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Analyzing provincial imbalances in green innovation development in china: multi-way efficiency analysis and geodetector approach

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Abstract

Green innovation has now become an important component of high-quality development, but China’s provinces still face imbalances in green innovation development. Clarifying the current state of development and the causes of the imbalance in each province is urgently necessary. But only a single or overall indicator cannot well reflect the structural differences within each province. We used the multi-way efficiency analysis (MEA) method to analyze the overall and structural efficiency of green innovation in each province of China, thus overcoming the shortcomings of comprehensive indicators. In addition, based on the decomposition of regional differences, policy factors resulting in heterogeneity among provinces are analyzed using Geodetector. The research results reveal the diversity of green innovation systems, the severe symmetry in resource utilization, and the internal and external sources of regional differences. We categorize the provinces into four development models by combining the internal structural characteristics of green innovation efficiency, as a way to propose suitable green innovation policies for each province, to take into account, the different development environments of the provinces assessed. Our research has significant implications for effectively improving green innovation efficiency and guides the formulation of more precise policies.

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Data availability

The raw data that support the findings of this study are available in China Statistical Yearbook with the identifier http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) General Program (Grant numbers71974045) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant numbers. HIT.HSS.DZ201906).

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

XT performed conceptualization, methodology, project administration, writing—review & editing. QM provided resources, writing—review & editing, supervision. QZ did writing—review and editing, ML and SL did writing—review and editing. All authors have read and agreed to thepublished version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qiang Mai.

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Appendices

Appendix I

Different regional green innovation overall efficiency in China.

