How to Evaluate Investment Efficiency of Environmental Pollution Control: Evidence from China

Clarifying the efficiency of investment in environmental pollution control is conducive to better control of environmental pollution. Based on panel data of 30 provinces and cities in China from 2008 to 2017, this study combines the three-stage super-efficient SBM-DEA model and the Global-Malmquist-Luenberger index to measure the efficiency of investment in environmental pollution control in China and analyze regional differences. The results show that: First, the investment efficiency of environmental pollution control in China shows a rising trend year by year, but there are significant differences among provinces and regions; the presence of random factors and environmental variables makes the control efficiency underestimated. Second, excluding the effects of both, the national investment efficiency of environmental pollution control has improved significantly, but still has not reached the optimal effect; the gap between provinces and regions has narrowed while the investment efficiency of environmental pollution control has improved, and there is still an unbalanced situation. Third, the main driver of the year-on-year improvement in China’s environmental pollution control efficiency is technological progress; compared with northeastern China, technological progress has a more significant role in promoting eastern, central, and western China. Finally, based on the results, this paper focuses on making suggestions to promote environmental pollution control in China in terms of making regional cooperation, making good environmental protection investment and strengthening environmental protection technology research and development.