Regional green total factor performance analysis of China’s construction industry based on a unified framework combining static and dynamic indexes

It has an important meaning to improve green total factor performance in the construction industry for China’s green and high-quality development. In addition to the traditional desirable economic output and undesirable CO₂ emission output, the indicators representing social welfare of China’s construction industry were incorporated into the total factor framework. On this basis, a global non-radial DEA approach was employed to explore the sources and the key factors leading to changes in regional green total factor performance of China’s construction industry from both static and dynamic perspectives. The results were concluded as follows: (1) The lower energy efficiency and CO₂ emission efficiency were the main reasons for low level of green total factor efficiency. During the sample period, energy efficiency increased rapidly while capital efficiency remained almost unchanged. (2) The green total factor productivity demonstrated an increasing trend, which was driven by technological progress rather than technical efficiency. An in-depth decomposition revealed that the deterioration of technical efficiency was mainly caused by the negative effect of CO₂ emissions. (3) Regional green total factor performance of China’s construction industry demonstrated obvious spatial heterogeneity. Each province should comprehensively consider its own characteristics of green development in the construction industry to formulate the corresponding optimization strategy. These findings can help decision makers design specific policies on regional-oriented green development of China’s construction industry.