Can co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI improve resource misallocation? Evidence from 285 cities in China

Shuo Zhou; Suqing Shao

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0304836

Peer Review History

Original SubmissionNovember 4, 2023
25 Jan 2024 Decision Letter - Wei Liu, Editor PONE-D-23-36401Can co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI Improve Resource Misallocation? Evidence from 285 Cities in ChinaPLOS ONE Dear Dr. Shao, Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process. The two reviewers have provided professional comments, most of which focus on the empirical part. In this round, the authors should better enhance the empirical part to respond to the comments of the two reviewers. Please submit your revised manuscript by Mar 10 2024 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file. Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript: A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'. A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'. An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'. If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter. If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols. We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript. Kind regards, Wei Liu Academic Editor PLOS ONE Journal Requirements: 1. When submitting your revision, we need you to address these additional requirements. Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. The PLOS ONE style templates can be found at https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/file?id=wjVg/PLOSOne_formatting_sample_main_body.pdf and https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/file?id=ba62/PLOSOne_formatting_sample_title_authors_affiliations.pdf 2. Did you know that depositing data in a repository is associated with up to a 25% citation advantage (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230416)? If you’ve not already done so, consider depositing your raw data in a repository to ensure your work is read, appreciated and cited by the largest possible audience. You’ll also earn an Accessible Data icon on your published paper if you deposit your data in any participating repository (https://plos.org/open-science/open-data/#accessible-data). 3. Thank you for stating the following financial disclosure: Key Projects of Anhui Provincial University Research (2023AH050247) Please state what role the funders took in the study. If the funders had no role, please state: "The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript." If this statement is not correct you must amend it as needed. Please include this amended Role of Funder statement in your cover letter; we will change the online submission form on your behalf. [Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.] Reviewers' comments: Reviewer's Responses to Questions Comments to the Author 1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions? The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. Reviewer #1: Partly Reviewer #2: Partly ******** 2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes ****** 3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified. Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes ****** 4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English? PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here. Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: No ****** 5. Review Comments to the Author Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters) Reviewer #1: 1.The analysis of labor force mismatch mechanism does not match the meaning of labor force mismatch 2.Lack of endogeneity testing 3.Heterogeneity can be achieved at different levels of coordinated promotion of bidirectional FDI Reviewer #2: Can co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI Improve Resource Misallocation? Evidence from 285 Cities in China Referee’s comments My comments are as follows; • The abstract needs to be rewritten to systematically provide a proper summary of the study touching on the objective, the method, the timeframe, the findings, the conclusion and recommendations. • The manuscript requires language editing. • Abstauk and abstaul are not explanatory variables in equations 1 and 2. • The econometric model (including all the control variables) that was eventually estimated is not provided. • IFDI is not clearly defined, does this refer to FDI inflows into China? • The study does not properly explain the theoretical link between fdi flows and resource misallocation. This should be the corner stone of this study. • Which cities were covered in the study? • The literature should be improved. Authors should incorporate the following papers along with other recent studies on the issue. � Illicit financial outflows, informal sector size and domestic resource mobilization in selected African countries � External financing for inclusive growth in lower-middle income West African countries: foreign direct investment versus official development assistance • The estimation techniques used should be properly discussed with relevant equations stated. ****** 6. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public. Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy. Reviewer #1: No Reviewer #2: No ******** [NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.] While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step. Attachments Attachment Submitted filename: Review comments.docx https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304836.r001
