IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v110y2017icp79-89.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does government transparency contribute to improved eco-efficiency performance? An empirical study of 262 cities in China

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Zhi
  • Ouyang, Xiaoling
  • Du, Kerui
  • Zhao, Yang

Abstract

Considering the properties of environment from the perspective of a public good, this paper aims to examine the relationship between government transparency and eco-efficiency performance (EEP). By applying a conditional slack-based measure (SBM) model, local linear regression (LLR) and a nonparametric significance test, we conduct an empirical analysis based on 262 cities in China during the period of 2005–2012. The results demonstrated that: (1) the overall eco-efficiency of China was low due to the fact that the EEP scores of most of the cities were below 0.5; (2) the eco-efficiency performances of a majority of the municipalities & sub-provincial (M&S) cities were better than those of the prefecture-level cities, and the former showed greater improvements than the latter on eco-efficiency performances, although the M&S cities experienced faster paces of urbanization and consumed more resources; (3) there exists a nonlinear relationship between government transparency and eco-efficiency performance. In other words, if the government information was more transparent, it would be more beneficial to the improvement of eco-efficiency, and the phenomena were more significant in M&S cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Policy implications are thus drawn in this paper for promoting eco-efficiency improvement in China's M&S cities and prefecture-level cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Zhi & Ouyang, Xiaoling & Du, Kerui & Zhao, Yang, 2017. "Does government transparency contribute to improved eco-efficiency performance? An empirical study of 262 cities in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 79-89.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:110:y:2017:i:c:p:79-89
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.08.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421517304950
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.08.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gundlach, Erich & Paldam, Martin, 2009. "The transition of corruption: From poverty to honesty," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 103(3), pages 146-148, June.
    2. Bădin, Luiza & Daraio, Cinzia & Simar, Léopold, 2012. "How to measure the impact of environmental factors in a nonparametric production model," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 223(3), pages 818-833.
    3. Léopold Simar & Paul W. Wilson, 2015. "Statistical Approaches for Non-parametric Frontier Models: A Guided Tour," International Statistical Review, International Statistical Institute, vol. 83(1), pages 77-110, April.
    4. Jin, Jingliang & Zhou, Dequn & Zhou, Peng, 2014. "Measuring environmental performance with stochastic environmental DEA: The case of APEC economies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 80-86.
    5. Daraio, Cinzia & Simar, Léopold, 2014. "Directional distances and their robust versions: Computational and testing issues," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 237(1), pages 358-369.
    6. Williams, Andrew, 2011. "Shining a Light on the Resource Curse: An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship Between Natural Resources, Transparency, and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 490-505, April.
    7. Picazo-Tadeo, Andrés J. & Beltrán-Esteve, Mercedes & Gómez-Limón, José A., 2012. "Assessing eco-efficiency with directional distance functions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 220(3), pages 798-809.
    8. Lin, Boqiang & Du, Kerui, 2015. "Energy and CO2 emissions performance in China's regional economies: Do market-oriented reforms matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 113-124.
    9. Halkos, George E. & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2014. "Public sector transparency and countries’ environmental performance: A nonparametric analysis," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 19-37.
    10. Welsch, Heinz, 2004. "Corruption, growth, and the environment: a cross-country analysis," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(5), pages 663-693, October.
    11. Cinzia Daraio & Léopold Simar, 2005. "Introducing Environmental Variables in Nonparametric Frontier Models: a Probabilistic Approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 93-121, September.
    12. Badin, Luiza & Daraio, Cinzia & Simar, Léopold, 2010. "Optimal bandwidth selection for conditional efficiency measures: A data-driven approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 201(2), pages 633-640, March.
    13. Zhou, P. & Ang, B.W. & Poh, K.L., 2006. "Slacks-based efficiency measures for modeling environmental performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 111-118, November.
    14. Hayfield, Tristen & Racine, Jeffrey S., 2008. "Nonparametric Econometrics: The np Package," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 27(i05).
    15. Damania, Richard, 2002. "Environmental controls with corrupt bureaucrats," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 407-427, July.
    16. Esty, Daniel C. & Porter, Michael E., 2005. "National environmental performance: an empirical analysis of policy results and determinants," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 391-434, August.
