The Energy Efficiency and the Impact of Air Pollution on Health in China

oleh: Xianhui He, Yung-ho Chiu, Tzu-Han Chang, Tai-Yu Lin, Zebin Wang

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-02-01

Deskripsi

The rapid growth of China&#8217;s economy in recent years has greatly improved its citizens&#8217; living standards, but economic growth consumes many various energy sources as well as produces harmful air pollution. Nitrogen oxides, SO<sub>2</sub> (sulfur dioxide), and other polluting gases are damaging the environment and people&#8217;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&#8217;s energy and environmental issues in the past, few of them analyze economic development, air pollution, and residents&#8217; 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<sub>2</sub> (carbon dioxide), and NOx (nitrogen oxide) efficiency values have mostly declined from 2013 to 2016, while their SO<sub>2</sub> efficiency values have increased (less SO<sub>2</sub> emissions). (3) The growth rate of SO<sub>2</sub> 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.