Revision 1
11 Mar 2024 Author Response Response to Reviewers First of all, we would like to thank reviewers for your insightful, constructive, and helpful comments on our manuscript entitled “Can co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI Improve Resource Misallocation? Evidence from 285 Cities in China” We have carefully considered and addressed all the comments and made necessary revisions in the revised manuscript. We provide a point-by-point response to the reviewers’ comments below. The points raised by the reviewers are written in bold font, whereas our responses are shown in normal font, and the quotation of the revised manuscript is shown in red font. Reviewer #1: The analysis of labor force mismatch mechanism does not match the meaning of labor force mismatch. Response: Thank you very much for your question. Firstly, we have carefully considered your question. Do you mean that there are issues with the labor force mismatch mechanism in our theoretical hypothesis section and the subsequent labor force mismatch. Based on our understanding, we have revised the research hypothesis section. In revised manuscript, we propose two new research hypotheses to make the logic clearer: The first hypothesis focuses on the mechanism of capital mismatch, and the second is the mechanism of labor mismatch. The results of using the labor distortion coefficient in robustness testing are inconsistent. We have rerun the code and made modifications to the text and table. … 2 Theoretical analysis and research hypotheses Misallocation refers to a deviation from the ideal state of resource configuration. Unlike efficient resource allocation, 'resource misallocation' denotes the presence of barriers to the free allocation of different resource elements between regions and industries, hindering the achievement of optimal allocation. Cheng [24] classified resource misallocation into "internal mismatch" and "external mismatch". Bai and Liu [8] argue that varying degrees of capital misallocation and labor resource misallocation exist in different regions of China, with significant regional disparities. The following theoretical perspective analyses the effect of co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI on resource misallocation. In recent years, foreign direct investment (FDI) and outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) have experienced rapid growth as two major strategic pathways for China to acquire funds, technology, and market resources. The trend of co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI is increasingly prominent, serving as a significant driving force in guiding the rational flow of resources, improving resource misallocation, and enhancing resource allocation efficiency. Specifically, the co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI can improve capital, with the main pathway being the level of financial development. On one hand, during the early stages of development in developing countries, IFDI can alleviate the host country's capital needs and bring advanced technology and management expertise [25]. Through vertical and horizontal effects, it helps address financing constraints for enterprises in the host country, thereby reducing financing costs, enhancing capital liquidity, fostering a more open, inclusive, and efficient financial system, consequently improving capital misallocation, and enhancing capital allocation efficiency [26]. On the other hand, capital inflows also provide a solid foundation for outward investments [27]. The enhancement of the host country's financial strength and the improvement of its financial development level create necessary conditions for enterprises to engage in cross-border capital allocation and operations. Through outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) reverse technology spillover effects, financial institutions in the host country have established close connections with those in developed countries. Through cooperation, exchange, and competition with financial institutions in these developed countries, the management level and operational efficiency of financial institutions in the host country have been significantly enhanced. Therefore, the interaction between foreign direct investment (FDI) and outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) continuously promotes and guides the improvement of the host country's financial development level. The improvement of the financial development level can increase the liquidity of resources, reduce transaction costs of financial investment, thereby increasing investment, effectively alleviating capital misallocation, and enhancing capital allocation efficiency [28]. H1: Coordinated development in two-way FDI can enhance capital, primarily through advancements in the level of financial development. Coordinated