Evaluation of the sustainable development level of countries along the Belt and Road and its impact factors:Empirical analysis based on the Super-efficiency slacks-based measure and Tobit measure models

Sustainable development is an important component of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)and is of great significance for evaluating the levels of sustainable development of countries along this route(henceforth,BRI countries).Therefore,this study aims to identify the factors that influence the levels of sustainable development of BRI countries in a reasonable and objective manner.Eventually,this study employs the super efficiency slacks-based measure(Super-SBM)model,which considers unexpected outputs to measure the level of sustainable development of BRI countries.The dynamic change and composition of the sustainable development level of these countries are calculated using the global Malmquist-Luenberger index.Furthermore,the Tobit model is used to identify the factors influencing the level of sustainable development of BRI countries in general and in various categories.The empirical results suggest the following points.(a)The overall level of sustainable development of BRI countries is low,whereas those of high-income and middle-and high-income countries are relatively high.(b)The overall sustainable development levels of BRI countries declined to a certain extent in 2008 owing to the effect of the financial crisis,.However,the sustainable development level of other countries,barring low-income countries,has gradually increased since 2011.(c)Since 2008,technological progress has replaced technical efficiency as the main driving force behind the improvement of the sustainable development level of BRI countries.(d)A U-shaped relationship is observed between the economic and sustainable development levels of these countries.(e)The level of science and technology and the proportion of renewable energy consumption can promote the sustainable development of these countries.Moreover,a negative correlation exists between the level of opening to the outside world and that of sustainable development of countries that mainly export resource-based products and are dominated by labor-intensive export industries.Barring low-income countries,the energy structure plays an effective role in improving the level of sustainable development.Finally,the study presents suggestions for China in the process of coping with the sustainable development of relevant countries during its promotion of the BRI.

Research on Smart Growth of Sustainable Cities Based on Information Entropy and Super-Efficiency DEA Model

Since the “smart growth” was put forward in the late 90s, it has become an accepted design idea and concept in the field of urban design in the world, and has been deeply studied and applied. In order to better promote “smart grown”, we set up an evaluation system, which consists of eleven indicators. In this paper, Oxford City and Fengzhen City are used as the objects of the study. Then smart growth evaluation model is established. The weight of the index is calculated by the entropy method. We use the model to evaluate the development plans of the two cities, from which to calculate the contribution of the indicators on the level of smart growth. Finally, we use the super-efficient data envelopment analysis model (DEA) to rank the importance of the indicators to the smart growth. The results show that the level of smart growth in Oxford is higher than that in Fengzhen. And “Multifunctional Building Density in Central City”, “The Density of Public Area in Central City” two indicators account for more than 36% weight. The contribution of the two indicators is also located in the top two indicators. Two cities focus on the direction of smart growth is also different. In summary, the differences between China and Western countries in urban planning are mainly focused on housing and public resources.

A Range Adjusted Measure of Super-Efficiency in Integer-Valued Data Envelopment Analysis with Undesirable Outputs

DEA(data envelopment analysis) models can be divided into two groups: Radial DEA and non-radial DEA, and the latter has higher discriminatory power than the former. The range adjusted measure(RAM) is an effective and widely used non-radial DEA approach. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no literature on the integer-valued super-efficiency RAM-DEA model,especially when undesirable outputs are included. We first propose an integer-valued RAM-DEA mode with undesirable outputs and then extend this model to an integer-valued super-efficiency RAM-DEA model with undesirable outputs. Compared with other DEA models, the two novel models have many advantages: 1) They are non-oriented and non-radial DEA models, which enable decision makers to simultaneously and non-proportionally improve inputs and outputs;2) They can handle integer-valued variables and undesirable outputs, so the results obtained are more reliable;3) The results can be easily obtained as it is based on linear programming;4) The integer-valued super-efficiency RAM-DEA model with undesirable outputs can be used to accurately rank efficient DMUs. The proposed models are applied to evaluate the efficiency of China’s regional transportation systems(RTSs) considering the number of transport accidents(an undesirable output). The results help decision makers improve the performance of inefficient RTSs and analyze the strengths of efficient RTSs.

