Inefficient Regions Research Articles

Efficiency Level of Health Spending Governments: Evidence from North Maluku Indonesia

This study aims to determine and analyze the level of technical efficiency, cost, technical systems and corrective steps that need to be taken by inefficient regions in 10 regencies/cities in North Maluku Province in 2016-2020. This research uses secondary data from 10 districts/cities in North Maluku Province. The variables used include the APBD expenditure variable according to the health function as input, the variable number of puskesmas, posyandu, medical personnel and midwives at puskesmas and government hospitals as intermediate output variables and the variable Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (AKI), Number Life Expectancy (AHH) and Human Development Index (IPM) as outcome output variables. This research method uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with the assumption of Variable Return to Scale (VRS) and is input oriented. The results obtained are an average cost technical efficiency of 0%, while the technical efficiency of the system reaches 70%, so that there are indications of inefficiency in the allocation of health sector spending and corrective measures are needed based on the potential for regional improvement which are still not efficient so that the proportion of input and output can be efficient according to the needs of each region.

Efficiency of public investment in education in Peru, 2016-2022: A comparative analysis by region

The study analyzes the level of technical efficiency of public investment in Education at the primary and secondary level in Peru, 2016 to 2022. Data envelopment analysis – DEA was used and for the association between the provision of resources and educational quality. the panel data fixed effects model. The results indicate that there are relative differences in efficiency between the regions, registering an average score of 49% for the primary level and 38% for the secondary level, with the most efficient being Moquegua, Tacna, Arequipa and Ica, and the least efficient being Loreto, Huánuco, Ucayali, and San Martín. From the input-output association, classroom size, infrastructure in good condition and public investment have a direct relationship, while students per teacher and per computer, the relationship is inverse with respect to educational achievement in communication and mathematics at the primary and secondary level. This suggests that inefficient regions should increase educational attainment at the primary and secondary levels by an average of 51% and 62%, respectively, while maintaining the same level of spending. Therefore, to improve their efficiency within the framework of public policies, they can adopt the management implemented by regions such as Moquegua and Tacna.

Measuring water-used and production efficiency in China using the super-efficient directional distance function

ABSTRACT This study employs the super-efficiency directional distance function (SDDF) to assess the productivity of each administrative region in China over the period 2013–2017. The focus is on exploring variations in gross domestic production and efficiency related to waste gas and wastewater discharge across regions. The inputs include labor, capitalization, energy usage, and total water consumption, with domestic gross production as the output, and total wastewater and exhaust gas discharges as unintended outputs. The findings highlight Beijing, Tianjin, Hainan, Qinghai, Guangdong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Shandong as the most efficient regions, while Zhejiang, Ningxia, Hunan, and others exhibit lower performance. Notably, Guangxi ranks lowest (0.631). Unlike traditional direct distance function models, the SDDF model provides a more accurate estimation of the production efficiency of all 30 administrative regions, and addresses the limitation of generating the same efficiency values of 1 simultaneously for multiple regions. The study emphasizes the need for inefficient regions to reduce water consumption and emissions and enhance productivity, offering valuable insights for policymakers in formulating environmental and production policies.

Spatial–Temporal Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Marine Fishery Eco-Efficiency in China: Evidence from Coastal Regions

Marine fishery is an important part of China’s maritime power strategy. Improving the ecological efficiency of marine fishery is the inevitable way to achieve the sustainable development of fishery. Based on the perspective of industrial sustainable development, this study used the Super-SBM model to evaluate the ecological efficiency of marine fishery in 11 coastal provinces of China from 2011 to 2020. Combined with Malmquist index, Moran index and other methods, the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics were analyzed. On this basis, the Tobit panel model was used to explore the influencing factors of marine fishery eco-efficiency. The results show that: (1) From 2011 to 2020, the marine fishery eco-efficiency in the 10 coastal provinces and cities of China shows a clear trend of improvement, and the efficiency values in high-efficiency areas remain basically stable. The relative gap between efficient and inefficient regions remains significant. (2) From the perspective of spatial distribution characteristics, the ecological efficiency of marine fishery in coastal provinces and cities in China had no obvious spatial correlation, and showed a trend of cross-distribution between high-efficiency regions and low-efficiency regions. (3) The change of marine fishery eco-efficiency is the result of a variety of influencing factors. Fishery industrial structure, scientific and technological support levels and environmental regulation play a role in promoting the improvement of marine fishery eco-efficiency. Therefore, optimizing the structure of the fishery industry, improving environmental regulation and increasing investment in science and technology are all effective measures for local governments to improve the eco-efficiency of marine fisheries.

