The spatial-temporal evolution and spatial convergence of ecological total factor productivity in china

Abstract

Based on the theory of strong sustainability, this paper evaluates the ecological environment from two aspects of ecological environment construction and ecological environment damage, and incorporates the ecological environment into the research framework of total factor productivity (TFP), and proposes a new ecological total factor productivity (ETFP) index, and studies the source of factors, spatial-temporal evolution and spatial convergence of the ETFP in China from 2001 to 2018. The results show the following: ETFP is driven by technological efficiency, and the stage fluctuation differentiation is obvious; the growth rate of the sub-factors of the “labor —energy — ecological environment construction — capital” decreases in sequence, and the contribution degree of the factors of “labor — ecological environment construction — energy — capital” keep decreasing in turn; the distribution pattern evolves from unipolar to bimodal. The path dependence of TFP on capital, labor and energy is relatively strong; There was a spatial convergence in china's provincial ETFP, and convergence speed was accelerated of 4.07% under Geo-economic weight matrix. Considering the influence of institutional factors, environmental decentralization and fiscal decentralization can put off the ETFP’s increasing speed, but the interaction between them can drive the ETFP’s growth.