The path analysis of carbon emission reduction: A case study of the Silk Road Economic Belt

This paper uses super-efficiency DEA model and Malmquist index to evaluate the carbon emission efficiency (CEE) values of the nine western provinces along the Silk Road Economic Belt for the period from 2000 to 2015, and analyses the influencing factors of the CEE. The major findings of this study are the following: (1) the overall CEE of the nine western provinces is not high, and there are significant inter-provincial differences in the CEE. Meanwhile, the provinces with higher levels of economic development generally have higher CEE. (2) The annual total factor productivity (TFP) of the nine western provinces, which is mainly determined by technological change, is greater than 1. Moreover, the total average growth rate of the TFP is 15.5%. (3) The CEE of the nine western provinces is not spatially dependent. In addition, the urbanization, openness, use of energy-saving technologies and research and development (R&D) investment have a significant positive impact on the CEE values, while the industrial structure, foreign direct investment, fixed asset investment, government expenditure levels and energy structure have a significant negative impact on the CEE. Among them, R&D investment is the primary factor in promoting the development of CEE, and the government expenditure has the greatest negative impact on the CEE.