Study on the efficiency evolution trend of coordinated development of the human–earth system in minority areas of Yunnan, China

IntroductionImproving the development efficiency of human–earth systems is a practical requirement for achieving high-quality regional development.MethodsThe article designs a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model under the constraints of coordinated development degree from the perspective of the interaction of natural, economic and social systems to evaluate the development efficiency of human–earth systems and uses GA-BP neural network model for the prediction of the development efficiency of the human–earth system of each geographical unit from 2018 to 2025 based on the panel data of the 8 ethnic autonomous prefectures in Yunnan Province form 1995 to 2017.ResultsThe study found that from 1995 to 2017, the coordination degree and the coordinated development degree of the human–earth system in Yunnan minority areas were on the rise, but mainly manifested in the coordination of low development degree, and the average comprehensive efficiency value of input and output showed a downward trend. The prediction results for 2018–2025 showed that the human–earth system in Yunnan minority areas will be at a low efficient coordinated development level, and the coordinated development degree will show a downward trend. The development degree of natural subsystems in many ethnic minority areas showed negative growth and was negatively correlated with the development degree of economic and social subsystems. In 2025, except Honghe and Banna, the other six regions will be inefficient regions. Among these six inefficient regions, only Wenshan has input redundancy in the natural subsystem, but the phenomenon of input redundancy in the economic subsystem and insufficient output in the natural subsystem is common, indicating that industrial pollution has been controlled to a certain extent in most regions, but the economic investment mode and resource recycling efficiency need to be optimized and improved.DiscussionOur results could enrich the content of human–earth system characteristics in typical regions, and also provide theoretical support for regional coordinated development in China.

Digital finance promotes sustainable total factor eco-efficiency: evidence from China

ABSTRACT A super-efficient SBM model was constructed using Chinese provincial panel data from 2011 to 2018 to explore the impact of digital finance on sustainable total factor eco-efficiency (STFEcE) and its mechanisms of action. The results show that digital finance can promote the improvement of STFEcE, and this promotion is heterogeneous. Western regions with more backward financial development, ecologically inefficient regions, and financially weakly regulated regions have more significant eco-efficiency improvements from digital financial services. Digital finance influences STFEcE by expanding the scale of green credit and enhancing the level of green and digital technology innovation. Therefore, the government should support the efficient integration of digital technology and financial services in macro policies, accelerate the infrastructure construction of digital finance, eliminate the digital divide, and create a favourable financial environment for improving STFEcE.

Методика отбора регионов для исследования адаптации сельского хозяйства к изменению климата

The impact of climate change on the social and institutional conditions of agriculture (as opposed to technological ones) in Russia has hardly been studied. With a limited budget, such research should examine a small sample of regions. To reduce the subjectivity, a formalised methodology for creating and ranking small samples of regions was developed. While occupying the largest possible share in the country’s gross agricultural production, the regions included in the sample should significantly differ in natural and agricultural zones, agricultural production efficiency, contribution of peasant farms to agricultural output. Unlike other methods, the proposed technique uses a linear programming problem, where all corner solutions are integer. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was utilised to ensure the inclusion of both efficient and inefficient regions in the sample. In accordance with these requirements, Altai, Krasnoyarsk, Krasnodar krais and Moscow oblast were selected for analysis. For the regions included in at least one of the five best samples (such as Volgograd, Saratov and Leningrad oblasts), a model of partial equilibrium on the wholesale markets of agricultural products of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (VIAPI model) was applied to assess the impact of scenario climate change on the output and wholesale prices of ten types of agricultural products. The research revealed that while the production in the selected regions is resistant to this influence, except for Altai and Krasnoyarsk krais, regional market prices are still rising due to the impact of world prices for milk products and grain.

