Abstract
Urban efficiency can effectively measure the management and allocation level of urban factor inputs. Based on the data of 30 prefecture-level cities in Northwest China from 2006 to 2015, urban efficiency is measured by data envelopment analysis (DEA). Then the spatiotemporal evolution rule is identified by Malmquist model. The results illustrate that the overall average urban efficiency of cities in Northwest China each year from 2006 to 2015 was at the low level. Only Jiayuguan, Yulin, Yan’an, and Karamay reached the high average urban efficiency, while Dingxi, Pingliang, Guyuan, Shangluo, Tianshui, Longnan, and Baiyin were at the inefficient level. Most cities in Northwest China were still in the “growing” stage of increasing returns to scale. The scale of urban investment was relatively insufficient, and economies of scale had not yet formed. Cities with decreasing returns to scale were mainly distributed in the capital cities and the central and sub-central cities of Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Zone with relatively abundant urban resources and capital. Cities with constant returns to scale were mainly distributed in four cities including Yan’an, Yulin, Jiayuguan, and Karamay with high efficiency. The overall comprehensive efficiency, technical efficiency, and scale efficiency of cities in Northwest China were not only low, but also showing a downward trend. The overall progress of urban technology had failed to make up for the shortfall caused by low efficiency, resulting in total factor productivity (TFP) decreasing by 0.5%. Therefore, the cities in Northwest China should continuously improve their technical efficiency and scale efficiency, and ultimately enhance the comprehensive efficiency.
Highlights
Urban efficiency refers to the efficiency in urban operations during a certain time period and under certain technical conditions [1]
Urban efficiency is generally not high, especially in less developed areas. This directly leads to a large amount of resource consumption, which reduces the quality of urban development [5]
Pan et al [10] used data envelopment analysis (DEA) and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) methods to measure the urban efficiency of 35 provincial cities of China in 2010
Summary
Urban efficiency refers to the efficiency in urban operations during a certain time period and under certain technical conditions [1]. Luo et al [12] used the super-efficient SBM model and Malmquist index to measure the green development efficiency of resource-based cities in central China from 2011 to 2015. It was found that the existing studies on urban efficiency mainly concentrated on provincial capital cities, municipalities, and cities in the eastern and central developed areas of China but lacked attention on the cities in the underdeveloped northwest region. Ren et al [15] pointed out that the cities in underdeveloped regions in China urgently need to promote effective urban development by improving urban efficiency. The systematic and quantitative measurement of urban efficiency in Northwest China and the analysis of its spatiotemporal evolution rule are in need of enlightenment to improve the quality of urban development.
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