Eco-eficient Capabilities and Interferences in Social Performance: a study of the federative units of Brazil

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the socio-environmental discussions within the scope of government management, entering into the relationship between eco-efficiency and social performance. The study consisted of a descriptive profile, with a quantitative approach whose process occurred in two moments: to establish the eco-efficiency scores, the non-parametric FDH technique was used with the input-oriented model and in the sequence the linear correlation of Pearson, seeking to find possible association between the investigated constructs. The results show that the eco-efficient Federative Units tend to have greater economic potential. Under the regional comparative analysis, the South and Southeast, together, present better eco-efficiency indices and low levels of inefficiency. The benchmarking regions present moderate negative linear correlation, suggesting that social inequality tends to decrease as the eco-efficiency score increases. It is hoped that such results will guide, as far as the practical appeal, public policies regarding economic and environmental efficiency. Nonetheless, theoretical contributions are also made to the scientific community regarding the filling of the literature gap in the area in question, bringing a new approach to the topic comprehensively and revealing new possibilities for research related to the alignment between the environmental and social perspectives and the public management, as well as more specific replication and exploitation opportunities of each Federative Unit investigated.

Keywords

• ecoeficiência
• fdh
• desempenho social
• índice de gini