Carbon Efficiency, Carbon Reduction Potential, and Economic Development in the People’s Republic of China: A Total Factor Production Model

Introducing the concept of “carbon efficiency,” based on Data Envelopment Analysis, this study calculates the carbon performance in 2005 of 29 regions in the People’s Republic of China with results different from what the carbon intensity indicator would have suggested: Better carbon performance is associated with higher levels of economic development and greater resource endowments.