He Xianhui, Chiu Yung-Ho, Chang Tzu-Han, Lin Tai-Yu, Wang Zebin
College of International Business, Suzhou Global Institute of Software Technology, Qingshan Road No. 5, Suzhou 215163, China.
Department of Economics, Soochow University 56, Kueiyang St., Sec. 1, Taipei 10048, Taiwan.
Healthcare (Basel). 2020 Feb 3;8(1):29. doi: 10.3390/healthcare8010029.
The rapid growth of China's economy in recent years has greatly improved its citizens' living standards, but economic growth consumes many various energy sources as well as produces harmful air pollution. Nitrogen oxides, SO (sulfur dioxide), and other polluting gases are damaging the environment and people's health, with a particular spike in incidences of many air pollution-related diseases in recent years. While there have been many documents discussing China's energy and environmental issues in the past, few of them analyze economic development, air pollution, and residents' health together. Therefore, this study uses the modified undesirable dynamic two-stage DEA (data envelopment analysis) model to explore the economic, environmental, and health efficiencies of 30 provinces in China. The empirical results show the following: (1) Most provinces have lower efficiency values in the health stage than in the production stage. (2) Among the provinces with annual efficiency values below 1, their energy consumption, CO (carbon dioxide), and NOx (nitrogen oxide) efficiency values have mostly declined from 2013 to 2016, while their SO efficiency values have increased (less SO emissions). (3) The growth rate of SO efficiency in 2016 for 10 provinces is much higher than in previous years. (4) The health expenditure efficiencies of most provinces are at a lower level and show room for improvement. (5) In most provinces, the mortality rate is higher, but on a decreasing trend. (6) Finally, as representative for a typical respiratory infection, most provinces have a high level of tuberculosis efficiency, indicating that most areas of China are highly effective at respiratory disease governance.
近年来中国经济的快速增长极大地提高了公民的生活水平，但经济增长消耗了多种能源，同时也产生了有害的空气污染。氮氧化物、二氧化硫和其他污染气体正在破坏环境和人们的健康，近年来许多与空气污染相关疾病的发病率尤其飙升。虽然过去有许多文献讨论中国的能源和环境问题，但其中很少有将经济发展、空气污染和居民健康放在一起分析的。因此，本研究使用改进的非期望动态两阶段数据包络分析（DEA）模型来探究中国30个省份的经济、环境和健康效率。实证结果表明：（1）大多数省份在健康阶段的效率值低于生产阶段。（2）在年效率值低于1的省份中，它们的能源消耗、二氧化碳和氮氧化物效率值在2013年至2016年期间大多有所下降，而它们的二氧化硫效率值有所上升（二氧化硫排放量减少）。（3）2016年10个省份的二氧化硫效率增长率远高于前几年。（4）大多数省份的卫生支出效率处于较低水平，有提升空间。（5）在大多数省份，死亡率较高，但呈下降趋势。（6）最后，作为典型呼吸道感染的代表，大多数省份的结核病防治效率较高，表明中国大部分地区在呼吸道疾病治理方面非常有效。
