An Empirical Study on the Growth of Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity in the Huanghuai River Economic Zone by Big Data Computing

Facing the new form and situation of the Huaihe Economic Zone, it is of great significance to analyze the sources of growth and the intrinsic mechanism of the green total factor productivity of its economic-ecological system, to grasp the spatial and temporal characteristics of green total factor productivity, and to study the influence of each factor on green total factor productivity to achieve sustainable economic development in the Huaihe Economic Zone. Based on the clarification of economic growth theory, green economy theory, carbon cycle theory, and green total factor productivity theory, this paper identifies and discusses the limitation that the existing research literature often ignores the endogenous role of carbon sinks when measuring green total factor productivity. Then, the green total factor productivity of Huaihe Economic Zone based on carbon cycle from 2004 to 2017 is measured using the superefficient nonradial SBM model. Combined with the GML productivity index, it is decomposed into technical progress and technical efficiency and analyzed in comparison with the green total factor productivity without considering ecological purification capacity (carbon sink) from the perspective of time and space. Finally, the spatial Durbin model is used to analyze the effects of seven variables, including the level of economic development, environmental regulation, R&D level, and openness to the outside world, on green total factor productivity in the Huaihe Economic Zone, and to analyze the direct and indirect effects of each variable on green total factor productivity. TFP based on expected output carbon sink and GDP overall outperforms TFP based on expected output GDP only, mainly because the growth of technical efficiency is underestimated when carbon sink is not considered. Technical efficiency and technological progress are equally important for the growth of TFP in an eco-economic perspective. It is of great practical significance for both the comprehensive understanding of the green total factor productivity level and the improvement path of the ecosystem and the coordinated and sustainable development of the Huaihe Economic Zone.

Automated summary

This paper analyzes the sources of growth and intrinsic mechanism of green total factor productivity in the Huaihe Economic Zone, and studies the influence of various factors on it. The study finds that considering carbon sinks, TFP based on expected output carbon sink and GDP outperforms TFP based on expected output GDP only. Both technical efficiency and technological progress are equally important for the growth of green total factor productivity.