Efficiency evaluation of government investment for air pollution control in city clusters: A case from the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei areas in China

doi:10.1007/s42524-023-0269-x

Front. Eng

2023, Vol. 10

Issue (4) : 612-624 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42524-023-0269-x

Urban Management: Developing Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Cities Co-edited by Wei-Qiang CHEN, Hua CAI, Benjamin GOLDSTEIN, Oliver HEIDRICH and Yu LIU

Efficiency evaluation of government investment for air pollution control in city clusters: A case from the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei areas in China

Siqi YANG¹, Li ZHANG¹(

), Zhaoxu CHEN¹, Nan LI²

¹. School of Information Management, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing 100096, China
². Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; Xiamen Key Laboratory of Urban Metabolism, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

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Abstract

Air pollution poses a significant threat to human health, particularly in urban areas with high levels of industrial activities. In China, the government plays a crucial role in managing air quality through the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan. The government provides direct financial support and guides the investment direction of social funds to improve air quality. While government investment has led to improvements in air quality across China, concerns remain regarding the efficiency of such large-scale investments. To address this concern, we conducted a study using a three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA)-Malmquist model to assess the efficiency of government investment in improving air quality in China. Our analysis revealed regional disparities and annual dynamic changes. Specifically, we focused on the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei areas as a case study, as the investment primarily targeted industrial activities in urban areas with the goal of improving living conditions for urban residents. The results demonstrate significant differences in investment efficiency between regions. Beijing exhibits relatively high investment efficiency, while cities in Hebei Province require improvement. We identified scale inefficiency, which refers to the ratio of air pollutant reduction to financial investment, as the main factor contributing to regional disparities. However, we found that increasing the total investment scale can help mitigate this effect. Furthermore, our study observed positive but fluctuating annual changes in investment efficiency within this city cluster from 2014 to 2018. Investment-combined technical efficiency, which represents the investment strategy, is the main obstacle to improving yearly investment efficiency. Therefore, in addition to promoting investment strategies at the individual city level, it is crucial to enhance coordination and cooperation among cities to improve the investment efficiency of the entire city cluster. Evaluating the efficiency of government investment and understanding its influencing factors can guide future investment measures and directions. This knowledge can also support policymaking for other projects involving substantial investments.

Keywords investment efficiency government investment air pollution control three-stage DEA-Malmquist model

Corresponding Author(s): Li ZHANG

Just Accepted Date: 01 November 2023 Online First Date: 23 November 2023 Issue Date: 07 December 2023

Cite this article:

Siqi YANG,Li ZHANG,Zhaoxu CHEN, et al. Efficiency evaluation of government investment for air pollution control in city clusters: A case from the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei areas in China[J]. Front. Eng, 2023, 10(4): 612-624.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fem/EN/10.1007/s42524-023-0269-x
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fem/EN/Y2023/V10/I4/612

Fig.1 Framework of the three-stage DEA-Malmquist model.

Tab.1 Assessment index system for government investment efficiency of air pollution control

Fig.2 Government investment and primary air pollutants reduction rate (2014–2018).

Fig.3 Overall investment efficiency summary in air pollution control (2014–2018).

Fig.4 Province-level investment efficiency in air pollution control and efficiency difference (2014–2018).

Fig.5 Urban investment efficiency in air pollution control and efficiency difference (2014–2018).

Fig.6 TFPch index of 19 cities (2014–2018).

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