Dynamic analysis of agricultural green development efficiency in China: Spatiotemporal evolution and influencing factors

Green development of agriculture is important for achieving coordinated and high-quality regional development for China. Using provincial data from 1990 to 2020, this work explored the dynamics of agricultural green development efficiency of 31 provinces in China, its spatiotemporal characteristics, and its driving factors using a super-efficiency slacks-based measure(Super-SBM), the Malmquist productivity index(MPI), spatial autocorrelation, and a geographic detector. Results showed that the overall agricultural green development efficiency showed a U-shaped trend, suggesting a low level of efficiency. Although a gradient difference was visible among eastern, central, and western regions, the efficiency gap narrowed each year. Technological progress and efficiency both promoted agricultural green development efficiency, especially technological progress. Agricultural green development efficiency had significant spatial aggregation characteristics, but Moran’s Ⅰ result showed a downward trend from 2015 to 2020, indicating a risk of spatial dispersion in the later stage. The provinces with high agricultural green development efficiency were mainly concentrated in the eastern region, while those with low efficiency were concentrated in the central and western regions. Agricultural green development efficiency was influenced by various factors, which showed differences according to time and region. The impact of the labor force’s education level and technological progress increased during the study period, and significantly facilitated agricultural green development efficiency in the eastern region, while the central and western regions were still affected by the scale level and environmental regulation, reflecting the advantages of the eastern region in terms of economy and technology. In the future, strengthening agricultural scientific and technological innovation and deepening interprovincial cooperation can help further improve the level of green agricultural development. In addition, local governments should formulate more precise local agricultural support policies based on macro-level policies and local conditions.

Evaluation of Green Development Efficiency in Chongqing Municipality Based on Super-SBM and Malmquist Models

The green development of Chongqing municipality is crucial in establishing a major ecological shield in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.By developing a Super-SBM model and using the Malmquist index to analyze and calculate the green development efficiency and its influencing factors in Chongqing from 2011 to 2021,this study reveals an accelerating trend in the overall green development efficiency in Chongqing.The significant enhancement of green development efficiency in Chongqing is primarily attributed to changes in returns to scale.Pure technical efficiency and technological advancements have a considerable potential impact on improving green development efficiency in Chongqing.Furthermore,there are discernible disparities in green development efficiency among districts and counties in Chongqing,with different factors influencing these variations.Chongqing is suggested to promote clean and efficient energy utilization,bolster the application and commercialization of scientific and technological advancements,consistently advance ecological restoration and management,and elevate the quality of green development to a higher level.

Eco-efficiency evaluation of symbiotic network for environmental governance PPP projects

Under the goal of "double carbon " strategy,the government and enterprises collaborate to form an efficient environmental governance symbiosis network to reduce pollution and carbon.Based on the panel data of 30 provinces,the static and dynamic eco-efficiency of the symbiotic network of environmental governance PPP projects are measured by using the SBM model and Malmquist index considering the super-efficiency of non-expected output.The results show that:(1) 8 provinces,including Hebei,have efficiency values greater than 1;11 provinces,including Liaoning,have organizational technology and management levels conducive to efficiency improvement,and 12 provinces,including Zhejiang,are closest to optimal scale efficiency.(2) Redundancy of energy conservation and environmental protection expenditures,urban environmental infrastructure construction investment and new product development projects,insufficient waste gas treatment capacity,environmental emergencies and carbon emission redundancy are all significant factors affecting eco-efficiency.(3) The dynamic efficiency of 8 provinces,including Fujian,shows a decreasing trend,and the Malmquist index and its decomposition indicate that the utilization rate of environmental governance technology should be improved and environmental resources should be allocated rationally.