Region

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Northeast region

LN

0.60

0.78

0.77

0.65

0.76

0.66

0.69

0.71

0.71

0.82

0.84

0.79

0.76

JL

0.59

0.66

0.62

0.55

0.56

0.59

0.50

0.46

0.53

0.67

0.76

0.75

0.75

HL

0.49

0.58

0.53

0.65

0.66

0.59

0.59

0.46

0.50

0.38

0.50

0.47

0.45

Northeast region mean

0.56

0.67

0.64

0.62

0.66

0.62

0.59

0.55

0.58

0.62

0.70

0.67

0.65

Eastern region

BJ

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

TJ

0.78

1.00

0.84

0.88

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.84

1.00

HE

0.69

0.80

0.74

0.73

0.81

0.93

0.61

0.69

0.67

0.80

0.81

0.81

0.60

SH

0.86

1.00

0.85

1.00

1.00

0.95

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

JS

1.00

0.94

0.83

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.93

0.99

1.00

1.00

1.00

ZJ

1.00

0.97

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.89

0.76

0.89

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.81

0.94

FJ

1.00

0.81

1.00

0.73

0.82

0.70

0.47

0.88

0.78

0.88

0.73

0.59

0.88

SD

1.00

1.00

0.98

0.66

1.00

0.87

0.88

0.90

0.67

0.81

1.00

1.00

1.00

GD

0.96

1.00

0.91

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.99

1.00

0.93

1.00

1.00

HI

0.62

0.63

0.61

0.84

0.33

1.00

1.00

0.85

0.96

0.63

1.00

1.00

1.00

Eastern region mean

0.89

0.92

0.88

0.88

0.90

0.93

0.87

0.92

0.90

0.91

0.95

0.90

0.94

Central region

SX

0.77

0.77

0.60

0.66

0.58

0.77

0.74

0.72

0.75

0.84

0.82

0.80

1.00

AH

0.71

0.98

0.86

0.80

1.00

1.00

0.88

0.84

0.77

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

JX

0.78

0.75

0.75

1.00

0.84

0.63

0.80

0.73

0.73

0.73

0.73

0.73

0.60

HA

0.84

0.83

0.74

0.93

0.82

0.71

0.62

0.66

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.72

0.89

HB

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.91

0.83

0.74

0.82

0.71

0.80

0.74

HN

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.97

0.99

0.95

0.85

0.76

0.75

0.73

0.69

Central region mean

0.85

0.89

0.82

0.90

0.87

0.85

0.82

0.79

0.81

0.86

0.83

0.80

0.82

Western region

NM

0.66

0.68

0.83

0.65

0.66

0.71

0.67

0.57

0.52

0.53

0.76

0.66

0.64

GX

0.45

0.80

0.53

0.78

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.57

1.00

0.73

1.00

0.61

1.00

CQ

0.76

0.84

0.81

0.82

0.60

0.76

0.74

0.51

0.54

0.40

0.59

0.71

0.81

SC

0.63

0.77

0.72

0.73

0.63

0.75

0.68

0.73

0.78

0.76

0.78

1.00

0.85

GZ

0.69

0.64

0.65

0.70

0.63

0.60

0.76

0.45

0.38

0.52

0.66

0.35

0.77

YN

0.55

0.60

0.48

0.53

0.39

0.44

0.45

0.56

0.61

0.65

0.52

0.58

0.75

SN

0.51

0.79

0.76

0.77

0.64

1.00

0.87

0.84

0.81

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

GS

0.58

0.65

0.69

0.67

0.54

0.59

0.60

0.70

0.78

0.70

0.75

0.62

0.48

QH

1.00

1.00

0.92

1.00

1.00

0.84

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

NX

0.47

0.48

0.77

0.59

0.54

0.62

0.56

0.68

0.55

0.64

0.64

0.65

0.44

XJ

1.00

1.00

0.88

0.83

0.84

0.53

1.00

0.83

0.73

0.69

0.52

0.54

0.58

Western region means

0.66

0.75

0.73

0.73

0.68

0.71

0.76

0.68

0.70

0.69

0.75

0.70

0.76

Appendix II

Decomposition of regional differences in output efficiency.

