Regional Environmental Efficiency Based on a Modified Proportional DEA Model

Abstract

With the increased attention paid to environmental and ecological issues in China, many methods have been used to evaluate the performance of ecological conservation. Scholars have evaluated environmental efficiency in the production process with undesirable outputs, and used a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model for further examination. However, previous studies do not detail the influence of uncertain factors on undesirable outputs, such as environmental capacity and risk attitude. Therefore, this study proposes and applies a modified proportional DEA model to evaluate the environmental efficiency of various textile and clothing companies located around the main stem and tributaries of the Yangtze River. The empirical results indicate that this model is more suitable to evaluate the environmental efficiency of companies in these acutely polluted regions. Based on these findings, we suggest considering environmental capacity and risk attitude in ecological conservation policies to improve environmental efficiency.