Evaluation of green technology innovation efficiency in a regional context: A dynamic network slacks-based measuring approach

As green technology innovation efficiency is considered an effective indicator to evaluate energy conservation and emission mitigation, the question of how to estimate it has become a hot topic. Research primarily calculates the cross-section efficiency from a static perspective or the network efficiency alone; however, few studies have considered dynamic characteristics and the network structure of the innovation process simultaneously. To address this gap, this paper employs slacks-based dynamic network data envelopment analysis to calculate the overall, intertemporal, and divisional green technology innovation efficiency covering China's 30 provinces over 2012–2019. The results indicate that (1) a strong spatial dependence of efficiency scores exists, accounting for 60 % of the aggregate statistics. (2) China's overall scores are low, and inefficient regions need to improve efficiency by at least 31.41 % to become efficient. (3) Economically developed regions, provinces with advanced manufacturing, and nonresource-based areas have relatively high scores. (4) The period scores fluctuate greatly up and down around the overall scores, showing a significant spatial imbalance within consecutive multiple periods. (5) Regarding divisional scores, the internal structure of green technology innovation efficiency in China is inferior in R&D and superior in commercialization. Generally, policy-makers should improve local conditions for green technology innovation efficiency.

A novel three-way decision model with DEA method

In this paper, we introduce data envelopment analysis (DEA) model into rough sets, and propose a novel three-way decision model to deal with the decision problems with multiple decision attributes. On the integration of the “trisecting-acting-outcome (TAO)” framework of three-way decision (3WD) and DEA model, three ordered regions (i.e. efficient region, weakly efficient region, and inefficient region) are generated in the trisecting part. The corresponding strategies are subsequently adopted to process these three regions in the acting part. Specifically, the decision making units (DMUs) in the efficient region are considered as benchmarks for the other two regions; three projection strategies are designed to improve the DMUs in the weakly efficient and inefficient regions. Besides, the effectiveness of the results of trisecting and acting is measured in the outcome evaluation part. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to validate the proposed model.

Regional Open Innovation Systems in a Transition Economy: A Two-Stage DEA Model to Estimate Effectiveness

The development of innovation at a regional level in a transition economy is characterised by complex multidirectional processes of generating and commercialising innovation, indicating the need for systematic research and rethinking of the existing methods of managing such territorial entities to stimulate innovation. For the successful introduction and implementation of innovative solutions, the deployment of appropriate amounts of intellectual, material and financial resources as well as their concentration in space and time is important. This article aims to develop a model for assessing the effectiveness of regional innovation systems (RISs) during the shift from the transition economy to the market economy. The authors developed a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model connected with patent activities and the output of innovative goods and services. The model’s application made it possible to build maps describing the rating of regions concerning the performance indicator and to identify the availability of unutilised resources. For example, we identified efficient and inefficient regions in terms of producing innovative products, which is especially important for developing additional measures for developing the institutional environment of regions with considerable resources but very low utilisation efficiency. The data obtained will allow for more effective management of the structural elements of RISs as well as the detection of changes in the dynamics of key development indicators by identifying the size of efficiency reserves and the causes of their occurrence at the individual subject level.

Provincial production and pollution treatment performance in China based on a two-stage eco-inefficiency approach with undesirable intermediate outputs

In general, production systems always contain a two-stage process of product production and pollution treatment, where undesirable byproducts generated in the former stage will be treated as inputs in the latter stage. How to evaluate the performance of such production systems is very important both from academic research and practical application. In this paper, we will propose a new data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach for measuring the eco-inefficiency of two-stage structures with undesirable intermediate measures, and then apply the approach to 30 Chinese provincial regions with production and pollution treatment activities. The results show that: (1) China does well in overall performance, with an average inefficiency score of 0.3214. (2) Hunan, Hainan, Chongqing, Ningxia and Hebei are the top five least inefficient regions, while Xinjiang, Yunnan, Guizhou, Liaoning and Heilongjiang are the top five most inefficient regions. (3) Most regions have a higher pollution treatment inefficiency than the production inefficiency. (4) The eastern area has a better overall performance than central and western areas, and coastal economic developed regions perform better than inland remote regions. Further, (5) the eastern area is consistently better than the western area in both production and pollution treatment, while the central area is similar to the western area in production and is superior to the eastern area in pollution treatment. In addition, we provide some insights on policy suggestions for improving Chinese provincial industrial production and pollution treatment performance.

