Efficiency Evaluation of Regional Sustainable Innovation in China: A Slack-Based Measure (SBM) Model with Undesirable Outputs

Agglomeration of Productive Services, Industrial Structure Upgrading and Green Total Factor Productivity: An Empirical Analysis Based on 68 Prefectural-Level-and-Above Cities in the Yellow River Basin of China

Improving green total factor productivity (GTFP) is the inherent requirement for practicing the philosophy of green development and achieving regional high-quality development. Based on panel data for 68 prefectural-level-and-above cities in the Yellow River Basin of China from 2006 to 2019, we measured their GTFPs and degrees of productive-services agglomeration using the non-radial directional distance function and industrial agglomeration index formulas, respectively. Furthermore, we empirically investigated the interactive relationship between agglomeration of productive services, industrial-structure upgrading, and GTFP using the dual fixed-effects model, the mediating-effect model, and the moderating-effect model. The findings were as follows. (1) Both specialized and diversified agglomeration of productive services significantly improved the GTFPs of cities in the Yellow River Basin, and the promoting effect of specialized agglomeration was stronger than that of diversified agglomeration. (2) The diversified agglomeration of productive services (hereinafter referred to as diversified agglomeration) made a significant contribution to GTFP in all sample cities of the Yellow River Basin, while the specialized agglomeration of productive services (hereinafter referred to as specialized agglomeration) only significantly improved GTFP in the upstream cities and had no significant effect on the midstream and downstream cities. (3) When examined according to city size, specialized agglomeration was found to have a positive impact on the GTFPs of small and medium-sized cities in the Yellow River Basin but a non-significant negative impact on large cities, while the effect of diversified agglomeration on GTFP was found not to be significant. (4) Industrial-structure upgrading played partially mediating and negative moderating roles in the process of specialized agglomeration affecting the GTFPs of cities in the Yellow River Basin, but it did not become a mediating channel and moderating factor that influenced diversified agglomeration in relation to GTFP.

Study on the dynamic evolution and synergistic relationship between urbanization and eco-efficiency through the selection of 76 agricultural counties and districts in Liaoning province as research units

Coordination and interaction among urbanization processes, efficient resource utilization, and ecological protection have emerged as key challenges for spatial development and protection of a territory. In this paper, we quantitatively determined the urbanization level and eco-efficiency by utilizing the entropy evaluation method and the SBM model with undesirable outputs, and then employed kernel density estimation, center movement method, and bivariate Moran's I index method to examine the spatial-temporal pattern as well as the interaction between the above two factors. This study provides a new framework for the measurement of urbanization and eco-efficiency and their interaction. The results of the study in the research area demonstrate that: (1) From 2013 to 2017, the urbanization level exhibited a steady increase from 0.2468 to 0.2789, while eco-efficiency depicted an N-shaped development trend before suffering an overall decline from 0.4364 to 0.3117; (2) the low-level units of urbanization level illustrated a strong convergence trend, and each unit possessed low eco-efficiency with weak spatial matching in general; (3) an ambiguous symbiosis exists between the center of gravity of movements of the two factors within each region; and (4) a global positive correlation was found between the urbanization level and eco-efficiency in Liaoning Province. The global Moran's I index first increased and then decreased.

Spatial and temporal evolution of urban economic development efficiency in China’s Yangtze River economic belt from the perspective of sustainable development

Urban economic development is crucial to regional economy and people’s life, and enhancing the efficiency of urban economic development is of great significance to boost sustainable and healthy economic and social development. In this paper, from the perspective of sustainable development, data of 104 cities in China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from 2004 to 2019 are selected, and the urban resource consumption index and urban pollutant emission index are synthesized as new input-output indicators using the Time Series Global Principal Component Analysis (GPCA), combined with the Global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) Index Model, Standard Deviation Ellipse (SDE) Model to measure the total factor productivity index of urban economic development in China’s YREB and analyze its spatial and temporal evolution. The results show that from 2004 to 2019, the total factor productivity index of urban economic development in China’s YREB showed an overall fluctuating upward trend with an average annual growth of 5.8%, and the analysis by decomposing indicators shows that the growth of total factor productivity of urban economic development in China’s YREB is mainly influenced by the growth of technological progress. Meanwhile, there are obvious regional differences in the efficiency of urban economic development in China’s YREB, with the largest difference in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the second largest in the upper reaches, and the smallest in the lower reaches. From 2004 to 2019, the efficiency center of gravity of urban economic development efficiency in the YREB has always been located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River region. The spatial distribution pattern of urban economic development efficiency in the YREB is dominated by the northeast-southwest direction and tends to be concentrated in the study time period.

Research on High-Quality Development Efficiency and Total Factor Productivity of Regional Economies in China

Different from the developmental mode of western developed countries, China’s economy has changed from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development, where the people’s growing needs for better lives can be met, embodying this new concept of development. The aim of our study is to evaluate the high-quality development efficiency and total factor productivity (TFP) of regional economies in China, and to explore the characteristics of spatial-temporal pattern evolution and their influencing factors. By using the slacks-based measure of directional distance functions (SBM-DDF) model, based on the undesirable output perspective, the high-quality development efficiency and TFP of regional economies in China, from 2000 to 2018, are evaluated in this paper. The exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and Tobit models are then used to identify the spatial-temporal correlation patterns and influencing factors of high-quality development efficiency and TFP. The key results show the following: (1) from 2001 to 2018, the greatest high-quality development efficiency and TFP belonged to China’s eastern region and the least to its central region. (2) U and inverted-U trend lines show that high-quality development efficiency has significant regional difference in the east–west direction, presenting a significant feature of spatial imbalance. (3) Government, urbanization rate, and marketization level play a positive role in their impact of TFP, whereas financial development, infrastructure, foreign direct investment, and capital labor ratio play a negative one.

International Comparison of the Efficiency of Agricultural Science, Technology, and Innovation: A Case Study of G20 Countries

An efficiency-oriented innovation analysis will enhance the understanding of the operational quality related to the transformation process of limited innovation investments for improving innovation outputs. The purpose of this study was to measure the static-dynamic efficiency of agricultural science, technology, and innovation (ASTI) and identify the efficiency determinants across the Group of Twenty (G20) countries. First, the static comprehensive efficiency of ASTI was measured employing the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)-BCC model, and some of the binding constraints to higher efficiency were investigated. Then, we applied the DEA-Malmquist index model to calculate the efficiency change of ASTI in certain periods and decomposed the sources of efficiency change. Finally, the G20 countries were classified into four-level clusters based on the rankings of efficiency measurement and capability evaluation of ASTI to locate the type of ASTI level and identify the type change in both the efficiency and capability. The empirical results indicate the following. (1) The efficiency range of the G20 developing countries was relatively larger than the G20 developed countries. The G20 developed countries showed a fluctuating downward trend, while the G20 developing countries showed an upward trend from the perspective of efficient proportion. The R&D expenditure redundancy and the agricultural journal papers deficiency were the main binding constraints to the higher efficiency of ASTI. (2) The total factor productivity change (TFPC) of ASTI showed an alternating trend of “decline–growth–continuous decline–growth recovery”, where the G20 developed countries experienced “growth–decline–growth” and the G20 developing countries underwent a fluctuating upward trend. The TFPC of ASTI in most G20 countries was primarily due to technological change. (3) The G20 developed countries usually had advantages in capacity, while the G20 developing countries performed better in efficiency.