Dynamic evaluation of eco-efficiency in China's industrial sectors: Addressing scale and regional heterogeneities

This study evaluates the eco-efficiency of China's industrial systems using a novel three-layer meta-frontier directional distance function based dynamic network data envelopment analysis model. It highlights the industrial sector's vital role in the national economy and its influence on ecological sustainability and societal welfare. The findings indicate that overall eco-efficiency at the national level is suboptimal, with significant disparities among provincial industrial systems regarding scale, cleaner production technologies, and management standards. The western region shows lower scale efficiency (SE) and management efficiency (ME) but higher technical efficiency (TE). In contrast, the central region performs well in both SE and ME, while the eastern region faces challenges with TE. The research reveals a consistent improvement in China's industrial system's average global meta-frontier Malmquist-Luenberger index, with a 21.15% increase in total factor eco-efficiency from 2011 to 2020, primarily driven by advancements in scale efficiency. Finally, the study recommends tailored strategies to enhance eco-efficiency by addressing specific inefficiencies within each provincial industrial system.