Assessing rice production efficiency of the granary and non-granary areas in Malaysia using data envelopment analysis approach

The performance of rice production efficiency between two homogenous regions (granaries and non-granaries) at the regional level in Malaysia is evaluated by applying the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. In general, the granary area receives much attention to achieve sustainable rice development compared to non-granaries. The period observed from 2009 to 2018 related to the comprehensive government transformation in strengthening paddy and rice value-chain after the 2007-2008 international food crisis. Under the new National Agrofood Policy (NAFP) 2011-2020, more agricultural assistance and development expenditure was allotted. The total of eighteen regions was classified into eight granaries and ten regions for non-granaries. The output-input oriented analysis under CRS and VRS specifications were performed. From CRS and VRS technical efficiency scores ratio, the scale efficiencies were calculated. The result shows that eight (44.44%) out of eighteen regions maintain high efficiency with scores greater than 0.9000 for both specifications. Meanwhile, under ‘pure’ technical efficiency (VRS), eleven (61.11%) out of eighteen regions maintain high efficiency with scores greater than 0.9000. For productivity status, twelve (66.67%) out of eighteen areas are optimum and increasing productivity approach and the remaining six (33.33%) are decreasing productivity. This empirical study also demonstrates substantial performance variations between output (rice production) and production factors (land, planting frequency, irrigation areas, total subsidies and incentives received). Overall, the Malaysia paddy and rice industry’s efficiency performance can be considered still inefficient but has the potential to maximize the production through rationalizing the inputs used and obtain production efficiency, especially the inefficient regions.

Research on Provincial Forestry Investment Efficiency in China

Abstract Forestry is the largest carrier of the green economy. Its strong ecological and economic effect makes it the object of green investment. To explore whether Chinese forestry investment is effectively utilized, we measured the input-output efficiency of forestry investment in 31 provinces in China through the super-slack-based measure model and the Malmquist index in the data envelopment analysis model. Based on this, we further analyze the redundant (insufficient) situation of input (output) in inefficient regions and changes in the efficiency of China’s forestry investment. The results show that the comprehensive efficiency of forestry investment in most provinces of China is low, among which the developed provinces are limited by input factors, while the less developed provinces are affected by low-scale efficiency. Second, the environmental benefit of forestry investment in the sample area is not obvious, and the output of forest carbon sequestration is low. Third, the efficiency of forestry investment in most provinces of China is improving, but the application technology of forestry investment has become the main factor hindering the improvement of forestry investment efficiency. JEL classification numbers: E22, Q23, Q54. Keywords: Forestry, investment efficiency, China.

