Construction and Practice of Livelihood Efficiency Index System for Herders in Typical Steppe Area of Inner Mongolia Based on Super-Efficiency Slacks-Based Measure Model

Abstract

Inner Mongolia is one of the main animal husbandry production bases in China, with herders being the main animal husbandry producers. A systematic analysis of the efficiency of herding households’ livelihoods and the influencing factors is of great importance to formulate effective policies to support herding households’ livelihoods, enhance their social adaptability, and alleviate the vulnerability of poor people in herding areas. This study used a typical steppe of Inner Mongolia as the research area. It used the interview data of herding households from 2021, constructed the evaluation index system of herding households’ livelihood efficiency, analyzed the redundancy of the inputs and outputs of herding households’ livelihoods, and examined the key factors affecting herding households’ livelihood efficiency. The results indicate that (1) the pure technical effectiveness of the livelihood efficiency of typical grassland herding households in Inner Mongolia is the highest; the comprehensive technical efficiency and scale efficiency are low. The scale return of most herders’ livelihoods shows a decreasing state. (2) According to the results of the model, under the premise of the output not being reduced, reducing the amount of social capital input can effectively save resources. Without increasing the input, the room for improvement in the living level is the most obvious. (3) The pasture area, the communication network, and the access to information have significant negative effects on the efficiency of herders’ livelihoods; infrastructure and water supply have significant positive impacts. In summary, we built a model for evaluating the livelihood efficiency of herders in typical grassland areas of Inner Mongolia, which can provide a reference for the revitalization work of pastoral areas and related research in the future.