    17. Simar, Leopold & Wilson, Paul W., 2007. "Estimation and inference in two-stage, semi-parametric models of production processes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 136(1), pages 31-64, January.
    18. Christopher Ellis & John Fender, 2006. "Corruption and Transparency in a Growth Model," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 13(2), pages 115-149, May.
    19. Korhonen, Pekka J. & Luptacik, Mikulas, 2004. "Eco-efficiency analysis of power plants: An extension of data envelopment analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(2), pages 437-446, April.
    20. Zhou, P. & Ang, B.W. & Han, J.Y., 2010. "Total factor carbon emission performance: A Malmquist index analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 194-201, January.
    21. Lin, Boqiang & Li, Jianglong, 2014. "The rebound effect for heavy industry: Empirical evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 589-599.
    22. Léopold Simar & Paul Wilson, 2011. "Two-stage DEA: caveat emptor," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 205-218, October.
    23. Fredriksson, Per G. & List, John A. & Millimet, Daniel L., 2003. "Bureaucratic corruption, environmental policy and inbound US FDI: theory and evidence," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(7-8), pages 1407-1430, August.
    24. Cinzia Daraio & Léopold Simar, 2007. "Conditional nonparametric frontier models for convex and nonconvex technologies: a unifying approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 13-32, October.
    25. Sun, Chuanwang & Ouyang, Xiaoling, 2016. "Price and expenditure elasticities of residential energy demand during urbanization: An empirical analysis based on the household-level survey data in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 56-63.
    26. He, Xiaoping, 2015. "Regional differences in China's CO2 abatement cost," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 145-152.
    27. Torvik, Ragnar, 2002. "Natural resources, rent seeking and welfare," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 455-470, April.
    28. Zhang, Bing & Bi, Jun & Fan, Ziying & Yuan, Zengwei & Ge, Junjie, 2008. "Eco-efficiency analysis of industrial system in China: A data envelopment analysis approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 306-316, December.
    29. Kolstad, Ivar & Wiig, Arne, 2009. "Is Transparency the Key to Reducing Corruption in Resource-Rich Countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 521-532, March.
    30. Peter Hall & Jeff Racine & Qi Li, 2004. "Cross-Validation and the Estimation of Conditional Probability Densities," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 99, pages 1015-1026, December.
    31. George Halkos & Aksel Sundström & Nickolaos Tzeremes, 2015. "Regional environmental performance and governance quality: a nonparametric analysis," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 17(4), pages 621-644, October.
    32. Färe, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Pasurka, Carl A., 2007. "Environmental production functions and environmental directional distance functions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1055-1066.
    33. Dyckhoff, H. & Allen, K., 2001. "Measuring ecological efficiency with data envelopment analysis (DEA)," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(2), pages 312-325, July.
    34. Esty, Daniel C. & Porter, Michael E., 2005. "National environmental performance: an empirical analysis of policy results and determinants," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 381-389, August.
    35. Fredriksson, Per G. & Svensson, Jakob, 2003. "Political instability, corruption and policy formation: the case of environmental policy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(7-8), pages 1383-1405, August.
    36. Zhou, P. & Ang, B.W. & Poh, K.L., 2008. "A survey of data envelopment analysis in energy and environmental studies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(1), pages 1-18, August.
    37. Fredriksson, Per G. & Vollebergh, Herman R. J. & Dijkgraaf, Elbert, 2004. "Corruption and energy efficiency in OECD countries: theory and evidence," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 207-231, March.
    38. De Witte, Kristof & Mika, Kortelainen, 2009. "Blaming the exogenous environment? Conditional efficiency estimation with continuous and discrete exogenous variables," MPRA Paper 14034, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    39. Cole, Matthew A. & Fredriksson, Per G., 2009. "Institutionalized pollution havens," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 1239-1256, February.
    40. Figge, Frank & Hahn, Tobias, 2004. "Sustainable Value Added--measuring corporate contributions to sustainability beyond eco-efficiency," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 173-187, February.
    41. Du, Gang & Sun, Chuanwang & Fang, Zhongnan, 2015. "Evaluating the Atkinson index of household energy consumption in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1080-1087.
