Abstract:

Comprehensive assessment of the carbon emission efficiency of Central and Eastern European countries is of great significance for promoting cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries, and for high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road”. In this paper, the carbon emission efficiency was measured for Central and Eastern European countries from 2010 to 2020 based on the Super-SBM model that considers undesired output, an in-depth analysis was conducted on the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and dynamic evolution of carbon emission efficiency, and finally the Tobit model was used to explore its influencing factors. The results show that the low-carbon development level of Central and Eastern European countries showed an overall upward trend during the study period, and the average carbon emission efficiency increased from 0.57 in 2010 to 0.74 in 2020, but there were significant differences among countries. The carbon emission efficiency values of Greece, Lithuania and Slovenia were significantly higher than those of other countries, with the Baltic States and Slovenia showing the largest improvements in carbon emission efficiency. Different factors had different impacts on carbon emission efficiency of Central and Eastern European countries. Energy intensity and total population were the main reasons restricting the increase in carbon emission efficiency in countries such as the Czech Republic and North Macedonia. Net foreign direct investment inflows promoted the improvement of carbon emission efficiency in Lithuania, Romania, North Macedonia and Greece to varying degrees. The research results can provide scientific support for Central and Eastern European countries to formulate low-carbon development strategies and carry out international cooperation.

Key words: Carbon emission efficiency, Super-SBM model, Tobit model, Central and Eastern European countries, Spatiotemporal evolution characteristics