Spatial Pattern Change and Influencing Factors of Industrial Eco-Efficiency of Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB)

Abstract

Industrialization in China has faced severe problems such as resource depletion and environmental degradation. The Yangtze River economic belt (YREB) strategy is one of the essential strategies for the sustainable development of the Chinese economy. Maximizing economic benefits while using the least resources and the least pollution to the environment is critical for China’s sustainable development strategy. This paper proposed the DEA to measure industrial eco-efficiency in the YREB from 2009 to 2018. It analyzed its temporal evolution and spatial differentiation and adopted a spatial econometric model to study how interference in influencing factors affects industrial eco-efficiency. The results revealed that (1) the eastern area of YREB has the highest industrial eco-efficiency compared with the other regions. (2) The industrial total factor productivity in the YREB has been rising over the years, and its change trend shows an inverted “W” pattern of first rising, then falling, then rising, then falling. (3) By further analysis, we observed a statistically significant spatial difference in the Industrial eco-efficiency among the areas in YREB, which suggests that the change scale presents the rule of “downstream bigger than Midstream region and midstream region bigger than “upstream region.” (4) The level of economic development, science and technology innovation, and human resources have significantly positive effects on industrial eco-efficiency, and the effect of economic development is of most significant importance. The industrial agglomeration demoted the efficiency of industrial ecology; Science and technology innovations, on the other hand, had a positive spillover effect, while the industrial concentration had a negative spillover effect.