Title: Measurement and influencing factors of green total factor productivity of cities in the Yangtze River Economic Zone

Authors: Bizhen Chen; Fengjiao Ye

Addresses: School of Information Engineering, Minnan University of Science and Technology, Quanzhou, 362700, China ' School of Information Engineering, Quanzhou Ocean Institute, Quanzhou, 362700, China

Abstract: The Yangtze River Economic Zone is an important pattern of China's economic planning. This paper collected the data of cities in the Yangtze River Economic Zone from 2006 to 2018, by applying the epsilon-based measure (EBM) method and global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) index, calculated the green total factor productivity (GTFP), and analysed the distribution and influencing factors of GTFP in time and space. The main conclusions are as follows: 1) the overall GTFP of cities in the Yangtze River Economic Zone has shown an upward trend over time, while the development of cities in the middle and lower reaches is better than that of upstream cities; 2) the per capita GDP, the proportion of the tertiary industry, and the centralised treatment rate of sewage treatment plants can significantly promote the growth of GTFP, while the proportion of secondary industry and the number of students in colleges and universities have negative effects.

Keywords: Yangtze River Economic Zone; green total factor productivity; GTFP; epsilon-based measure; EBM; global Malmquist-Luenberger; GML; fixed effect model; undesirable output; the industrial structure; urban construction; air and water pollution; environmental governance; education level.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEE.2026.151944

International Journal of Environmental Engineering, 2026 Vol.14 No.1, pp.20 - 39

Accepted: 11 Sep 2025
Published online: 27 Feb 2026 *

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