development in two-way FDI exacerbates the mismatch of labor resources by increasing labor costs. On one hand, IFDI increases the demand for labor in the host country, leading to changes in the geographical distribution of labor and exacerbating the issue of labor mismatch. At the same time, foreign enterprises will attract sustained labor inflows by raising labor prices (Sun and Wang, 2022) [29]. This has led to a phenomenon of 'labor shortages' among local enterprises, exacerbating labor scarcity. With the continuous influx of IFDI, the host country may face challenges of labor supply shortages, further exacerbating resource misallocation. On the other hand, with the continuous outflow of OFDI, it may lead to the emigration of labor from some developing countries. This emigration of labor mainly manifests in two aspects. Firstly, some enterprises will export a portion of their labor force through outward foreign direct investment (Lai et al., 2020) [30]. Secondly, outward foreign direct investment companies will dispatch management and technical personnel to overseas subsidiaries, inevitably creating some low-skilled job positions. This, in turn, further exacerbates the host country's demand for labor. Due to the inability of labor supply to meet rapidly growing demand in the short term, the rise in labor costs is actually detrimental to addressing the issue of labor mismatch. Therefore, two-way FDI exacerbates the degree of labor mismatch. H2: Coordinated development of two-way FDI exacerbates labor mismatch, primarily through increasing labor costs. … 4.3 Robustness tests The capital deformation coefficient (kcon) and labor deformation coefficient (lcon) are calculated using Bai and Liu [8] methodology and capital deformation coefficients and labor deformation coefficients are used instead of capital resource misallocation and labor resource misallocation. The capital and labor deformation coefficients are calculated as: kcon=〖MP〗_K/r-1=〖βK〗_i=(p_i y_i)/〖rk〗_i -1 (9) lcon=〖MP〗_L/w-1=〖βL〗_i=(p_i y_i)/〖w_i k〗_i -1 (10) piyi is the total value of production; r is capital’s price. Hsieh and Klenow [5] a 10% value was obtained; Wi is the price of labor in city i. MPk and MPl are the marginal output of capital and labor, respectively. Constructing the coefficient of capital distortion as well as the coefficient of labor distortion according to equations 9 and 10. Table 3 shows the calculation results of the impact of co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI on the deformation coefficient of capital and labor. Column (2) show the results of estimating the coefficient of capital distortion in the current and lagged a period for the co-ordination development of two-way FDI. It can be seen the negative coefficient impact on capital distortion is significant for both the current and lagged periods of co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI levels. This indicates that it can significantly alleviate the degree of capital misallocation. The last two columns show the impact of co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI on labor deformation coefficient during the current and lagging period. The results suggest that The research results indicate that the coordinated development level of current and lagged two-way FDI has a promoting effect on the coefficient of labor distortion. Table 3. Robustness test kcon kcon lcon lcon (1) (2) (3) (4) dioc -0.0569* 0.0336 (0.0162) (0.0149) L.dioc -0.0440** 0.0359* (0.0182) (0.0184) lnpgdp 0.0171 0.0159 0.0524* 0.0519* (0.0108) (0.0110) (0.0070) (0.0076) pub 0.0022 0.0028 -0.0012 -0.0036 (0.0136) (0.0140) (0.0129) (0.0135) fint 0.0099 0.0069 -0.0374* -0.0343* (0.0095) (0.0099) (0.0114) (0.0116) lnfin -0.0023 0.0003 -0.0221* -0.0212* (0.0067) (0.0069) (0.0062) (0.0062) _cons 1.1296* 1.0919* -0.0408* 1.0245* (0.1947) (0.1988) (0.0093) (0.1471) Year FE Y Y Y Y City FE Y Y Y Y N 3810 3810 3570 3315 adj. R2 0.699 0.716 0.746 0.750 F 3.0930 1.5379 244.3748 236.3851 Notes: Values in brackets indicate standard errors for city clustering; , , indicate significance at 10%, 5%, and 1%, respectively, as shown below. … Lack of endogeneity testing. Response: Thank you very much for your question. The original manuscript lacks essential endogeneity testing analysis, which will be supplemented in the revised version. The revised manuscript employs two methods to examine endogeneity. The first method involves employing instrumental variable techniques, where instrumental variables are generated to exhibit a strong correlation with the coordinated development of co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI but a weak correlation with levels of resource misallocation (capital misallocation index and labor misallocation index). This approach effectively addresses endogeneity concerns. The second approach involves employing the System GMM method to test for endogeneity issues, utilizing the differences of lagged variables to control for serial correlation. By employing these two methods, endogeneity interference is addressed. The revised part is in “4.4 Endogeneity test”. … 4.4 Endogeneity test The co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI and resource