Heterogeneous effect of Belt and Road on the two-stage eco-efficiency in China's provinces

This paper divides the industrial eco-economic system into manufacturing stage and environmental protection stage, uses the improved metabolic GM(1,1) model and TOPSIS-DEA cross-efficiency model to evaluate the twostage eco-efficiency of China's provinces from 2005 to 2020. On this basis, regression discontinuity is utilized to analyze the heterogeneous impact of Belt and Road initiative (BRI) on the eco-efficiency of industrial ecoeconomic system and two stages. The results show that: the eco-efficiency of industrial eco-economic system (EIES) and the eco-efficiency of manufacturing stage (EMS) have been at a relatively high level, while the ecoefficiency of environmental protection stage (EEPS) is still at a low level so far. The EIES and EMS of the provinces in eastern region are higher than those of the central, western and northeastern regions, while the EEPS of the western region is higher than that of the other three regions. The impacts of BRI on EIES and EEPS are significantly positive, while the BRI has a negative effect on EMS. In addition, there is a significant positive relationship between economic development level and EIES, EMS, and EEPS, industrial structure can promote EIES and EMS, and technological innovation has a significant positive correlation with EMS, a significant negative correlation with EEPS.

Automated summary

This paper evaluates the eco-efficiency of China's provinces from 2005 to 2020, finding that the eastern region has higher eco-efficiency compared to the central, western, and northeastern regions, with the western region showing the highest environmental protection stage eco-efficiency. The Belt and Road initiative has a significantly positive impact on the industrial eco-economic system, but a negative effect on the manufacturing stage.