Innovative Production Efficiency in Chinese High-Tech Industries During the 13th Five-Year Plan Considering Environmental Factors: Evidence from a Three-Stage DEA Model

Abstract

Innovative production in high-tech industries is seen as a promoter of corporate profitability and a driver of China's economic growth. However, some scholars point out that high-tech industry is in its infancy and has insufficient innovative production efficiency, which severely restricts regional economic development. To explore this further, we studied the innovation production efficiency of China's high-tech industry during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). The three-stage Data Envelopment Analysis model was utilized to calculate the efficiency of the innovation production in this industry, and we initially employed the DEA-BCC model to calculate the efficiency for 31 provinces and applied similar-stochastic frontier analysis regression to eliminate the potential influence of external environmental factors. The empirical results findings reveal significant inter-regional differences in the efficiency of innovation production, with the Eastern region is the most efficient in innovation production, the Western region has greater growth potential, and the Central region requires to improve its overall efficiency by increasing technological inputs. In addition, we attempt to provide recommendations to policy makers based on our conclusions.