    42. Tone, Kaoru, 2001. "A slacks-based measure of efficiency in data envelopment analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 498-509, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yongyi Cheng & Tianyuan Shao & Huilin Lai & Manhong Shen & Yi Li, 2019. "Total-Factor Eco-Efficiency and Its Influencing Factors in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Defeng Zheng & Shuai Hao & Caizhi Sun & Leting Lyu, 2019. "Spatial Correlation and Convergence Analysis of Eco-Efficiency in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, April.
    3. Liu, Shaohui & Liu, Chuanjiang & Yang, Mian, 2021. "The effects of national environmental information disclosure program on the upgradation of regional industrial structure: Evidence from 286 prefecture-level cities in China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 552-561.
    4. Lin, Boqiang & Zhu, Junpeng, 2019. "Impact of energy saving and emission reduction policy on urban sustainable development: Empirical evidence from China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 12-22.
    5. Ouyang, Xiaoling & Gao, Beiying & Du, Kerui & Du, Gang, 2018. "Industrial sectors' energy rebound effect: An empirical study of Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 408-416.
    6. Yantuan Yu & Jianhuan Huang & Nengsheng Luo, 2018. "Can More Environmental Information Disclosure Lead to Higher Eco-Efficiency? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, February.
    7. Tang, Pengcheng & Yang, Shuwang & Shen, Jun & Fu, Shuke, 2018. "Does China's low-carbon pilot programme really take off? Evidence from land transfer of energy-intensive industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 482-491.
    8. Wang, Mengmeng & Zhou, Tao, 2022. "Understanding the dynamic relationship between smart city implementation and urban sustainability," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Javier Cifuentes‐Faura, 2022. "Efficiency and transparency of Spanish football clubs: A non‐parametric approach," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 1850-1860, September.
    10. Jie Chen & Haiyong Zhang & Qian Zhou, 2021. "Rule by Law, Law-Based Governance, and Housing Prices: The Case of China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-22, June.
    11. Wang, Ailun & Hu, Shuo & Lin, Boqiang, 2021. "Can environmental regulation solve pollution problems? Theoretical model and empirical research based on the skill premium," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Jundong Hou & Xinxin Ruan & Jun Lv & Haixiang Guo, 2020. "Two-Stage Super-Efficiency Slacks-Based Model to Assess China’s Ecological Wellbeing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-19, September.
    13. Lei Wang & Wei Li & Guomin Li & Guozhen Zhang, 2021. "Concept Evolution and Multi-Dimensional Measurement Comparison of Urban Energy Performance from the Perspective of System Correlation: Empirical Analysis of 142 Prefecture Level Cities in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-21, December.
    14. Wan Jeriansyah & Ratna Mappanyukki, 2020. "The Effect of Accountability and Transparency of Regional Financial Management on Local Government Performance," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 10(12), pages 721-729, December.
    15. Lin, Boqiang & Zhu, Junpeng, 2019. "Fiscal spending and green economic growth: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 264-271.
    16. Jingbin Wang & Huiling Qiao & Jing Liu & Bo Li, 2022. "Does the Establishment of National New Areas Improve Urban Ecological Efficiency? Empirical Evidence Based on Staggered DID Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-21, October.
    17. Yu Zhang & Wenliang Geng & Pengyan Zhang & Erling Li & Tianqi Rong & Ying Liu & Jingwen Shao & Hao Chang, 2020. "Dynamic Changes, Spatiotemporal Differences and Factors Influencing the Urban Eco-Efficiency in the Lower Reaches of the Yellow River," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-19, October.
    18. Wang, Jinxian & Wang, Yangjie & Sun, Cuicui & Chen, Xiaohong, 2021. "Does mandatory air quality information disclosure raise happiness? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    19. Lu, Jin & Wang, Tianhui & Liu, Xihua, 2023. "Can environmental governance policy synergy reduce carbon emissions?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 570-585.
    20. Wang, Ailun & Hu, Shuo & Lin, Boqiang, 2021. "Emission abatement cost in China with consideration of technological heterogeneity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    21. Feng Lan & Zhao Hui & Jing Bian & Ying Wang & Wenxin Shen, 2022. "Ecological Well-Being Performance Evaluation and Spatio-Temporal Evolution Characteristics of Urban Agglomerations in the Yellow River Basin," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-21, November.
