The economic and energy efficiencies of GCC states: A DEA approach

Abstract

The six GCC states share similar economic, geographic and socio-cultural characteristics and also face with similar challenges in terms of energy perspective. This study plans to focus on the economic and energy efficiency of the six GCC states. In the process, the study ranks the GCC states in terms of their efficiency scores. These efficiencies are computed through Data Envelopment Analysis. The economic efficiency is calculated for all six GCC states. Capital and labor are the inputs and GDP is the output. In this survey, Saudi Arabia maintains the highest efficiency score of 0.94, closely followed by Qatar (0.92), Kuwait (0.89), Bahrain (0.83), Oman (0.81) and UAE (0.67). There is a huge gap between the economic efficiency scores of Saudi Arabia and UAE. The environmental efficiency scores are calculated using CO2 emissions as output and electric power consumption and energy as input. Again, the highest efficiency score is for Saudi Arabia (0.91) followed by Oman (0.87), Kuwait and Bahrain have a tie for the 3rd position with a score of 0.74. Finally, the laggards are UAE (0.65) and Qatar (0.62). Again, there is a huge gap between the best and the worst performers. The case of two countries is worth mentioning. Qatar is ranked second in terms of economic efficiency while it was ranked sixth in terms of economic efficiency. Oman was ranked fifth in terms of economic efficiency while it was ranked second in terms of environmental efficiency. Finally, an average of economic and environmental efficiency are taken to compute the composite index. Saudi Arabia has the first place followed by Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and UAE.

Agricultural Efficiency in Different Regions of China: An Empirical Analysis Based on Dynamic SBM-DEA Model

“…In order to promote agricultural development in China's central and western regions, we need to take into account the differences in resources, environment, human resources, and other conditions across different regions, despite the economic development in the eastern region. (3) Our analysis of the DSBM difference variables reveals that the factors affecting agricultural production efficiency vary across the different regions of China, and appropriate resource allocation needs to occur based on the needs of each region [15,16]. For instance, the eastern region requires the most adjustment in terms of rural electricity consumption, with the Hebei and Liaoning administrative regions needing the most adjustment.…”

“…To gather the literature related to agricultural production efficiency, productivity changes, and other relevant studies, the following steps were taken: Previous studies have found that important factors affecting agricultural productivity in Asian countries include scientific and technological progress [1][2][3][4][5], taxation [6], and capital investment [7]. The main factors affecting agricultural efficiency include machinery and fertilizer inputs [6,[8][9][10][11][12], energy use [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16], irrigation infrastructure [16,17], agricultural machinery [18], and pesticides [19]. The main factors related to agriculture and the environment include the burning of crops [20,21], greenhouse gas emissions [22], national agricultural policies [23], and differences between greenhouse and open field cultivation [24].…”