Regional total-factor productivity and environmental governance efficiency of China’s industrial sectors: A two-stage network-based super DEA approach

Abstract

Currently, China’s industrial sector is a primary source of both energy consumption and environmental pollution. This paper proposes a two-stage, network-based super data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to investigate the overall efficiency and eco-efficiency of the sub-stages in China’s industrial system, including the production and three pollutant treatment stages, from 2004 to 2015. The results reveal that: (1) the industrial system’s overall efficiency improved during the sample period. Specifically, efficiency has significantly improved in the production and wastewater stages, while no such improvements have been observed in the solid waste and waste gas treatment stages. (2) Both absolute and conditional β-convergences exist in the overall efficiency and sub-stage efficiencies. Over time, these types of efficiency gradually reached higher levels. (3) Although China has initially achieved positive results in improving its industrial system’s overall efficiency, room for further improvement still exists. Among the industrial system’s sub-stages, the waste gas treatment stage exhibits the highest efficiency, followed by the solid waste treatment stage, while the production and wastewater treatment stages have relatively low efficiency.