School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, Changsha, China.
Doctoral Supervisor of School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, Changsha, China.
J Environ Manage. 2020 Feb 1;255:109916. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109916. Epub 2019 Nov 28.
The existing literature on environmental efficiency focuses on economic and social factors, and rarely on the role of local leadership. Thus, this study aims to measure the environmental efficiency and analyze the impact of mayors' characteristics on environmental efficiency. By using the metafrontier-stochastic frontier analysis two-step estimate method, the average value of the overall environmental efficiency in China is only 0.523, which is high in the eastern region and low in the central and western regions. Empirical results show that mayors' tenure plays an inverted U-shaped effect on environmental efficiency. Mayors who are highly educated, young, and aware of environmental protection can improve environmental efficiency. Moreover, mayors' experience in official exchange can improve environmental efficiency; mayors with work experience in the central government are effective in terms of environmental governance. The policy implication is that improving the educational level of leaders, appointing young cadres, and strengthening official exchanges can effectively improve environmental efficiency.
现有关于环境效率的文献主要关注经济和社会因素，很少关注地方领导的作用。因此，本研究旨在衡量环境效率，并分析市长特征对环境效率的影响。本研究采用超前沿-随机前沿分析两步估计方法，发现中国整体环境效率的平均值仅为 0.523，东部地区较高，而中、西部地区较低。实证结果表明，市长任期对环境效率呈倒 U 型影响。受教育程度高、年轻且有环保意识的市长可以提高环境效率。此外，市长的官方交流经验可以提高环境效率；具有中央政府工作经验的市长在环境治理方面较为有效。政策启示是，提高领导的教育水平、任用年轻干部和加强官方交流可以有效提高环境效率。