Year

Index

Overall

Intra-

Regional differences

Inter-

Regional differences

Northeast Region

Eastern Region

Central Region

Western Region

2008

Y1

0.031

0.018

0.013

0.003

0.013

0.009

0.034

0.595

0.405

0.010

0.132

0.051

0.361

Y2

0.035

0.020

0.015

0.029

0.009

0.002

0.045

0.572

0.428

0.038

0.063

0.007

0.261

C

0.003

0.002

0.001

0.000

0.002

0.001

0.003

0.640

0.360

0.005

0.173

0.033

0.347

2009

Y1

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.002

0.001

0.003

0.880

0.120

0.007

0.027

0.015

0.491

Y2

0.027

0.018

0.008

0.034

0.007

0.005

0.035

0.689

0.311

0.069

0.071

0.031

0.319

C

0.001

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.002

0.669

0.331

0.012

0.063

0.035

0.493

2010

Y1

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.001

0.807

0.193

0.056

0.179

0.069

0.421

Y2

0.028

0.022

0.006

0.023

0.012

0.009

0.039

0.780

0.220

0.045

0.112

0.051

0.314

C

0.003

0.002

0.001

0.002

0.001

0.001

0.004

0.808

0.188

0.073

0.150

0.054

0.430

2011

Y1

0.002

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.002

0.002

0.699

0.301

0.017

0.056

0.201

0.368

Y2

0.029

0.016

0.013

0.001

0.004

0.006

0.042

0.561

0.440

0.001

0.038

0.033

0.321

C

0.003

0.002

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.003

0.004

0.730

0.270

0.018

0.042

0.190

0.404

2012

Y1

0.002

0.002

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.003

0.003

0.769

0.232

0.002

0.046

0.242

0.401

Y2

0.054

0.041

0.013

0.025

0.051

0.006

0.061

0.760

0.240

0.023

0.222

0.017

0.213

C

0.004

0.003

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.005

0.006

0.788

0.215

0.002

0.031

0.235

0.419

2013

Y1

0.002

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.001

0.002

0.649

0.345

0.004

0.015

0.140

0.430

Y2

0.031

0.019

0.011

0.016

0.000

0.011

0.047

0.626

0.374

0.030

0.008

0.052

0.340

C

0.003

0.002

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.001

0.004

0.671

0.332

0.004

0.010

0.102

0.471

2014

Y1

0.002

0.002

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.003

0.002

0.796

0.204

0.002

0.075

0.248

0.382

Y2

0.036

0.029

0.007

0.046

0.023

0.011

0.040

0.795

0.205

0.061

0.162

0.045

0.267

C

0.004

0.003

0.001

0.000

0.002

0.003

0.006

0.835

0.165

0.003

0.179

0.110

0.427

2015

Y1

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.001

0.001

0.001

0.766

0.234

0.010

0.237

0.133

0.308

Y2

0.043

0.025

0.018

0.077

0.001

0.008

0.057

0.582

0.418

0.078

0.007

0.026

0.260

C

0.002

0.002

0.001

0.000

0.002

0.001

0.002

0.773

0.228

0.014

0.244

0.112

0.311

2016

Y1

0.001

0.001

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.002

0.574

0.426

0.069

0.044

0.050

0.362

Y2

0.047

0.036

0.011

0.126

0.007

0.004

0.070

0.765

0.235

0.137

0.040

0.013

0.320

C

0.002

0.002

0.001

0.002

0.001

0.001

0.002

0.720

0.280

0.087

0.195

0.039

0.315

2017

Y1

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.517

0.483

0.028

0.046

0.056

0.343

Y2

0.043

0.033

0.010

0.119

0.010

0.004

0.057

0.773

0.227

0.158

0.064

0.015

0.285

C

0.001

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.001

0.507

0.493

0.050

0.037

0.044

0.326

2018

Y1

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.001

0.615

0.385

0.009

0.048

0.041

0.471

Y2

0.022

0.015

0.008

0.059

0.000

0.001

0.027

0.654

0.346

0.180

0.004

0.010

0.302

C

0.002

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.002

0.633

0.367

0.015

0.041

0.031

0.487

2019

Y1

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.001

0.680

0.320

0.014

0.100

0.076

0.424

Y2

0.033

0.028

0.005

0.016

0.018

0.002

0.059

0.850

0.150

0.035

0.147

0.011

0.424

C

0.002

0.002

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.003

0.670

0.326

0.033

0.087

0.057

0.415

2020

Y1

0.001

0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.001

0.794

0.216

0.043

0.068

0.117

0.496

Y2

0.032

0.028

0.004

0.018

0.001

0.019

0.066

0.878

0.122

0.041

0.014

0.091

0.519

C

0.002

0.002

0.000

0.001

0.000

0.001

0.003

0.797

0.198

0.043

0.050

0.111

0.523

Appendix III

Driver detector results for 2008–2020.

