Abstract
Using panel data from 11 regions (9 provinces and two cities) in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) during 2002–2017, the regional differences in and spatial characteristics of the green efficiency of water resources along the YREB were analyzed. The undesirable outputs slacks-based measure-data envelopment analysis, Malmquist index, and social network analysis models were employed. A dynamic panel using a system generalized method of moments model was established to empirically examine the main factors influencing green efficiency. The results show the following. First, temporally, green efficiency fluctuates while showing an overall decreasing trend; spatially, green efficiency generally decreases in this order: downstream, upstream, then midstream. Second, the change in the total factor productivity (TFP) index shows an overall increasing trend, with TFP improvement mainly attributable to technology. Third, green efficiency shows a significant spatial correlation. All provinces are in the spatial correlation network, and the network, as a whole, has strong stability. Finally, water resource endowment, water prices, government environmental control strength, and the water resources utilization structure have a significant impact on green efficiency.
Highlights
IntroductionThe Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), as the world’s largest river basin economic belt, is an important new engine for China’s economic development in the “new normal.”
The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), as the world’s largest river basin economic belt, is an important new engine for China’s economic development in the “new normal.”This belt spans the three major zones of East and West China, covering nine provinces and two cities: Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou
The common efficiency measurement methods include the index system evaluation [5], data envelopment analysis (DEA) [6], and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) [7]; this study focuses on DEA, which is a systemic analysis method developed by Charnes et al [8] based on “relative efficiency evaluation.”
Summary
The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), as the world’s largest river basin economic belt, is an important new engine for China’s economic development in the “new normal.”. This belt spans the three major zones of East and West China, covering nine provinces and two cities (hereafter, “11 YREB regions”): Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou. Of China’s total population and occupies 21.4% of the national territory. According to their geographical distribution along the Yangtze River Basin, the 11 YREB regions can be divided into upstream, midstream, and downstream. Analyzing the green efficiency of water resources (alternatively, “water resource green efficiency”) in the YREB is important for understanding the deep-seated laws of water resource utilization in the process of regional socioeconomic development and for
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