Energy efficiency in the European Union: What can be learned from the joint application of directional distance functions and slacks-based measures?

Zhou

et al. 2018

Water

Abstract:Water resources are important and irreplaceable natural and economic resources. Achieving a balance between economic prosperity and protection of water resource environments is a major issue in China. This article develops a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach with undesirable outputs by using Seiford's linear converting method to estimate water use efficiencies for 30 provinces in China, from 2008-2016,and then analyzes the influencing factors while using a DEA-Tobit model. The findings show that the overall water use efficiency of the measured Chinese provinces, when considering sewage emissions as the undesirable output, is 0.582. Thus, most regions still need improvement. Provinces with the highest water efficiency are located in economically developed Eastern China. The spatial pattern of water use efficiency in China is consistent with the general pattern of regional economic development. This study implies that factors like export dependence, technical progress, and educational value have a positive influence on water use efficiency. Further, while industrial structure has had a negative impact, government intervention has had little impact on water use efficiency. These research results will provide a scientific basis for the government to make plans for water resource development, and it may be helpful in improving regional sustainable development.

Section: Water Use Efficiency Calculation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Use Efficiency and Its Influencing Factors in China: Based on the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)—Tobit Model

Zhou

et al. 2018

Water

“…According to previous studies, the estimation methods of marginal abatement cost and the marginal abatement cost curve can be separated into several categories, such as a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model [14], a dynamic optimization approach [15], a hybrid model [16], and so on [17,18]. Among them, the distance function stands out due to its accuracy and modest data requirement.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marginal Abatement Cost of CO2 in China Based on Directional Distance Function: An Industry Perspective

Xiao

Niu

et al. 2017

Sustainability

Industrial sectors account for around 70% of the total energy-related CO 2 emissions in China. It is of great importance to measure the potential for CO 2 emissions reduction and calculate the carbon price in industrial sectors covered in the Emissions Trading Scheme and carbon tax. This paper employs the directional distance function to calculate the marginal abatement costs of CO 2 emissions during 2005-2011 and makes a comparative analysis between our study and the relevant literature. Our empirical results show that the marginal abatement costs vary greatly from industry to industry: high marginal abatement costs occur in industries with low carbon intensity, and vice versa. In the application of the marginal abatement cost, the abatement distribution scheme with minimum cost is established under different abatement targets. The conclusions of abatement distribution scheme indicate that those heavy industries with low MACs and high carbon intensity should take more responsibility for emissions reduction and vice versa. Finally, the policy implications for marginal abatement cost are provided.

“…In addition, DDFM model is flexible in choosing the projection direction. However, it has a disadvantage due to the lack of indication [38]. The reason is that the projection point determined by the directional vector may not be on the strongly efficient frontier.…”

Section: The Directional Distance Function Measure (Ddfm) Model and Smentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Directional slack is the product between the efficiency value of DDFM model and the directional vector element. Apart from the directional slack, non-directional slack, which is the difference between the total slack amount and the directional slack in DDFM model, should be considered for a comprehensive inefficiency measure [38].…”

Section: The Directional Distance Function Measure (Ddfm) Model and Smentioning

confidence: 99%

An Improved Eco-Efficiency Analysis Framework Based on Slacks-Based Measure Method

Gao

et al. 2017

Sustainability

Abstract:The level of sustainable development can be measured by eco-efficiency, which is a combination of economic and ecological performance. Utilizing the weighted sum of the improved proportions of the indicators as the objective function, this paper develops a proportional slacks-based measure model to assess eco-efficiency, in which the conventional inputs, and desirable and undesirable outputs are improved to different proportions along the elements of a given directional vector. Moreover, this paper presents a weighted proportional slacks-based measure model using the ranges as the divisors instead of the input and output values in the objective function. Finally, this paper presents an empirical analysis by applying proposed measure models with the data of 30 provinces in China in 2015. The empirical study results indicate the developed slacks-based measure models can be used in the assessment of eco-efficiency effectively and reasonably.