Year

Index

Statistics

X1

X2

X3

X4

X5

2008

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.046

0.045

0.121

0.166

0.048

Technical output

q-statistic

0.079

0.018

0.293

0.184

0.151

Economic output

q-statistic

0.046

0.039

0.126

0.150

0.066

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.073

0.008

0.272

0.191

0.142

2009

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.052

0.041

0.105

0.144

0.045

Technical output

q-statistic

0.043

0.021

0.032

0.211

0.113

Economic output

q-statistic

0.023

0.042

0.142

0.148

0.061

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.071

0.006

0.283

0.128

0.185

2010

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.046

0.027

0.283

0.173

0.078

Technical output

q-statistic

0.057

0.006**

0.048

0.125

0.194

Economic output

q-statistic

0.027

0.089

0.067

0.142

0.139

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.046

0.017

0.272

0.138

0.145

2011

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.049

0.024

0.221*

0.321

0.048

Technical Output

q-statistic

0.091

0.038

0.321**

0.194

0.151

Economic output

q-statistic

0.038

0.047

0.139

0.242

0.076

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.086

0.012

0.322

0.215

0.136

2012

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.061

0.046

0.197

0.204

0.028

Technical output

q-statistic

0.062

0.019

0.319

0.174

0.128

Economic output

q-statistic

0.031

0.062

0.148

0.214

0.084

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.092

0.057

0.287

0.235*

0.204

2013

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.071

0.043

0.129

0.161

0.051

Technical output

q-statistic

0.085

0.023

0.313

0.203*

0.149

Economic output

q-statistic

0.059

0.104*

0.113

0.155

0.188

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.071

0.013

0.321**

0.084

0.025

2014

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.114

0.111

0.183

0.145

0.084

Technical output

q-statistic

0.077

0.037

0.212

0.184

0.112

Economic output

q-statistic

0.094

0.124

0.156

0.132

0.177

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.083

0.028

0.281

0.068

0.088

2015

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.081

0.213

0.185

0.113

0.089

Technical output

q-statistic

0.089

0.137

0.178**

0.193

0.094

Economic output

q-statistic

0.064

0.067

0.087

0.114

0.166

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.144

0.106

0.219

0.073

0.107

2016

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.106

0.118

0.104

0.095

0.109

Technical output

q-statistic

0.081

0.033*

0.115

0.132

0.116

Economic output

q-statistic

0.096

0.09

0.142

0.099**

0.19

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.08

0.052

0.147

0.192

0.049

2017

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.168

0.122*

0.141

0.140

0.121

Technical output

q-statistic

0.068*

0.022

0.214*

0.201

0.098

Economic output

q-statistic

0.047

0.074

0.099

0.224

0.146

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.068

0.064

0.193

0.107

0.127

2018

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.189

0.167

0.174

0.142*

0.086

Technical output

q-statistic

0.065

0.031

0.134*

0.156

0.124

Economic output

q-statistic

0.019

0.082

0.135

0.089

0.085

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.035

0.122

0.188

0.126

0.116

2019

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.222

0.189

0.182

0.081

0.099

Technical output

q-statistic

0.074

0.023

0.164

0.074

0.082

Economic output

q-statistic

0.163

0.094

0.118*

0.062**

0.156

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.083

0.063

0.151

0.051

0.097

2020

Overall efficiency

q-statistic

0.221

0.208

0.193

0.075

0.113

Technical output

q-statistic

0.073

0.037

0.106

0.062*

0.102

Economic output

q-statistic

0.177

0.121

0.178

0.043

0.186

Environmental output

q-statistic

0.085

0.051

0.118

0.043*

0.111

Appendix IV

Interaction detector results for Green Innovation Efficiency.

Interaction variables

Overall efficiency cross-tabulation analysis

Technical output efficiency cross-tabulation analysis

q-statistic

Interaction type

q-statistic

Interaction type

LX2 ∩ LX1

0.223

Nonlinear enhancement

0.127

Nonlinear enhancement

LX3 ∩ LX1

0.284

Dual-factor enhancement

0.168

Dual-factor enhancement

LX3 ∩ LX2

0.231

Dual-factor enhancement

0.182

Nonlinear enhancement

LX4 ∩ LX1

0.318

Dual-factor enhancement

0.228

Nonlinear enhancement

LX4 ∩ LX2

0.224

Dual-factor enhancement

0.091

Nonlinear enhancement

LX4 ∩ LX3

0.296

Dual-factor enhancement

0.199

Nonlinear enhancement

LX5 ∩ LX1

0.243

Dual-factor enhancement

0.180

Dual-factor enhancement

LX5 ∩ LX2

0.277

Dual-factor enhancement

0.147

Nonlinear enhancement

LX5 ∩ LX3

0.310

Dual-factor enhancement

0.172

Dual-factor enhancement

LX5 ∩ LX4

0.316

Dual-factor enhancement

0.196

Nonlinear enhancement

Interaction variables

Economic output efficiency cross-tabulation analysis

Environmental output efficiency cross-tabulation analysis

q-statistic

Interaction type

q-statistic

Interaction type

LX2 ∩ LX1

0.279

Nonlinear enhancement

0.144

Nonlinear enhancement

LX3 ∩ LX1

0.315

Dual-factor enhancement

0.194

Dual-factor enhancement

LX3 ∩ LX2

0.221

Dual-factor enhancement

0.177

Nonlinear enhancement

LX4 ∩ LX1

0.337

Nonlinear enhancement

0.223

Nonlinear enhancement

LX4 ∩ LX2

0.192

Nonlinear enhancement

0.089

Nonlinear enhancement

LX4 ∩ LX3

0.268

Dual-factor enhancement

0.198

Nonlinear enhancement

LX5 ∩ LX1

0.303

Dual-factor enhancement

0.186

Dual-factor enhancement

LX5 ∩ LX2

0.254

Nonlinear enhancement

0.144

Nonlinear enhancement

LX5 ∩ LX3

0.322

Dual-factor enhancement

0.166

Dual-factor enhancement

LX5 ∩ LX4

0.276

Dual-factor enhancement

0.198

Nonlinear enhancement

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Tian, X., Mai, Q., Zhang, Q. et al. Analyzing provincial imbalances in green innovation development in china: multi-way efficiency analysis and geodetector approach. Environ Dev Sustain (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-03719-7

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