Dynamically inflated wind models of classical Wolf-Rayet stars

Context. Vigorous mass loss in the classical Wolf-Rayet (WR) phase is important for the late evolution and final fate of massive stars. Aims. We develop spherically symmetric time-dependent and steady-state hydrodynamical models of the radiation-driven wind outflows and associated mass loss from classical WR stars. Methods. The simulations are based on combining the opacities typically used in static stellar structure and evolution models with a simple parametrised form for the enhanced line opacity expected within a supersonic outflow. Results. Our simulations reveal high mass-loss rates initiated in deep and hot, optically thick layers around T ≈ 200 kK. The resulting velocity structure is non-monotonic and can be separated into three phases: (i) an initial acceleration to supersonic speeds (caused by the static opacity), (ii) stagnation and even deceleration, and (iii) an outer region of rapid re-acceleration (by line opacity). The characteristic structures seen in converged steady-state simulations agree well with the outflow properties of our time-dependent models. Conclusions. By directly comparing our dynamic simulations to corresponding hydrostatic models, we explicitly demonstrate that the need to invoke extra energy transport in convectively inefficient regions of stellar structure and evolution models, in order to prevent drastic inflation of static WR envelopes, is merely an artefact of enforcing a hydrostatic outer boundary. Moreover, the dynamically inflated inner regions of our simulations provide a natural explanation for the often-found mismatch between predicted hydrostatic WR radii and those inferred from spectroscopy; by extrapolating a monotonic β-type velocity law from the observable supersonic regions to the invisible hydrostatic core, spectroscopic models likely overestimate the core radius by a factor of a few. Finally, we contrast our simulations with alternative recent WR wind models based on co-moving frame (CMF) radiative transfer to compute the radiation force. Since CMF transfer currently cannot handle non-monotonic velocity fields, the characteristic deceleration regions found here are avoided in such simulations by invoking an ad hoc very high degree of clumping.

Regional logistics efficiency and performance in China along the Belt and Road Initiative: The analysis of integrated DEA and hierarchical regression with carbon constraint

Although some studies have focused on the evaluation of regional logistics efficiency in China along the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R Initiative), there exist research gaps pertaining to systematically exploring the effects of internal and external influencing factors on the efficiency, economic performance and environmental performance of regional logistics industry for different regions and time periods. Therefore, in this paper, the integration of the slack-based measure (SBM) model and hierarchical regression is developed to perform an 11-year dynamic analysis (2007–2017) with carbon emission constraint. The improvement directions for inefficient regions are provided by benchmark analysis. The decrement rate and increment rate are proposed to further reveal the redundancy or shortage degree of indicators. Our results reveal the large imbalance in logistics efficiency among China’s regions along the B&R Initiative. However, the gaps in efficiency between the eastern and western regions have narrowed since the launch of the B&R Initiative. With regression analysis, we find whether in regions along the Silk Road Economic Belt or the Maritime Silk Road, whether from 2007 to 2012 or from 2013 to 2017, the specialization degree of logistics industry plays a prominently positive role in logistics efficiency and a negative role in environmental performance. It is interesting to find the opposite effect of opening up level on efficiency between regions along the Maritime Silk Road (positive effect) and the Silk Road Economic Belt (negative effect). We find the seesaw effect of economic development level and government regulation on economic performance and environmental performance for the southwest region. In addition, from 2013 to 2017, the external factors that have a positive effect on efficiency have changed from the opening up level before 2013 to the regional economic development level.

Sustainable achievement efficiency of transport energy consumption based on indicator analysis

AbstractEnergy issue is one of the crucial problems in the corresponding research of sustainability because it is strongly related to the environmental dimension and economic dimension. For evaluating the transport sustainability level for sustainability for regions, the concept of sustainable achievement efficiency in transport energy consumption is initially suggested in this article. And then, on the quantitative analysis to calculate the transport energy achievement efficiency of the regions, the indicators that can represent the achievement of transport energy consumption are convincingly found out by indicator theory. Next, concentration is focused on the transport related indicators and proper indicators are picked up from the candidate indicators, which were the affecting factors to this issue. After that, using the selected indicators, we introduce the method of data envelopment analysis to do quantitative analysis, which helps to get the sustainable achievement efficiency of transport energy among cities all over the world. The analysis result shows the efficient regions and the inefficient regions respectively. Furthermore, the detailed efficiency value of each region is also laid out clearly. Consequently, the achievement efficiency in transport sector can be discussed quantitatively and further policy implications can be suggested for improvement for the inefficient regions to reach high level sustainability.

