Measuring inclusive green total factor productivity from urban level in China

Abstract

Background: Inclusive green development aims to combine economic inclusiveness with greenness, which is an important goal of current economic development for China to achieve common prosperity. Measuring inclusive green total factor productivity (IGTFP) is of great significance for evaluating the quality of inclusive economic growth and accelerating inclusive economic growth. Method: This study establishes an index evaluation system of IGTFP from four aspects of high quality, efficient, fair, and sustainable development, using super-SBM to measure IGTFP based on panel data of 276 cities in China from 2006 to 2019, and conducts empirical comparative analysis from national central cities, provincial capitals, and ordinary prefecture. Result: 1) The IGTFP and technical progress rate in the central city and the provincial capital are significantly higher than that of the ordinary prefecture, but there is no significant difference in technical efficiency; the growth rate of IGTFP in the most central city remains around 10%, which is significantly higher in the south than that in the north. 2) According to the index decomposition result, all cities have basically realized the double-line improvement of technological efficiency and technological progress rate, but the technological efficiency is mostly lower than the technological progress rate. 3) From the perspective of economic convergence, only the IGTFP of provincial capitals shows the (Formula presented.) convergence feature, that is, the phenomenon of intra-group convergence; the IGTFP of all cities in three levels shows the (Formula presented.) convergence feature, indicating that there is an obvious catch-up phenomenon within the group. Conclusion: The integration of “technology” and “efficiency” is the main driving force and path to realize the sustainable improvement of IGTFP in cities. Inclusive green growth needs to break “regional boundaries,” including north–south boundaries and urban boundaries.