A Study of Regional Power Generation Efficiency in China: Based on a Non-Radial Directional Distance Function Model

Abstract

With the deterioration caused by environmental pollution, studies on the low-carbon economy have received more attention. As far as we know, electricity production accounts for a large portion of total carbon emissions. Therefore, based on panel data from 2005 to 2014, we used the non-radial directional distance function model based on the data envelope analysis (DEA) to evaluate the static electricity product efficiency of various provinces in China. Further, the global Malmquist index was introduced to analyze the main factors. The relationship between the environmental policy stringency and the regional power production efficiency was also investigated. Static results show that China’s regional power production efficiency has a significant difference between coastal developed and inland areas. Dynamic evaluation further proved that the difference is mainly due to technological change. Finally, regression results show that technological change is the only factor directly affecting regional environmental policy stringency.