Abstract
Eco-efficiency enhancement is an inherent requirement of green development and an important indicator of high-quality development in general. It aims to achieve the coordinated development of nature, the economy, and society. Therefore, eco-efficiency measurements should focus on not only total factor input, but also process analysis. Based on the “full world” model in ecological economic theory, this study constructed a theoretical framework for a composite economic-environmental-social system that reflects human welfare and sustainability. To this end, using network data envelopment analysis (DEA), this study established a staged eco-efficiency evaluation model that uses economic, environmental, and social factors to measure the overall and staged eco-efficiency of China’s provinces from 2003 to 2016 and analyze its spatiotemporal characteristics. A geographically weighted regression (GWR) model was also used to analyze the influencing factors of eco-efficiency changes and the spatial differentiation in their effect intensity. The findings were as follows: (1) China’s overall eco-efficiency is still at a low level. It varies significantly from region to region, and only three regions are at the frontier of production. The eastern region has the highest eco-efficiency, followed by the central region, and the gap between the central and western regions has gradually narrowed. In terms of staged efficiency, the level of eco-efficiency in the production stage is less than in the environmental governance stage, which is less than that in the social input stage. (2) In terms of the efficiency of each stage, the efficiency level of the production stage showed a downward trend throughout the entire process, and the decline in the central and western regions was more obvious. The social input stage and the environmental governance stage both showed upward trends. The social input stage showed a higher level, and the increase was relatively flat during the period of study. Efficiency continued to rise during the environmental governance stage from 2003 to 2010 and rose overall, but with some fluctuations from 2011 to 2016. (3) Geographically weighted regression showed that the effects of the influencing factors on eco-efficiency had obvious spatial heterogeneity. The factors affecting overall, production stage, and social input eco-efficiency were, in order of effect intensity from high to low, economic growth level, marketization level, and social input level. In terms of environmental governance, social input level had the greatest impact, followed by economic growth; marketization level did not show a significant impact.
Highlights
After experiencing a period of rapid economic growth, China has entered a new stage of development
The slacks-based network data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, which was proposed by Tone and Tsutsui, fully considers the relationships between subprocesses and can simultaneously give values for system efficiency and subprocess efficiency and has a greater advantage in terms of evaluating the efficiency of complex production systems associated with multiple stages [43]
The analysis showed that, for the eastern region, which has a high degree of marketization and a high economic level, whether in terms of overall eco-efficiency or the efficiency of the three stages, the level was higher than in the central and western regions
Summary
After experiencing a period of rapid economic growth, China has entered a new stage of development. In the context of the “new normal” of the economy and the advancement of ecological civilization, eco-efficiency research can provide ideas for solving the contradiction between economic development and resource depletion, while promoting regional sustainable development. In terms of concepts and index systems, recent studies have mainly explored the eco-efficiency of research objects from the perspective of eco-efficiency connotations [4,5]. Such index systems involve three-dimensional scales of economic, social, and ecological environments, with resource and environment factors mainly used as inputs and economic value or regional output used as expected outputs [6,7]. The current research of eco-efficiency mainly focusses on spatiotemporal changes, convergence analysis, and its influencing factors in different countries [28,29,30]
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