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Analysis of the Efficiency of Public Environmental Expenditure Based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)-Tobit Model: Evidence from Central China


Affiliations
1 Center of Systems and Industrial Engineering, Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450000, China
 

The increasing noticeable economic development that impact the environment increases attention on environmental protection and governance as observed by the government. Public finance expenditure on environmental protection has played an important role in controlling environmental pollution and protecting ecological environment. To explore the defects in the fiscal spending on environmental protection using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model and Tobit regression, the efficiency of public environmental expenditure in Central China from 2007 to 2015 was evaluated, and the factors that influence the efficiency of fiscal spending on environmental protection were discussed. Results reveal that fiscal spending on environmental protection in the remaining five provinces is technically inefficient, except for Hubei Province in Central China. Moreover, large differences exist among provinces in a different stage of scale return. The GDP per capita has a significant positive impact on the efficiency of fiscal expenditure on environmental protection, whereas the level of urbanization and industrialization has a significant negative impact on the efficiency of fiscal expenditure on environmental protection. The conclusions provide a decision-making reference for improving the efficiency of public environmental expenditure.

Keywords

Environmental Protection, Public Finance, Expenditure Efficiency, Tobit Model.
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  • Analysis of the Efficiency of Public Environmental Expenditure Based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)-Tobit Model: Evidence from Central China

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Authors

Pengju Wang
Center of Systems and Industrial Engineering, Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450000, China

Abstract


The increasing noticeable economic development that impact the environment increases attention on environmental protection and governance as observed by the government. Public finance expenditure on environmental protection has played an important role in controlling environmental pollution and protecting ecological environment. To explore the defects in the fiscal spending on environmental protection using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model and Tobit regression, the efficiency of public environmental expenditure in Central China from 2007 to 2015 was evaluated, and the factors that influence the efficiency of fiscal spending on environmental protection were discussed. Results reveal that fiscal spending on environmental protection in the remaining five provinces is technically inefficient, except for Hubei Province in Central China. Moreover, large differences exist among provinces in a different stage of scale return. The GDP per capita has a significant positive impact on the efficiency of fiscal expenditure on environmental protection, whereas the level of urbanization and industrialization has a significant negative impact on the efficiency of fiscal expenditure on environmental protection. The conclusions provide a decision-making reference for improving the efficiency of public environmental expenditure.

Keywords


Environmental Protection, Public Finance, Expenditure Efficiency, Tobit Model.

References