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.

Regional Sustainable Assessment at City Level Based on CSDIS(China Sustainable Development Indicator System)Concept in the New Era,China

The core issue of sustainable development refers to the coordinated development of economic-social-environmental issues.In the present study,by complying with the China Sustainable Development Indicator System(CSDIS)concept,a comprehensive index system was built;besides,Natural Breaks(Jenks)Classification Method,Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis and Geographic Detector Analysis were conducted to delve into the sustainability and coordinated degree at city level in China from 2007 to 2017.The achieved results are presented as follows.First,for spatial differentiation,the overall spatial distribution pattern was characterized by the high-value units in eastern China and the low-value units in western China from 2007 to 2017.To be specific,the high-value units were radiated along the Beijing-Guangdong Axis(Jing-Guang Axis)centered on the core of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region,the middle-value units were distributed in strips along the coast,and the low-value units were vastly gathered in western China and gradually break via the Hu Huanyong line(Hu Line)in south China from 2007 to 2017.More specifically,based on the five subsystems,the pattern of each system was consistent with the whole,whereas the degree of concentration was different.Second,for spatial correlation,the significant High-High(HH)areas were primarily distributed in the core of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei,Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta Regions.The significant Low-Low(LL)areas were continuously distributed in the southwest China and broke through the Hu Line from 2007 to 2017.There were insufficient number of significant High-Low(HL)and significant Low-High(LH)areas,whereas the spatial agglomeration of them was less obvious.Third,for internal coupling coordination,the spatial differentiation between the coupling degree and the coupling coordinated degree was significantly consistent in 2007 and 2017.The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei,Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta Regions have demonstrated a high level of coordinated evolution,and the pattern of western mountainous areas exhibited a low degree of coordinated growth.Lastly,based on the combination of quantitative and qualitative,its factors were underpinned by robust economic strength,the vitality support of the information level and the basic support function of the topography,active guidance of national policies and path dependence and industrial transfer.