基于极效率DEA模型的港口绩效评价

对集装箱港口的绩效进行评价一直是港口当局关心的问题,现有文献尚未提出比较有效的方法,尝试利用极效率(super-efficiency)DEA模型对集装箱港口的绩效进行评价。极效率DEA模型能够有效地区别出有效(绩效值1)决策单元之间的绩效差异,可以对所评价的决策单元进行有效的排序。此方法已在城市和企业的评价中得到了应用,但尚未在港口得到应用。在案例中,汉堡港最有效率,新加坡港次之,然后是香港港、泽布勒赫港和基隆港,香港港由于船舶的无效逗留时间长、新加坡港集卡数配置不合理,导致两者的绩效低于吞吐量远小于它们的港口。

Performance Evaluation of Public Bus Transportation by Using DEA Models and Shannon’s Entropy:An Example From a Company in a Large City of China

The purpose of this paper is to assess the operational efficiency of a public bus transportation via a case study from a company in a large city of China by using data envelopment analysis(DEA)model and Shannon’s entropy.This company operates 37 main routes on the backbone roads.Thus,it plays a significant role in public transportation in the city.According to bus industry norms,an efficiency evaluation index system is constructed from the perspective of both company operations and passenger demands.For passenger satisfaction,passenger waiting time and passenger-crowding degree are considered,and they are undesirable indicators.To describe such indicators,a superefficient DEA model is constructed.With this model,by using actual data,efficiency is evaluated for each bus route.Results show that the DEA model with Shannon’s entropy being combined achieves more reasonable results.Also,sensitivity analysis is presented.Therefore,the results are meaningful for the company to improve its operations and management.

The spatial-temporal differentiation of green land use in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration

As the space carrier of the construction of ecological civilization, land's green and efficient utilization is an important guarantee for realizing national sustainable development. Based on traditional land evaluation, this paper scientifically defines the green land use, puts land as one of the production factors, and brings energy consumption, environmental pollution, etc. into the input-output system to measure the green land utilization efficiency of the urban construction land of Beijing-TianjinHebei Urban Agglomeration from 2006 to 2016. The study shows that the overall efficiency variation of the urban agglomeration is related with the land and environment policies. Efficiency of 2016 is higher than that of 2006, and energy and environment are the principal factors affecting the green land use. The efficiency of each city is positively correlated with its economic development, negatively correlated with the construction land expansion. Efficiency gaps in different cities are expanding.There is positive correlation with overall weak space between cities, and the partial spatial agglomeration phenomenon appears. Therefore, the green land use efficiency could be improved by improving land utilization efficiency, coordinating economic growth of construction land utilization with environmental protection and taking feasible ways to transregional renovation of the stock ecological land utilization, etc.

SE-DEA-SVM evaluation method of ECM operational disposition scheme

Operational disposition of electronic countermeasures(ECM)is a hot topic in modern warfare research.Through fully analyzing the characteristics and shortcomings of the traditional operational disposition scheme,a super-efficient data envelopment analysis support vector machine(SE-DEA-SVM)method for evaluating the operational configuration scheme of ECM is proposed.Firstly,considering the subjective and objective factors affecting the operational disposition of ECM,the index system of operational disposition scheme is established,and we explain the solution method of terminal indexs.Secondly,the evaluation and algorithm process of SE-DEA-SVM evaluation method are introduced.In this method,the super-efficient data envelopment analysis(SE-DEA)model is used to calculate the weight of index system,and the support vector machine(SVM)method combined with the training samples of evaluation index is used to obtain the input-output model of evaluation value of combat configuration.Finally,by an example(obtaining five schemes),we verify the SE-DEA-SVM evaluation method and analyze the results.The efficiency analysis,comparison analysis,and error analysis of this method are carried out.The results show that this method is more suitable for military evaluation with small samples,and it has high efficiency,applicability,and popularization value.

