Frontier Assessment of Green Economic Efficiency in China’s High-quality Development Stage: An Empirical Comparative Study based on Non-parametric, Parametric and Semi-parametric Methods

Fangmei Liu

doi:10.6981/FEM.202512_6(12).0002

Authors

Fangmei Liu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6981/FEM.202512_6(12).0002

Keywords:

Green Economic Efficiency; Stochastic Frontier Analysis; Data Envelopment Analysis; Stochastic Non-Smooth Semi-Parametric Data Envelopment Analysis; High-quality Development.

Abstract

Green economic efficiency is a core quantitative indicator of high-quality development, and the scientific nature of its evaluation methods directly determines the accuracy of development quality diagnosis. This paper constructs a four-dimensional evaluation framework of "traditional input-digital input-expected output-unexpected output," using 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities of China from 2014 to 2024 as research subjects. It systematically compares the theoretical characteristics and empirical performance of non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA), parametric stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), and semi-parametric stochastic non-smooth semi-parametric data envelopment method (StoNED). This study mainly focuses on testing StoNED adaptability under stochastic environments and multidimensional constraints during the high-quality development stage. The study reveals that StoNED constructs a non-parametric frontier through convex regression and incorporates composite error terms, addressing the shortcomings of DEA in being sensitive to outliers and neglecting shocks from new elements such as the digital economy, while also overcoming SFAs dependence on the form of production functions. Its measurement results show significantly higher consistency with the high-quality development evaluation system compared to DEA and SFA. From 2014 to 2024, China's provincial green economic efficiency exhibited a "U-shaped recovery-steady improvement" trend. The StoNED average value reached 0.763 in 2024, an increase of 18.7% compared with 2014, and the regional gap between the eastern, central and western regions showed a convergence trend. This paper provides methodological references for evaluating green economic efficiency during the high-quality development stage and supports regional coordination under the "dual carbon" goals.

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