Moving towards sustainable development in China's rural counties: Ecological efficiency evaluation based on DEA-Malmquist-Tobit model

Poverty eradication and ecological protection play a fundamental role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The two issues are paid great attention to in China and are generally intertwined in impoverished rural areas where ecosystems are heavily relied on. The current measures to end poverty depend on the local willingness and lack of adequate consideration of ecological performance, resulting in significant tradeoffs. In this context, this study proposes a framework integrating static and dynamic eco-efficiency evaluation based DEA-Malmquist-Tobit model by taking on 25 key assisted counties in southwest China as cases. Besides, it offers a value-based ecological development index (EDI), aiming to provide a more scientific basis for exploring optimizing pathways for achieving the co-benefits of poverty alleviation and ecological protection. The results reveal that the average annual static eco-efficiency of 8 counties and dynamic eco-efficiency of 17 counties is > 1 during 2000–2020, while there is a noticeable decrease in eco-efficiency in most studied counties during 2005–2010. Improving infrastructure and industrial structures can increase static eco-efficiency. Promoting technological progress in economic development increases dynamic eco-efficiency. The range of the EDI has increased more than 10 times during the studied periods, indicating the increase in the economy of the studied counties is over that of the cost of pollution treatment. Improving market transactions is identified as the optimal pathway to achieve the co-benefit. Finally, the policy implications are proposed, including promoting investment in social capital, optimizing resource allocation, and establishing a multi-government department cooperative development system.