Application of SEDEA to evaluation of degree of harmony between water resources and economic development

This paper introduces the method of data envelopment analysis （DEA） for evaluation of the degree of harmony between water resources and economic development of the water conservancy area of China＇s South-to-North Water Diversion Project （SNWDP）. For this evaluation, a super-efficiency DEA （SEDEA） model was developed based on the super-efficiency method. To verify the applicability of the SEDEA model, both the SEDEA model and a normal-efficiency DEA （NEDEA） model were used to evaluate the degree of harmony between water resources and economic development of typical cities in the SNWDP water conservancy area. The results show that the SEDEA model ranks the degree of harmony of typical cities more efficiently than the NEDEA model, and thus can better evaluate the degree of harmony between water resources and economic development of different cities than the NEDEA model. Furthermore, the SEDEA model can be applied as an operational research tool in regional water resources management.

Study on the efficiency of equipment shared by universities

Based on the theory of data envelopment analysis, this paper sets up the super-efficiency data envelopment analysis （DEA） model. It makes use of the model to evaluate efficiency of equipment shared by universities in Tianjin. It explored database of many universities and put forward suggestions to improve the efficiency of equipment shared by universities at present.

Performance Evaluation of Listed Companies in New-Energy Automotive Industry

As one of the national strategic emerging industries, new-energy-automobile industry has been caused people’s attention increasingly. Therefore, improving the new energy industry listing corporation performance, not only can alleviate the pressure on energy and the environment, but also can conducive to accelerating the transformation and upgrading of the automotive industry. Moreover, it can foster new economic point of growth and international competitiveness. This essay uses the super efficiency DEA model and Malmquist index method to analyze the performance of new-energy-automotive industry listing corporation. The data is from Year 2011 to 2013. Finally according to the conclusion of the empirical research, this paper made several suggestions to improve the operational efficiency of China’s new energy automobile enterprises and promote new energy-automobile industry.

Discriminating Among Relatively Efficient Units in Data Envelopment Analysis: A Comparison of Alternative Methods and Some Extensions

This paper concentrates on methods for comparing activity units found relatively efficient by data envelopment analysis (DEA). The use of the basic DEA models does not provide direct information regarding the performance of such units. The paper provides a systematic framework of alternative ways for ranking DEA-efficient units. The framework contains criteria derived as by-products of the basic DEA models and also criteria derived from complementary DEA analysis that needs to be carried out. The proposed framework is applied to rank a set of relatively efficient restaurants on the basis of their market efficiency.

Static and Dynamic Analysis on the Environmental Efficiency of 267 Cities in China during 2004-2012

This study mainly investigates the environmental efficiency of 267 Chinese cities from 2004 to 2012 through a metafrontier,directional and super-efficiency approach. First,we explore the regional and time heterogeneity of environmental efficiency. Then,we compare the technological gap ratio in different regions and years. Lastly,we analyze the technological and management potential in different regions. We determine that the gap between environmental efficiency under group frontier and metafrontier widened from 2009 to 2012,indicating that environmental efficiency varies in different regions in China. The technology gap ratio has decreased in the four regions. This result confirms that the regional heterogeneity of environmental efficiency has increased. Thus,strengthening environmental management is crucial. China must improve green innovation to decrease energy consumption and abate carbon emissions.

Multilevel Correlation Analysis of Influencing Factors on Grain Total Factor Productivity in Main Grain Producing Provinces of China

In order to analyze the influencing factors of TFP (the abbreviation of Total Factor Productivity) deeply, this paper calculates and decomposes the TFP of the main grain producing provinces in China from 2006 to 2015 by the DEA-Malmquist index model. On the basis of this, the grey correlation analysis model based on super-efficiency DEA is used to quantitatively analyze the influencing factors of total factor productivity, technological progress and technical efficiency. The results show that the proportion of grain sowing, the level of food economic development, the level of grain mechanization, the average scale of operations and the level of fertilizer using have the most influence on grain total factor productivity. Finally, according to the results of the analysis, some suggestions are put forward to improve the TFP of different provinces in the main grain producing areas.

