Total-factor ecological efficiency and productivity in Yangtze River Economic Belt, China: A non-parametric distance function approach

This paper constructs the total-factor ecological efficiency (TFEcE) and the total-factor ecological productivity index (TFEcPI) based on the proposed Shephard ecology distance function which is derived from the combination of ecological footprint (EF) and the framework of Shephard energy distance function. The unified framework of TFEcE and TFEcPI enables a more comprehensive analysis by simultaneously allowing for both static and dynamic performance evaluations. This paper evaluates the TFEcE and TFEcPI of regions in Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), China during the period 2000-2014. Findings reveal that the EF in the YREB takes on an ascending trend, and there exist significant differences of EF among various regions. For the YREB and its three areas, TFEcE displays a trend of “decline first and then fluctuate” at different levels, while total-factor ecological productivity (TFEcP) takes on an ascending trend. There exist significant differences of TFEcE across various regions in the YREB, but the regional disparity is found to present a shrinking trend during our study period. The differences of Cumulative TFEcPI between the three areas have expanded due to the remarkable increase of the upper reach from 2007 to 2014 which may be attributed to its backwardness advantages. Further decomposition analysis reveals that TFEcP growth is mainly driven by technological progress, while efficiency change is found to exhibit a negative effect. Finally, a couple of policy recommendations are concluded based on the findings.