Effects of Higher Education on Green Eco-Efficiency and Its Optimization Path: Case Study of China

Yue Xu, Zihao Xu, Dayu Zhai () and Yanyu Li
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Yue Xu: School of Management, China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Zihao Xu: School of Management, China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Dayu Zhai: School of International Development and Cooperation, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing 100029, China
Yanyu Li: School of International Development and Cooperation, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing 100029, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 18, 1-19

Abstract: Based on the annual panel data of 30 provinces in China, this paper evaluates the green eco-efficiency of each province via factor decomposition and analyzes the impact of higher education on green eco-efficiency using the two-way fixed effect model, considering economic development, urban scale, industrial structure, foreign investment and government regulation as control factors. The results show that the penetration of higher education has a significant positive impact on green eco-efficiency. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that the positive impact of undergraduate and postgraduate education is significant, and this impact increases with the increasing levels of education; however, the influence of junior college education is not significant. Higher education in eastern China significantly affects green eco-efficiency in a positive manner, while the relationship between the two is not significant in the central and western regions. The test of mediating effects further shows that technological innovation has a partial mediating effect, while environmental attention does not show a mediating effect in the influencing path of higher education on green eco-efficiency. Accordingly, this paper proposes certain implications regarding green-related courses, transformation from consciousness to practice, and incorporation of green education in higher education systems.

Keywords: higher education; green eco-efficiency; technological innovation; environmental attention; green education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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