Spatial-temporal Divergence Characteristics and Driving Factors of Green Economic Efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Belt of China

The spatial and temporal variation of green economic efficiency and its driving factors are of great significance for the construction of high-efficiency and low-consumption green development model and sustainable socio-economic development. The research focused on the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) and employed the miniumum distance to strong efficient frontier DEA (MinDs) model to measure the green economic efficiency of the municipalities in the region between 2008 and 2020. Then, the spatial autocorrelation model was used to analyze the evolution characteristics of its spatial pattern. Finally, Geodetector was applied to reveal the drivers and their interactions on green economic efficiency. It is found that: 1) the overall green economic efficiency of the YREB from 2008 to 2020 shows a W-shaped fluctuating upward trend, green economic efficiency is greater in the downstream and smallest in the upstream; 2) the spatial distribution of green economic efficiency shows clustering characteristics, with multi-core clustering based on ‘city clusters-central cities’ becoming more obvious over time; the High-High agglomeration type is mainly clustered in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, while the Low-Low agglomeration type is clustered in the western Sichuan Plateau area and southwestern Yunnan; 3) from input-output factors, whether it is the YREB as a whole or the upper, middle and lower reaches regions, the economic development level, labor input, and capital investment are the leading factors in the spatial-temporal evolution of green economic efficiency, with the comprehensive influence of economic development level and pollution index being the most important interactive driving factor; 4) from socio-economic factors, information technology drivers such as government intervention, transportation accessibility, information infrastructure, and Internet penetration are always high impact influencers and dominant interaction factors for green economic efficiency in the YREB and the three major regions in the upper, middle and lower reaches. Accordingly, the article puts forward relevant policy recommendations in terms of formulating differentiated green transformation strategies, strengthening network leadership and information technology construction and coordinating multi-factor integrated development, which could provide useful reference for promoting synergistic green economic efficiency in the YREB.