Evaluation and dynamic evolution of eco-efficiency of resource-based cities—a case study of typical resource-based cities in China

Abstract

Evaluation and dynamic evolution of eco-efficiency of resource-based cities is of great significance for ecological restoration, industrial transformation and sustainable development of resource-based cities. Based on the data of 40 resource-based cities from 2012 to 2017, we first study eco-efficiency of resource-based cities from both static and dynamic aspects by super-efficiency DEA and the Malmquist index. Additionally, then, we analyze its dynamic evolution trend by Kernel density estimation. The main results are as follows: First, the eco-efficiency shows a steady growth trend; growing cities are the highest, followed by regenerative cities and mature cities, declining cities are the lowest. Second, technological progress has the greatest contribution to growth of eco-efficiency, and scale efficiency restricts its growth. Third, efficiency distribution of resource-based cities with different life cycles show different characteristics of evolution, and the regional gap is narrowing gradually. Finally, management implications are put forward based on the empirical conclusions.