The integrated efficiency of inputs-outputs and energy - CO2 emissions performance of China's agricultural sector

This research aims at exploring the integrated efficiency of inputs-outputs and unified performance in energy consumption and CO2 emissions for the Chinese agricultural sector, and also examining the reduction potential of energy intensity and CO2 emission intensity in the sector. For this purpose, we adopt a non-radial directional distance function in this study. It incorporates the inefficiency of all input factors and desirable and undesirable outputs to estimate the integrated (operational and environmental) efficiency and energy-CO2 performance of China's agricultural sector. An empirical research of 30 provinces in China is conducted by using the approach. The main practical conclusion follows: First, most of China's provinces and regions did not perform efficiently in input factors as well as the integrated efficiency of inputs-outputs and unified performance in energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the agricultural sector. The average score of integrated efficiency and energy-CO2 performance is 0.447 and 0.425 respectively within the sample period. Provinces in East China mostly performed better than those in Central and West China. Second, with slack and advanced production technology considered, there is vast energy-saving and CO2 emission reduction in the Chinese agricultural sector. In theory, the reduction potential of energy intensity and CO2 emission intensity can reach 59.6177% and 56.4948% respectively of the actual level. The central and western regions show great reduction potential of energy intensity and CO2 emission intensity compared with the eastern region. Based on these findings, some policy suggestions for improving the integrated efficiency of inputs-outputs and unified performance in energy consumption and CO2 emissions are provided for China's agricultural sector.