Environmental efficiency and its determinants in the development of China's western regions in 2000-2014

In this study, we measure the environmental efficiency of western China in 2000-2014 by the super-efficiency slacks-based measure model which considers the undesirable outputs. The results show that the environmental efficiency of western China is low and rank behind in the national level. The environmental efficiency is lower than the traditional efficiency which reflects that the economic growth in 2000-2014 has paid high environmental costs. The difference between the traditional efficiency and environmental efficiency experienced "inverted U"-type trend change. The environmental efficiency of the western provinces presented differentiated developing trend and the differences between the western provinces were enlarging. The environmental efficiency of the western regions was not only lower than that in the eastern regions with a big gap but also lower than that in the central regions. Through the convergence test, we found that the environmental efficiency gap between the western and the eastern regions was gradually expanding; meanwhile, the environmental efficiency gap between the central and the western regions was narrowing. This paper also analyzes the determinants of environmental efficiency by the tobit model and then addresses.

An Energy Efficiency Assessment Method for Distribution Network Containing DG

Energy efficiency assessment of distribution network containing distributed generation is one of the core contents of power grid construction. Aiming at the lack of a quantitative evaluation method for energy efficiency of distribution network containing distributed generation, a novel energy efficiency assessment method based on the super-efficiency model is proposed. Starting from the basic elements and operational requirements of the distribution network containing distributed generation, the energy efficiency assessment metric set is constructed. On this basis, the concept of generalized energy efficiency function is defined, and the super-efficiency model is used to assess the energy efficiency of the distribution network containing distributed generation. Finally, an example is given to evaluate and analyze energy efficiency. The results confirm the validity of the proposed method.

Analysis of Agricultural Eco-Efficiency and Influencing Factors in Henan Province

In order to improve the agricultural eco-efficiency and promote the sustainable development of agriculture in Henan Province, China, based on the footprint theory, the super-efficiency SBM model is used to scientifically calculate and analyze the agricultural eco-efficiency in Henan Province. On this basis, the influencing factors of agricultural eco-efficiency in Henan Province are quantitatively analyzed by using the grey incidence analysis model. The results show that unilaterally considering one of grey water footprints and carbon footprints will overestimate or underestimate the agricultural eco-efficiency of Henan Province in different degrees in different time periods, and the agricultural eco-efficiency obtained by comprehensively considering grey water footprint and carbon footprint (GWCAEE) is more in line with the reality of agricultural development in Henan Province. In 2000-2004, GWCAEE in Henan Province was better. During 2005-2014, GWCAEE in Henan Province showed a fluctuating decline and continued to be in an inefficient state. From 2015 to 2019, GWCAEE of Henan Province gradually increased, and it became effective in 2019. In recent years, GWCAEE has developed well. Through the grey incidence analysis between 12 influencing factors including endogenous factors and exogenous factors and GWCAEE, it is found that the six leading factors of GWCAEE in Henan Province are agricultural structure, financial input for agriculture, number of agricultural employees, crop sown area, consumption of chemical pesticide, consumption of agricultural diesel oil. According to the above research conclusions, suggestions for improving agricultural eco-efficiency in Henan Province are put forward.

The Impact of Digital Economy on Total Factor Productivity of China’s Service Industry

As a kind of integrated economy,digital economy has an important impact on the economic growth and production and lifestyle of multiple countries and regions,and plays a significant role in promoting the reconstruction of the international economic pattern.As an important industry of China’s national economy,the service industry is crucial to China’s economic growth.This paper measures the development level of digital economy in provinces and cities through constructing digital economy index system,uses super efficiency SBM-Malmquist model to measure total factor productivity of service industry,and tests the influence effect of digital economy on total factor productivity of Chinese service industry.Finally,the optimization path of digital economy on China’s service industry is proposed.