Regional Economic Efficiency and Its Influencing Factors of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitans in China Based on a Heterogeneity Stochastic Frontier Model

Abstract

Using a heterogeneity stochastic frontier model (HSFM), we empirically investigated the economic efficiency of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei from 2003 to 2016 and its influencing factors. The key findings of the paper lie in: 1) in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the overall economic and technological efficiency tended to increase in a wavelike manner, economic growth slowed down, and there was an obvious imbalance in economic efficiency between the different districts, counties and cities; 2) the heterogeneity stochastic frontier production functions (SFPFs) of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei were different from each other, and investment was still an important impetus of economic growth in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei; 3) economic efficiency was positively correlated with economic agglomeration, human capital, industrial structure, infrastructure, the informatization level, and institutional factors, but negatively correlated with the government role and economic opening. The following policy suggestions are offered: 1) to improve regional economic efficiency and reduce the economic gap in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, governments must reduce their intervention in economic activities, stimulate the potentials of labor and capital, optimize the structure of human resources, and foster new demographic incentives; 2) governments must guide economic factors that are reasonable throughout Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and strengthen infrastructure construction in underdeveloped regions, thus attaining sustainable economic development; 3) governments must plan overall economic growth factors of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and promote reasonable economic factors (e.g., labor, resources, and innovations) across different regions, thus attaining complementary advantages between Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei.