Energy-Efficiency Policies and Energy Productivity Improvements: Evidence from China's Manufacturing Industry

To examine the effects of China's energy saving and emissions reduction (ESER) policy implemented during the 11th Five-Year Plan (FYP) on energy efficiency of the manufacturing sector, this article evaluates and compares the environmental-adjusted energy productivity of 15 energy-intensive industries during the 10th and 11th FYPs using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. The results indicate that four of the 15 studied industries had achieved significant energy productivity improvements during the 11th FYP than that in the 10th FYP, which can mainly be attributed to the effective implementations of relevant ESER policies. In contrast, energy productivity of the rest 11 industries acquired relatively minor improvements during the whole decade.