Spatial-Temporal Evolution and Driving Factors of Regional Green Development: An Empirical Study in Yellow River Basin

The sustainable development of the Yellow River Basin (YRB) is regarded as a national strategy for China. Previous literature has focused on the green efficiency measurement of YRB, ignoring its evolution process and influential mechanism. This paper tries to disclose the spatial-temporal evolution of green efficiency and its influential mechanism of the YRB region by proposing a novel integrated DEA-Tobit model to fill the gap. Based on the development path of the YRB region, the multi-period two-stage DEA model is adopted to evaluate the green development efficiency (GDE) from provincial and urban dimensions. In addition, the panel Tobit model is developed to investigate the influential factors of the GDE for the YRB region. The GDE in the YRB region shows an unbalanced state where the downstream is best, followed by the middle and upstream. The unbalanced development also exists within the province. Both Henan and Shandong Province achieved the optimal value, while cities in these two provinces show lower green efficiency. The results also show that economic development, technological innovation and foreign capital utilization obviously affect the GDE of the YRB region positively, while industrial structure, urbanization levels and environmental regulation have negative effects.

Automated summary

This study aims to reveal the spatial-temporal evolution and influential mechanism of green efficiency in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) region. A novel integrated DEA-Tobit model is proposed to fill the research gap, and the results show an unbalanced state of green development efficiency (GDE) in the YRB region. Economic development, technological innovation, and foreign capital utilization positively affect GDE, while industrial structure, urbanization levels, and environmental regulation have negative effects.