Growth and Convergence Analysis on the Carbon Total Factor Productivity of China’s Provinces

Treating carbon emissions as undesirable output, this paper constructs SML index model to calculate the carbon total factor productivity and its decomposition in China's provinces from 1998 to 2010. Then, it uses Kernel density estimation method to make convergent analysis of the whole country, as well as the eastern, middle and western regions. The results show that in this period, the average annual growth rate of China carbon total factor productivity is only 0.9%, furthermore, it is mainly driven by technological improvement. Technological efficiency is in a state of deterioration at most years. The carbon total factor productivity of eastern region grows fastest, while that of western region is slowest. The carbon total factor productivity and its decomposition of the whole country reveal apparent divergence apparently. The eastern region and western region have"club convergence"in terms of technological efficiency.