Total-factor carbon emission performance of the Chinese transportation industry: A bootstrapped non-radial Malmquist index analysis

This paper proposes a non-radial Malmquist CO2 emission performance index (NMCPI) for measuring dynamic changes in total-factor CO2 emission performance over time. This index enables the consideration of non-radial slacks in the conventional Malmquist CO2 emission index (MCPI). The NMCPI is calculated based on a non-radial directional distance function derived by several data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. Furthermore, NMCPI could be decomposed into an efficiency change (EC) index and technological change (TC) index. A bootstrapping approach is conducted to introduce statistical inferences into the NMCPI and its decompositions. Based on the proposed indices, the dynamic CO2 emission performance change and its decompositions of the Chinese regional transportation industry from 2002 to 2010 are investigated. The empirical results demonstrate that the total-factor carbon emission performance of the transportation industry as a whole decreased by 32.8% over the period, and this reduction was primarily caused by technological decline.