IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v45y2012icp762-770.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Global CO2 efficiency: Country-wise estimates using a stochastic cost frontier

Author

Listed:
  • Herrala, Risto
  • Goel, Rajeev K.

Abstract

This paper examines global carbon dioxide (CO2) efficiency by employing a stochastic cost frontier analysis of about 170 countries in 1997 and 2007. The main contribution lies in providing a new approach to environmental efficiency estimation, in which the efficiency estimates quantify the distance from the policy objective of minimum emissions. We are able to examine a very large pool of nations and provide country-wise efficiency estimates. We estimate three econometric models, corresponding with alternative interpretations of the Cancun vision (Conference of the Parties 2011). The models reveal progress in global environmental efficiency during a preceding decade. The estimates indicate vast differences in efficiency levels, and efficiency changes across countries. The highest efficiency levels are observed in Africa and Europe, while the lowest are clustered around China. The largest efficiency gains were observed in central and eastern Europe. CO2 efficiency also improved in the US and China, the two largest emitters, but their ranking in terms of CO2 efficiency deteriorated. Policy implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Herrala, Risto & Goel, Rajeev K., 2012. "Global CO2 efficiency: Country-wise estimates using a stochastic cost frontier," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 762-770.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:45:y:2012:i:c:p:762-770
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.03.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421512002121
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.03.007?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. Massimo Filippini & Lester C. Hunt, 2011. "Energy Demand and Energy Efficiency in the OECD Countries: A Stochastic Demand Frontier Approach," The Energy Journal, , vol. 32(2), pages 59-80, April.
    2. Goel, Rajeev K. & Hsieh, Edward W.T., 2006. "On coordinating environmental policy and technology policy," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 897-908, November.
    3. Stijn Reinhard & C. A. Knox Lovell & Geert Thijssen, 2002. "Analysis of Environmental Efficiency Variation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(4), pages 1054-1065.
    4. Rezek, Jon P. & Rogers, Kevin, 2008. "Decomposing the CO2-income tradeoff: an output distance function approach," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 457-473, August.
    5. Fare, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Noh, Dong-Woon & Weber, William, 2005. "Characteristics of a polluting technology: theory and practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 469-492, June.
    6. Goel, Rajeev K. & Koehonen, Ikka, 2012. "Economic growth in BRIC countries and comparisons with rest of the world - Crescita economica nei paesi BRIC e confronti con il resto del mondo," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 65(3), pages 447-471.
    7. Reinhard, Stijn & Knox Lovell, C. A. & Thijssen, Geert J., 2000. "Environmental efficiency with multiple environmentally detrimental variables; estimated with SFA and DEA," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 287-303, March.
    8. Zofio, Jose L. & Prieto, Angel M., 2001. "Environmental efficiency and regulatory standards: the case of CO2 emissions from OECD industries," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 63-83, January.
    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. Honma, Satoshi & Hu, Jin-Li, 2014. "A panel data parametric frontier technique for measuring total-factor energy efficiency: An application to Japanese regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 732-739.
    2. Levent Kutlu & Ran Wang, 2021. "Greenhouse Gas Emission Inefficiency Spillover Effects in European Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-14, April.
    3. Minyoung Yang & Jinsoo Kim, 2022. "A Critical Review of the Definition and Estimation of Carbon Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Jiao Wang & Zhenliang Liao & Hui Sun, 2023. "Analysis of Carbon Emission Efficiency in the Yellow River Basin in China: Spatiotemporal Differences and Influencing Factors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    5. Wang, Xiuli, 2023. "Exploring the role of resource industry dependence and green finance in green development efficiency in the context of post-Covid-19 period," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    6. Goel, Rajeev K. & Saunoris, James W., 2020. "Spatial spillovers of pollution onto the underground sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    7. Levent Kutlu, 2020. "Greenhouse Gas Emission Efficiencies of World Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-11, November.
    8. Elahi, Ehsan & Zhu, Min & Khalid, Zainab & Wei, Kezhen, 2024. "An empirical analysis of carbon emission efficiency in food production across the Yangtze River basin: Towards sustainable agricultural development and carbon neutrality," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    9. Xian’En Wang & Shimeng Wang & Xipan Wang & Wenbo Li & Junnian Song & Haiyan Duan & Shuo Wang, 2019. "The Assessment of Carbon Performance under the Region-Sector Perspective based on the Nonparametric Estimation: A Case Study of the Northern Province in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-23, October.
    10. Herrala, Risto & Goel, Rajeev K., 2016. "Sharing the emission reduction burden in an uneven world," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 29-39.
    11. Abdallh, Atif Awad & Abugamos, Hoda, 2017. "A semi-parametric panel data analysis on the urbanisation-carbon emissions nexus for the MENA countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1350-1356.
    12. Bo Li & Jing Liu & Qian Liu & Muhammad Mohiuddin, 2022. "The Effects of Broadband Infrastructure on Carbon Emission Efficiency of Resource-Based Cities in China: A Quasi-Natural Experiment from the “Broadband China” Pilot Policy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-27, May.
    13. Tan, Xiujie & Choi, Yongrok & Wang, Banban & Huang, Xiaoqi, 2020. "Does China's carbon regulatory policy improve total factor carbon efficiency? A fixed-effect panel stochastic frontier analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    14. Wang, Shaojian & Li, Guangdong & Fang, Chuanglin, 2018. "Urbanization, economic growth, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions: Empirical evidence from countries with different income levels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2144-2159.
    15. Xinna Zhao & Chongwen Zhong, 2017. "Low Carbon Economy Performance Analysis with the Intertemporal Effect of Capital in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-18, May.
    16. Adetutu, Morakinyo O., 2014. "Energy efficiency and capital-energy substitutability: Evidence from four OPEC countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 363-370.
    17. Haiyan Luo & Xiaoe Qu, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Evolution Trends of Urban Total Factor Carbon Efficiency under the Dual-Carbon Background," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-19, December.
    18. Wen-Lin Wu, 2017. "Institutional Quality and Air Pollution: International Evidence," International Journal of Business and Economics, School of Management Development, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, vol. 16(1), pages 49-74, June.
    19. Yang, Zhenbing & Shao, Shuai & Yang, Lili & Liu, Jianghua, 2017. "Differentiated effects of diversified technological sources on energy-saving technological progress: Empirical evidence from China's industrial sectors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1379-1388.
    20. Goel, Rajeev K. & Herrala, Risto & Mazhar, Ummad, 2013. "Institutional quality and environmental pollution: MENA countries versus the rest of the world," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 508-521.
    21. Qizhen Wang & Qian Zhang, 2022. "Foreign Direct Investment and Carbon Emission Efficiency: The Role of Direct and Indirect Channels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-23, October.

