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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Measurement and Comparison of Urban Haze Governance Level and Efficiency based on the DPSIR Model:A Case Study of 31 Cities in North China

In the decisive stage of developing of a moderately prosperous society in all aspects,hazy weather has become a major obstacle to the further advancement of China.Therefore,improving the level and efficiency of haze governance has become essential.Based on the DPSIR model,this paper builds a haze governance level and efficiency index system using the entropy method and the super-efficiency data envelope-analysis(DEA)model to analyze the data for 31 cities in North China from 2007 to 2016.From the aspects of spatial differences and influence factors influencing the comparative analysis,the results are as follows.(1)During the investigation period,the level and efficiency of city haze governance in North China showed a trend of fluctuation and decline,with obvious stages in their characteristics.Haze governance efficiency is much higher than its level,and its mean value reaches the DEA level which indicates that it is effective.(2)A significant regional gradient difference occurs between these two aspects.The haze governance level presents a convex distribution pattern of"east low–middle high–west low",while the haze governance efficiency presents a concave distribution pattern of"east high–middle low–west high".(3)The regression results show that economic growth has a negative effect on both haze governance level and efficiency.By contrast,the industrial structure has a positive effect on haze governance level and efficiency,but the significance of its effect on these two is different.On this basis,policy suggestions are proposed for improving the level and efficiency of haze governance in various cities in North China.

Spatiotemporal evolution of urban carbon emission performance in China and prediction of future trends

Climate change resulting from CO_2 emissions has become an important global environmental issue in recent years.Improving carbon emission performance is one way to reduce carbon emissions.Although carbon emission performance has been discussed at the national and industrial levels,city-level studies are lacking due to the limited availability of statistics on energy consumption.In this study,based on city-level remote sensing data on carbon emissions in China from 1992–2013,we used the slacks-based measure of super-efficiency to evaluate urban carbon emission performance.The traditional Markov probability transfer matrix and spatial Markov probability transfer matrix were constructed to explore the spatiotemporal evolution of urban carbon emission performance in China for the first time and predict long-term trends in carbon emission performance.The results show that urban carbon emission performance in China steadily increased during the study period with some fluctuations.However,the overall level of carbon emission performance remains low,indicating great potential for improvements in energy conservation and emission reduction.The spatial pattern of urban carbon emission performance in China can be described as"high in the south and low in the north,"and significant differences in carbon emission performance were found between cities.The spatial Markov probabilistic transfer matrix results indicate that the transfer of carbon emission performance in Chinese cities is stable,resulting in a"club convergence"phenomenon.Furthermore,neighborhood backgrounds play an important role in the transfer between carbon emission performance types.Based on the prediction of long-term trends in carbon emission performance,carbon emission performance is expected to improve gradually over time.Therefore,China should continue to strengthen research and development aimed at improving urban carbon emission performance and achieving the national energy conservation and emission reduction goals.Meanwhile,neighboring cities with different neighborhood backgrounds should pursue cooperative economic strategies that balance economic growth,energy conservation,and emission reductions to realize low-carbon construction and sustainable development.

Regional eco-efficiency evaluation and spatial pattern analysis of the Yangtze River Economic Zone

The environmental ecology of the Yangtze River Economic Zone(YREZ)faces ecological function decline,deterioration and degradation under intense human activities,long-term development and utilization and its economy has developed rapidly over recent decades.Eco-efficiency is considered as a measure of coordinated development of economy,resources,environment and ecology,and is currently considered a very important issue.In this paper,based on the slack-based measure and data envelope analysis model,we take 129 prefecture-level cities of the YREZ as the study unit and measure the eco-efficiency of the YREZ in 2000,2005,2010 and 2015,which considers undesired output.The evaluation of the status quo of the regional eco-efficiency development was carried out at provincial,prefectural and city scales.The spatial autocorrelation test model and standard deviation ellipse were used to analyze the spatially distributed characteristics and the evolutionary regularity of eco-efficiency.Our study suggested that the eco-efficiency value varied significantly at different spatiotemporal scales and the overall distribution presented an"N-shaped"pattern,the value is the largest downstream and the smallest upstream.Regional eco-efficiency presented certain volatility in growth and a clear spatial positive agglomeration trend from 2000 to 2015.The spatial distribution of each agglomeration area was also significantly different,forming some high-high agglomeration areas at the center of the shaft with Shanghai and surrounding cities,and some low-low agglomeration areas at the center with middle reaches and upstream cities.The low-high over-aggregation and high-low polarization clusters were fewer.At the same time,with the change of the research period,the degree of positive agglomeration became increasingly pronounced and the eco-efficiency gap of the neighborhoodunit reduced.The regional eco-efficiency value of the YREZ presented a spatial distribution pattern in the northeast-southwest axis and the evolutionary pattern of the regional eco-efficiency similarly showed a northeast-southwest orientation.