Industrial Eco-Efficiency and Its Determinants in China : A Two-Stage Approach

China has undergone momentous changes and achieved remarkable economic progress since its economic reform and opening-up in 1978. Simultaneously, however, consequent resource depletion and environmental degradation have seriously restricted China’s sustainable industrial development. As a practical tool contributing to sustainable development, the concept of eco-efficiency is considered to be increasingly important for reducing the trend of resource exhaustion and environmental degradation. This study first evaluated industrial eco-efficiency in 30 Chinese provinces during 2005–2015 using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, and then clarified the determinants of the resulting eco-efficiency scores using a random-effects Tobit regression. The DEA results showed that China’s overall industrial eco-efficiency trend was upward. However, there were great disparities in industrial eco-efficiency between provinces. Provinces with high industrial eco-efficiency were mainly distributed across the eastern region, while those in the western region, often with the less developed economies, had lower industrial eco-efficiency, due to their underdeveloped technology and weak environmental policies. The Tobit regression results indicated that internal research and development expenditure in industrial enterprises, per capita gross regional product, and investment in wastewater treatment had positive effects on provincial industrial eco-efficiency. By contrast, the proportion of state-owned enterprises and investment in waste gas treatment had negative impacts. Based on these findings, this study offers helpful information to enable provinces with low industrial eco-efficiency to pursue high-quality, green development