy, and compares regression discontinuity design with methods of causal inference on the advantages and disadvantages in the field of transport policy. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the regression discontinuity design method into the field of transport policy evaluation, to look forward to its application prospects and to provide basic support for the application of regression discontinuity design in the field of developing countries' transport policy.

Purpose: The family residence structure serves as a crucial pathway through which the family environment influences adolescents’ development.Methods: Drawing on nationally representative data, this study employs multiple linear regression models and propensity score matching to examine the impact of various family residence structures on adolescents’ non-cognitive abilities. Causal identification is achieved through propensity score matching, while robustness is assessed using methods such as augmented inverse probability weighting and placebo tests. Heterogeneity analysis is conducted based on gender and household registration, aiming to explore the mechanisms by which family residence structure affects adolescents’ non-cognitive abilities.Results: The findings indicate that compared to two-parent co-residence households, three-generation co-residence families have significantly positive effects on emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness among adolescents. In contrast, skip-generation coresidence families exhibit significant negative effects on emotional stability and agreeableness in adolescents. Further investigation into the underlying mechanisms reveals that parental involvement and family socioeconomic status within three-generation co-residence families positively influence adolescents’ non-cognitive abilities.Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of considering grandparents’ role in adolescent growth and advocates for policy recommendations focusing on enhancing non-cognitive abilities in adolescents from skip-generation co-residence families.

Background: Since China adopted a policy to eliminate rural learning centers, boarding has become an important feature of the current rural student community. However, there is a lack of consensus on the impact of boarding schools on students' cognitive and non-cognitive development. This study investigates the effect of boarding schools on the development of cognitive and non-cognitive abilities of junior high school students in rural northwest China. Methods: Using a sample of 5,660 seventh-grade students from 160 rural junior high schools across 19 counties, we identify a causal relationship between boarding and student abilities with the instrumental variables (IV) approach. Results: The results suggest that boarding positively influences memory and attention, while it has no significant effect on other cognitive abilities such as reasoning, transcription speed, and accuracy. Furthermore, we find no significant association between boarding and the development of non-cognitive skills. Conclusions: Given the widespread prevalence of boarding schools in rural regions, our study highlights the growing importance of improving school management to promote the development of students’ cognitive abilities and integrating the development of non-cognitive or social-emotional abilities into students’ daily routines.