    22. Yao, Xin & Huang, Ruting & Du, Kerui, 2019. "The impacts of market power on power grid efficiency: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 99-110.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Halkos, George E. & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2014. "Public sector transparency and countries’ environmental performance: A nonparametric analysis," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 19-37.
    2. George Halkos & Aksel Sundström & Nickolaos Tzeremes, 2015. "Regional environmental performance and governance quality: a nonparametric analysis," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 17(4), pages 621-644, October.
    3. Yao, Xin & Huang, Ruting & Du, Kerui, 2019. "The impacts of market power on power grid efficiency: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 99-110.
    4. Halkos, George E. & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2013. "A conditional directional distance function approach for measuring regional environmental efficiency: Evidence from UK regions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 227(1), pages 182-189.
    5. Cordero Ferrera, Jose Manuel & Alonso Morán, Edurne & Nuño Solís, Roberto & Orueta, Juan F. & Souto Arce, Regina, 2013. "Efficiency assessment of primary care providers: A conditional nonparametric approach," MPRA Paper 51926, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Halkos, George & Sundström, Aksel & Tzeremes, Nickolaos, 2013. "Environmental performance and quality of governance: A non-parametric analysis of the NUTS 1-regions in France, Germany and the UK," MPRA Paper 48890, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Halkos, George & Tzeremes, Nickolaos, 2011. "A conditional full frontier modelling for analyzing environmental efficiency and economic growth," MPRA Paper 32839, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Matousek, Roman & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2016. "CEO compensation and bank efficiency: An application of conditional nonparametric frontiers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 251(1), pages 264-273.
    9. Baležentis, Tomas & De Witte, Kristof, 2015. "One- and multi-directional conditional efficiency measurement – Efficiency in Lithuanian family farms," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 245(2), pages 612-622.
    10. George E. Halkos & Shunsuke Managi, 2017. "Measuring the Effect of Economic Growth on Countries’ Environmental Efficiency: A Conditional Directional Distance Function Approach," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 68(3), pages 753-775, November.
    11. Cordero, José Manuel & Alonso-Morán, Edurne & Nuño-Solinis, Roberto & Orueta, Juan F. & Arce, Regina Sauto, 2015. "Efficiency assessment of primary care providers: A conditional nonparametric approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(1), pages 235-244.
    12. López-Torres, Laura & Johnes, Jill & Elliott, Caroline & Polo, Cristina, 2021. "The effects of competition and collaboration on efficiency in the UK independent school sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 40-53.
    13. Cordero, José Manuel & Pedraja-Chaparro, Francisco & Pisaflores, Elsa C. & Polo, Cristina, 2016. "Efficiency assessment of Portuguese municipalities using a conditional nonparametric approach," MPRA Paper 70674, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Cinzia Daraio & Léopold Simar & Paul W. Wilson, 2020. "Fast and efficient computation of directional distance estimators," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 288(2), pages 805-835, May.
    15. Bădin, Luiza & Daraio, Cinzia & Simar, Léopold, 2019. "A bootstrap approach for bandwidth selection in estimating conditional efficiency measures," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 277(2), pages 784-797.
    16. Amir Moradi-Motlagh & Ali Emrouznejad, 2022. "The origins and development of statistical approaches in non-parametric frontier models: a survey of the first two decades of scholarly literature (1998–2020)," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 318(1), pages 713-741, November.
    17. Polemis, Michael L. & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2019. "Competitive conditions and sectors’ productive efficiency: A conditional non-parametric frontier analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 276(3), pages 1104-1118.
    18. Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki & Yuan, Yan & Goto, Mika, 2017. "A literature study for DEA applied to energy and environment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 104-124.
    19. Cordero, Jose M. & Polo, Cristina & Santín, Daniel & Simancas, Rosa, 2018. "Efficiency measurement and cross-country differences among schools: A robust conditional nonparametric analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 45-60.
    20. Cordero, Jose Manuel & Polo, Cristina & Simancas, Rosa, 2022. "Assessing the efficiency of secondary schools: Evidence from OECD countries participating in PISA 2015," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:110:y:2017:i:c:p:79-89. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.