Input-Output Efficiency of Economic Growth: A Multielement System Perspective

Lei Kang and Zhouying Song
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Lei Kang: Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
Zhouying Song: Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-24

Abstract: Achieving sustainable and efficient economic development involves the pursuit of a model with low input, low emissions, and high yield. One approach to this is by considering input-output efficiency, which has been studied by many previous studies. However, existing literature mainly tend only to give an overall evaluation of regional input-output efficiency, which is unable to reveal the structure and components within the input-output system. This paper aims to overcome this problem by a systematic examination and measuring the resource efficiency, socio-economic efficiency, and environmental efficiency of separate subsystems using the Super-DEA model. The overall efficiency of 30 Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2015 is analyzed, along with each subsystem’s efficiency. The results show: (i) The overall input-output efficiency, resource efficiency, and socio-economic efficiency of the eastern region are relatively high. The efficiency of the northeastern region has performed poorly. Although the efficiency of the central and western regions is not high, their resource efficiency and socio-economic efficiency have risen in the last decade; (ii) Environmental efficiencies are markedly lower than the levels of the other two subsystems. Most western and northeastern provinces increased in rank, while most eastern and central provinces fell. (iii) Provinces can be divided into three categories, such as resource, socio-economic, and environmental efficiency-constrained provinces. Finally, we discuss the reasons driving the spatiotemporal pattern of China’s input-output efficiency and improvement policies.

Keywords: input-output efficiency; resource efficiency; socio-economic efficiency; environmental efficiency; constraint factor; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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