A study on the effects of natural resource abundance and foreign direct investment on regional eco-efficiency in China under the target of COP26

Wenchao Gong

Resources Policy, 2023, vol. 82, issue C

Abstract: Regional eco-efficiency emphasizes the harmonious development of the economy, society and the natural environment, which is of great significance in the construction of an ecological civilization. This study analyzed the data of 30 regions in China from 2009 to 2021, measured regional eco-efficiency by using the super-efficient SBM model and then verified the influence of resource abundance and foreign direct investment (FDI) on regional eco-efficiency using the Tobit model. The conclusions were as follows. (1) The eco-efficiency level in China shows a slow upward trend from 2009 to 2021, and the national average value is low, at 0.519. The eco-efficiency levels of three regions—east, central and west—increased between 2009 and 2021, with the highest eco-efficiency in the east and the lowest in the west. (2) The negative elasticity coefficients of natural resource abundance confirm the existence of the “resource curse” in the eco-efficiency domain in the central and western regions and nationwide, but not in the eastern region. (3) The impact of FDI intensity on eco-efficiency nationwide is negative, but not significant. Eastern and western regions enjoy enhanced regional eco-efficiency, but the effect in the central region is negative. (4) Human capital promotes eco-efficiency in all regions; urbanization in the eastern and western regions and nationwide promotes eco-efficiency, whereas it inhibits eco-efficiency in the central region. Economic growth cannot increase eco-efficiency nationwide, with a positive promotion effect in the eastern and central regions but a negative promotion effect in the western ones. Moreover, green finance can significantly improve national and eastern regional eco-efficiency, but has a non-significant promotion effect in the central region and significant inhibiting effects in the west. Finally, in this paper, the corresponding countermeasures proposed for improving eco-efficiency are described.

Keywords: Natural resource abundance; FDI; Eco-efficiency; Green finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:82:y:2023:i:c:s0301420723002404

DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.103529

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