misallocation are both important economic variables within the economic system, and their endogeneity is inevitable. That is co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI impacts resource misallocation, and vice versa. Furthermore, there are also issues of missing variables and measurement errors in the model, which are the main sources of endogeneity. To overcome the interference of potential endogeneity on the estimation results, this paper uses two approaches to deal with it: First, the instrumental variables approach. Bartik [37] developed these instrumental variables. Specifically, the method involves multiplying the initial value of each city's degree of co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI by the growth rate of the national average degree of co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI relative to the initial period, resulting in the Bartik instrumental variable (bartikiv). This instrumental variable demonstrates a strong correlation with the co-ordination development of two-way FDI, but a relatively weak correlation with the level of resource misallocation (as measured by capital misallocation indices and labor misallocation indices). Table 4 presents the estimation results of the instrumental variables. Notably, there are no estimates indicating weak instrumental variables or overidentification in the first stage. Additionally, both the estimates of bartikIV and L.bartikIV are highly significant and positive. The findings from the second-stage estimation suggest that the co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI has a moderating effect on capital misallocation and exacerbates labor misallocation, consistent with the results obtained from the benchmark regression estimation. Table 4. Estimation of instrumental variables abstauk abstauk abstaul abstaul (1) (2) (3) (4) dioc -0.3496* 0.1585* (0.0344) (0.0387) L.dioc -0.3528* 0.1456* (0.0340) (0.0393) lnpgdp 0.0495* 0.0354* 0.0258 0.0330*** (0.0091) (0.0085) (0.0102) (0.0098) pub -0.0130 -0.0179* -0.0356* -0.0313* (0.0092) (0.0092) (0.0104) (0.0107) fint 0.0161 0.0142 -0.0198*** -0.0139* (0.0064) (0.0064) (0.0072) (0.0074) lnfin 0.0319* 0.0262* 0.0006 0.0052 (0.0044) (0.0047) (0.0050) (0.0054) Year FE Y Y Y Y City FE Y Y Y Y N 3810 3556 3810 3556 The first stage bartikiv 0.6665* 0.6665* (0.0429) (0. 0429) L.bartikiv 0.7142* 0.7142* (0.0446) (0.0446) Underidentification test (Anderson canon. corr. LM statistic) 226.569 239.181 226.569 239.181 Weak identification test (Cragg-Donald Wald F statistic) 240.694 256.454 240.694 256.454 Notes: The table displays regression coefficients with standard errors in parentheses. Statistical significance is denoted by , , , which correspond to p < 0.1, p < 0.05, and p < 0.01, respectively. This notation is consistent throughout the text. Second, system GMM estimation is utilized. Systematic GMM estimation can incorporate lagged explanatory variable and instrumental variables effectively, enabling the selection of endogenous variables, making it a useful method for addressing potential endogeneity. Employing the system GMM approach, this paper utilizes the xtdpdsys command, considering dioc as an endogenous variable. The results of the estimation using the two-step method are presented in Table 5. The findings indicate that the coefficients of the previous timeframe for both capital misallocation and labor resource misallocation are significantly positive, suggesting a path dependence between capital misallocation and labor resource misallocation over time. The calculated coefficients reveal a notably negative correlation between capital misallocation and both the coordination advancement of two-way FDI and the lagged one-period coordination development of two-way FDI. Additionally, the estimated coefficients on labor misallocation are significantly positive for both the coordination advancement of two-way FDI and the coordination advancement of two-way FDI with a one-period lag. This is consistent with the initial estimates, and H1 is confirmed. Table 5. System GMM estimation abstauk abstauk abstaul abstaul (1) (2) (3) (4) L.abstauk 1.1121* 1.0951* (0.0040) (0.0057) L.abstaul 0.9636* 1.0157* (0.0013) (0.0045) dioc -0.0168* 0.0358* (0.0022) (0.0009) L.dioc -0.0081 0.0105 (0.0034) (0.0053) trade 0.0114* 0.0135*** -0.0012 0.0057* (0.0018) (0.0026) (0.0011) (0.0029) book 0.0087* 0.0105* -0.0089* 0.0221* (0.0024) (0.0027) (0.0014) (0.0053) fint -0.0035* 0.0030 0.0043* 0.0001 (0.0009) (0.0015) (0.0013) (0.0031) scie 0.0010 -0.0001 0.0046* 0.0038 (0.0011) (0.0008) (0.0005) (0.0023) _cons -0.1690* -0.3007* -0.0408* -0.1880* (0.0259) (0.0372) (0.0093) (0.0408) AR (1) P 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.0000 AR (2) P 0.2041 0.2446 0.2080 0.2226 Sargan P 0.1887 0.1491 0.1837 0.1791 N 3556 3556 3556 3556 … Heterogeneity can be achieved at different levels of coordinated promotion of bidirectional FDI. Response: Thank you very much for your question. In the original manuscript, the examination of heterogeneity was conducted based on urban geographic locations and urban development levels, overlooking the impact of varying degrees of co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI