Browsing by Author "Wang, Shih-Chuan"

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Total-factor energy efficiency of regions in China
(2006-11-01)
Hu, Jin-Li
;
Wang, Shih-Chuan
;
經營管理研究所
;
Institute of Business and Management
This paper analyzes energy efficiencies of 29 administrative regions in China for the period 1995-2002 with a newly introduced index. Most existing studies of regional productivity and efficiency neglect energy inputs. We use the data envelopment analysis (DEA) to find the target energy input of each region in China at each particular year. The index of total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) then divides the target energy input by the actual energy input. In our DEA model, labor, capital stock, energy consumption, and total sown area of farm crops used as a proxy of biomass energy are the four inputs and real GDP is the single output. The conventional energy productivity ratio regarded as a partial-factor energy efficiency index is computed for comparison in contrast to TFEE; our index is found fitting better to the real case. According to the TFEE index rankings, the central area of China has the worst energy efficiency and its total adjustment of energy consumption amount is over half of China's total. Regional TFEE in China generally improved during the research period except for the western area. A U-shape relation between the area's TFEE and per capita income in the areas of China is found, confirming the scenario that energy efficiency eventually improves with economic growth. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Total-factor water efficiency of regions in China
(2006-12-01)
Hu, Jin-Li
;
Wang, Shih-Chuan
;
Yeh, Fang-Yu
;
經營管理研究所
;
Institute of Business and Management
Water is a limited and unevenly distributed resource in China, with the per capita amount of water resource there only about one-fourth of the world's average. However, water is an essential resource for people's lives and economic development. Over the past two decades China has seen the fruit of its rapid economic growth; nevertheless, a severe water shortage is behind this prosperous scenario and is becoming worse. Efficient water supply is certainly essential for the sustainable development of human beings. This paper analyzes water efficiency by incorporating water as an input as well as using conventional inputs such as labor employment and capital stock. An index of a water adjustment target ratio (WATR) is established from the production frontier constructed by data envelopment analysis (DEA) including water as an input. The water efficiency of regions is obtained from a total-factor framework with both residential and productive water use. A U-shape relation is discovered between the total-factor water efficiency and per capita real income among areas in China. The central area has the worst water efficiency ranking and the total adjustment amount of water used there is around three-fourths of China's total. More efficient production processes and advanced technologies need to be adopted in the central area to improve its water efficiency, especially for its productive use of water. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.