Equity and efficiency of maternal and child health resources allocation in Hunan Province, China

BackgroundA reasonable allocation of health resources is often characterized by equity and high efficiency. This study aims to evaluate the equity and efficiency of maternal and child health (MCH) resources allocation in Hunan Province, China.MethodsData related to MCH resources and services was obtained from the Hunan maternal and child health information reporting and management system. The Gini coefficient and data envelopment analysis (DEA) were employed to evaluate the equity and efficiency of MCH resources allocation, respectively.ResultsThe MCH resources allocation in terms of demographic dimension were in a preferred equity status with the Gini values all less than 0.3, and the Gini values for each MCH resources’ allocation in terms of the geographical dimension ranged from 0.1298 to 0.4256, with the highest values in the number of midwives and medical equipment (≥ CNY 10,000), which exceeds 0.4, indicating an alert of inequity. More than 40% regions in Hunan were found to be relatively inefficient with decreased return to scale in the allocation of MCH resources, indicating those inefficient regions were using more inputs than needed to obtain the current output levels.ConclusionsThe equity of MCH resources by population size is superior by geographic area and the disproportionate distribution of the number of medical equipment (≥ CNY 10,000) and midwives between different regions was the main source of inequity. Policy-makers need to consider the geographical accessibility of health resources among different regions to ensure people in different regions could get access to available health services. More than 40% of regions in Hunan were found to be inefficient, with using more health resources than needed to produce the current amount of health services. Further investigations on factors affecting the efficiency of MCH resources allocation is still needed to guide regional health plans-making and resource allocation.

URBANIZATION AND DYNAMICS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH (THE CASE OF NUTS 2 REGIONS OF EUROPEAN UNION)

Regional development policies based on local potential triggers a shift in the economic structure of territories. Exogenous and endogenous factors determine potential of regional development and it is necessary to use different indicators and methods to its evaluation. For the paper purpose, it is required to define metropolitan and peripheral functions as well as urban areas in the form of geographic models, depicting their spatial distribution in the European Union (EU). Nowadays, regions are increasingly becoming the drivers of the economy. All regions possess development opportunities – however, use these options enough, and hence the competitiveness of regions must be efficient enough. The paper focuses on dividing the EU NUTS 2 regions based on geographic models of the European economy into efficient and inefficient ones and identifying an optimal benchmark for inefficient regions as a strategy for enhancing their economic structure to measure regional efforts and progress.

Adaptive Rule-Based Energy Management Strategy for a Parallel HEV

This paper proposes an Adaptive Rule-Based Energy Management Strategy (ARBS EMS) for a parallel hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). The aim of the strategy is to facilitate the aftermarket hybridization of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. ARBS can be deployed online to optimize fuel consumption without any detailed knowledge of the engine efficiency map of the vehicle or the entire duty cycle. The proposed strategy improves upon the established Preliminary Rule-Based Strategy (PRBS), which has been adopted in commercial vehicles, by dynamically adjusting the regions of operations of the engine and the motor. It prevents the engine from operating in highly inefficient regions while reducing the total equivalent fuel consumption of the vehicle. Using an HEV model developed in Simulink®, both the proposed ARBS and the established PRBS strategies are compared over an extended duty cycle consisting of both urban and highway segments. The results show that ARBS can achieve high MPGe with different thresholds for the boundary between the motor region and the engine region. In contrast, PRBS can achieve high MPGe only if this boundary is carefully established from the engine efficiency map. This difference between the two strategies makes the ARBS particularly suitable for aftermarket hybridization where full knowledge of the engine efficiency map may not be available.

Modified Distance Friction Minimization Model with Undesirable Output: An Application to the Environmental Efficiency of China’s Regional Industry

China’s economy has experienced rapid development in the last several decades. However, environmental problems emerge along with the fast economic growth. Industrial pollutions and wastes have attracted much concern from the government and the public. In this paper, we propose a modified distance friction minimization model with undesirable outputs to evaluate the environmental efficiency of China’s regional industry from 2011 to 2015. We then provide benchmarking targets for inefficient regions. Our approach can not only analyze the internal factors of the poorly performing regions but also set the benchmarking targets in which the inefficient regions need the least effort to be efficient. The analysis results indicate that the developed regions perform better than the developing ones. In particular, the regions that have always been efficient from 2011 to 2015 are all developed ones to our knowledge. Moreover, the gap in environmental performance tends to extend between developed and developing areas every year. We suggest that the Chinese government should formulate and perfect relative regulations and laws on environmental protection and take measures to reduce the unbalanced trend of its regional industry.