on resource allocation. In response to your feedback, we grouped cities based on different levels of co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI. Cities were divided into two groups: the first comprising cities with co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI levels above the average, and the second comprising cities with levels below the average. Regression analyses were then conducted within each group, and the obtained results remained significant. The revised part is in “4.5 Heterogeneity test”. … First, the heterogeneity of the level of co-ordination advancement in two-way FDI, Chinese cities are classified based on the level of coordination advancement in two-way FDI, and the disparities in this regard are estimated. The first and third columns indicate that when the level of coordination advancement in two-way FDI exceeds the average, it significantly improves capital mismatch while significantly exacerbating labor mismatch. This finding aligns with the benchmark regression results. Th Attachments Attachment Submitted filename: Response Reviewer.docx https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304836.r002
21 May 2024 Decision Letter - Wei Liu, Editor Can co-ordination advancement of two-way FDI Improve Resource Misallocation? Evidence from 285 Cities in China PONE-D-23-36401R1 Dear Dr. Shao, We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements. Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication. An invoice will be generated when your article is formally accepted. Please note, if your institution has a publishing partnership with PLOS and your article meets the relevant criteria, all or part of your publication costs will be covered. Please make sure your user information is up-to-date by logging into Editorial Manager at Editorial Manager® and clicking the ‘Update My Information' link at the top of the page. If you have any questions relating to publication charges, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org. Kind regards, Wei Liu Academic Editor PLOS ONE Additional Editor Comments (optional): After the reviewers' comments, I think this paper can be accepted. Reviewers' comments: Reviewer's Responses to Questions Comments to the Author 1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation. Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed ******** 2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions? The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. Reviewer #2: Yes ****** 3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #2: Yes ****** 4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified. Reviewer #2: Yes ****** 5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English? PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here. Reviewer #2: Yes ****** 6. Review Comments to the Author Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters) Reviewer #2: The authors have made the needed corrections. I am satisfied with the quality of the manuscript in its current form. ****** 7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public. Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy. Reviewer #2: No ******** https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304836.r003
Formally Accepted
31 May 2024 Acceptance Letter - Wei Liu, Editor PONE-D-23-36401R1 PLOS ONE Dear Dr. Shao, I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now being handed over to our production team. At this stage, our production department will prepare your paper for publication. This includes ensuring the following: * All references, tables, and figures are properly cited * All relevant supporting information is included in the manuscript submission, * There are no issues that prevent the paper from being properly typeset If revisions are needed, the production department will contact you directly to resolve them. If no revisions are needed, you will receive an email when the publication date has been set. At this time, we do not offer pre-publication proofs to authors during production of the accepted work. Please keep in mind that we are working through a large volume of accepted articles, so please give us a few weeks to review your paper and let you know the next and final steps. Lastly, if your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org. If we can help with anything else, please email us at customercare@plos.org. Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access. Kind regards, PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff on behalf of Prof. Wei Liu Academic Editor PLOS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304836.r004

Open letter on the publication of peer review reports

PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process. Therefore, we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles. Reviewers remain anonymous, unless they choose to reveal their names.

We encourage other journals to join us in this initiative. We hope that our action inspires the community, including researchers, research funders, and research institutions, to recognize the benefits of published peer review reports for all parts of the research system.

Learn more at ASAPbio .