Study on the Measurement and Influencing Factors of Rural Energy Carbon Emission Efficiency in China: Evidence Using the Provincial Panel Data

Abstract

This paper summarizes the spatial–temporal characteristics of China’s rural energy carbon emission efficiency and then uses the Tobit model to explore its influencing factors. The results show that the rural energy carbon emission efficiency had experienced a growing trend in China during 2005 and 2020, with an annual growth rate of 4.82%. The growth is more affected by technological changes than by improvements in technical efficiency. Although all 30 provinces were in a state of improvement in rural energy carbon productivity during the period under review, there were significant differences between them. Technological change played a significant important role in promoting rural energy carbon productivity in the majority of Chinese provinces, while technical efficiency not only played a slightly less important role but also deteriorated in many provinces. Rural energy carbon emission efficiency is positively influenced by the level of agricultural development, the structure of rural labor force, and the urbanization level. However, it is negatively affected by the structure of cultivated land use, the rural human capital and rural residents’ consumption level. As such, policy formulation should support and promote the overall improvement of rural energy carbon emission efficiency.