Special economic zones and sustainable development: A study in provinces of China

Abstract

Special economic zones (SEZs) play a traditionally essential role in economic development strategy in China while sustainable development is the future goal. The current research employs the data set of 31 provinces in China from 2016 to 2020 to measure the sustainable development level of these provinces and evaluate whether SEZs contribute to sustainability prospects. Integrating meta-frontier and directional distance function concepts into a two-stage network data envelopment analysis model reveals outstanding eco-efficiency and socio-benefiting efficiencies. The empirical results show that provinces with SEZs tend to transition to greener production faster than those without SEZs, and to be more efficient in socio-benefiting than their non-SEZ counterparts. SEZs and policies of SEZ are the sources of sustainable development of Chinese provinces, however, the empirical results imply the necessity of reducing excessive resource use, promoting cleaner production, and efficiently utilizing the economic advantages to transform and benefit the social, narrowing the technological gap between SEZ provinces and other provinces in the field of eco-efficiency. Generally, by implementing strategies and policies with a more balanced approach that considers the social dimensions of development alongside economic considerations, China can work towards achieving sustainable and inclusive growth.