    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. Herrala, Risto & Goel, Rajeev K., 2016. "Sharing the emission reduction burden in an uneven world," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 29-39.
    2. Zhang, Bin & Lu, Danting & He, Yan & Chiu, Yung-ho, 2018. "The efficiencies of resource-saving and environment: A case study based on Chinese cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 493-507.
    3. K. Hervé Dakpo & Yann Desjeux & Laure Latruffe, 2023. "Cost of abating excess nitrogen on wheat plots in France: An assessment with multi‐technology modelling," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 800-815, September.
    4. Tateishi, Henrique Ryosuke & Bragagnolo, Cassiano & de Faria, Rosane Nunes, 2020. "Economic and environmental efficiencies of greenhouse gases’ emissions under institutional influence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    5. Huang, Wei & Bruemmer, Bernhard & Huntsinger, Lynn, 2016. "Incorporating measures of grassland productivity into efficiency estimates for livestock grazing on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 1-11.
    6. Vogel, Everton & Dalheimer, Bernhard & Beber, Caetano Luiz & de Mori, Claudia & Palhares, Julio Cesar Pascale & Novo, André Luiz Monteiro, 2023. "Environmental efficiency and methane abatement costs of dairy farms from Minas Gerais, Brazil," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    7. 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.
    8. Aparicio, Juan & Kapelko, Magdalena & Zofío, José L., 2020. "The measurement of environmental economic inefficiency with pollution-generating technologies," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    9. Soledad Moya & Jordi Perramon & Anselm Constans, 2005. "IFRS Adoption in Europe: The Case of Germany," Working Papers 0501, Departament Empresa, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, revised Feb 2005.
    10. E G Gomes & M P E Lins, 2008. "Modelling undesirable outputs with zero sum gains data envelopment analysis models," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 59(5), pages 616-623, May.
    11. Kumbhakar, Subal C. & Tsionas, Efthymios G., 2016. "The good, the bad and the technology: Endogeneity in environmental production models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 190(2), pages 315-327.
    12. Magambo, Isaiah & Dikgang, Johane & Gelo, Dambala & Tregenna, Fiona, 2021. "Environmental and Technical Efficiency in Large Gold Mines in Developing Countries," MPRA Paper 108068, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Ramilan, Thiagarajah & Scrimgeour, Frank & Marsh, Dan, 2011. "Analysis of environmental and economic efficiency using a farm population micro-simulation model," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 81(7), pages 1344-1352.
    14. Emir Malikov & Raushan Bokusheva & Subal C. Kumbhakar, 2018. "A hedonic-output-index-based approach to modeling polluting technologies," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 287-308, February.
    15. Emir Malikov & Subal C. Kumbhakar & Efthymios G. Tsionas, 2015. "Bayesian Approach to Disentangling Technical and Environmental Productivity," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-23, June.
    16. Joanne Evans & Massimo Filippini & Lester C Hunt, 2011. "Measuring energy efficiency and its contribution towards meeting CO2 targets: estimates for 29 OECD countries," Surrey Energy Economics Centre (SEEC), School of Economics Discussion Papers (SEEDS) 135, Surrey Energy Economics Centre (SEEC), School of Economics, University of Surrey.
    17. Vaninsky, Alexander, 2010. "Prospective national and regional environmental performance: Boundary estimations using a combined data envelopment – stochastic frontier analysis approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 3657-3665.
    18. Graham, Mary, 2009. "Developing a social perspective to farm performance analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2390-2398, June.
    19. César Salazar & Roberto Cárdenas-Retamal & Marcela Jaime, 2023. "Environmental efficiency in the salmon industry—an exploratory analysis around the 2007 ISA virus outbreak and subsequent regulations in Chile," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(8), pages 8107-8135, August.
    20. Abedullah & Tariq A Sheikh & Haseeb Ali & Shahzad Kouser**, 2012. "Enviornmental Efficiency in Vegetable production in Pakistan Implication for Sustainable agriculture," Pakistan Journal of Applied Economics, Applied Economics Research Centre, vol. 22, pages 77-99.

    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:45:y:2012:i:c:p:762-770. 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.