Temporal Trend and Regional Disparity of Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity in China: Data Envelopment Analysis with Biennial Environmental Technology

Abstract

This paper investigates the temporal trend and regional disparity of China’s agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) during 1997-2016. Combined with the green Luenberger productivity indicator, two different data envelopment analysis models with the biennial environmental technology are constructed for robust checks. Compared with the existing literature, more agricultural carbon emissions are used as the undesirable outputs in the models. It is found that AGTFP in the whole of China and all of its sub-regions (the east, the middle, and the west) showed an overall increase, with the drive of high technical progress. The east had the largest AGTFP, and the middle experienced the largest AGTFP growth. More specifically, with respect to AGTFP, the total difference and the gross difference among the three regions as well as the specific difference within regions widened during these periods. There was an absolute convergence trend of AGTFP in the whole of China as well as the middle and the west. The speed of convergence was highest in the west.

Research on the Evolution of the Spatial Association Network Structure and Driving Factors of China’s Agricultural Green Development

“…Initially, unlike current academic achievements regarding the spillover effects of agricultural green development [18][19][20][21][22][39][40][41], this paper is the first to apply social network analysis to this field. It meticulously examines the structure and evolution of the interprovincial agricultural green development network in China.…”

“…As spatial econometric tools and methods advance, the introduction of spatial econometric models propels scholars to delve deeper into the spatial relationships of agricultural green development. Therefore, some researchers utilize the Theil index, Moran index, and spatial Durbin model to analyze the spatial pattern evolution characteristics of agricultural green development [39][40][41]. Deng et al (2022) found significant regional imbalances in the level of agricultural green development in China, with inter-regional disparities continuously widening, indicating a pronounced spatial correlation in agricultural green development [19].…”

Sustainable Food Consumption and Production in the 21st Century

“…The improvement in GTC can compensate for the negative effect caused by the decline in GEC, which in turn promotes the improvement in GTFP. During this period, the development of green technology was an important factor contributing to the increase in GTFP, which could be attributed to the introduction of government policies on non-point source pollution, which increased investment in new technologies, thus promoting the development of green technology and thus the increase in GTFP (Huang et al, 2022).…”

Assessing green production efficiency and spatial characteristics of China’s real estate industry based on the undesirable super-SBM model

“…Studies within these regions indicate a widening regional disparity in China’s green total factor productivity (GTFP), particularly prominent in the eastern region. This discrepancy is primarily attributed to the emphasis on industrial upgrading and technological innovation, which significantly impact GTFP 10 , 11 , 31 . Another set of studies focused on the economic imbalance between China's northern and southern regions.…”