Efficiency evaluation of government investment for air pollution control in city clusters: A case from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei areas in China

Air pollution poses a significant threat to human health, particularly in urban areas with high levels of industrial activities. In China, the government plays a crucial role in managing air quality through the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan. The government provides direct financial support and guides the investment direction of social funds to improve air quality. While government investment has led to improvements in air quality across China, concerns remain regarding the efficiency of such large-scale investments. To address this concern, we conducted a study using a three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA)-Malmquist model to assess the efficiency of government investment in improving air quality in China. Our analysis revealed regional disparities and annual dynamic changes. Specifically, we focused on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei areas as a case study, as the investment primarily targeted industrial activities in urban areas with the goal of improving living conditions for urban residents. The results demonstrate significant differences in investment efficiency between regions. Beijing exhibits relatively high investment efficiency, while cities in Hebei Province require improvement. We identified scale inefficiency, which refers to the ratio of air pollutant reduction to financial investment, as the main factor contributing to regional disparities. However, we found that increasing the total investment scale can help mitigate this effect. Furthermore, our study observed positive but fluctuating annual changes in investment efficiency within this city cluster from 2014 to 2018. Investment-combined technical efficiency, which represents the investment strategy, is the main obstacle to improving yearly investment efficiency. Therefore, in addition to promoting investment strategies at the individual city level, it is crucial to enhance coordination and cooperation among cities to improve the investment efficiency of the entire city cluster. Evaluating the efficiency of government investment and understanding its influencing factors can guide future investment measures and directions. This knowledge can also support policymaking for other projects involving substantial investments.