Carbon emission efficiency of China’s construction industry based on super-efficiency SBM and Tobit model

Global warming is one of the key issues attracting international concern. The carbon dioxide emission produced by energy combustion is the main cause of the greenhouse effect, and reducing carbon emissions is considered the most effective way to deal with the greenhouse effect. The extensive production mode characterized by high energy consumption, high emission, and low efficiency in China’s construction industry intensifies the contradiction between economic development and resources and the environment, and the growth under this mode is at the expense of consuming a lot of resources and energy. The improvement of carbon emission efficiency is an effective means of achieving the goal of economic growth and carbon emission reduction simultaneously, making it necessary to accurately measure the carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry in each province, determine the influencing factors, and formulate reasonable emission reduction policies for this industry. In this study, an input-output index system of carbon emission efficiency of China’s construction industry was constructed, the carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry in each province was evaluated using the super-efficiency SBM model, and the factors affecting the carbon emission efficiency of this industry were analyzed via the Tobit model. The results showed that the average value of carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry generally showed a rising trend in a fluctuating way during the study period. From 2014 to 2022, the average carbon emission efficiency of the national construction industry presented an upward trend, from 1.122 in 2014 to 1.148 in 2022; the regional economic level (p= 0.020 < 0.05) and human capital level (p= 0.000 < 0.01) exerted obvious promoting effects on the carbon emission efficiency of China’s construction industry, while the urbanization development (p= 0.049 < 0.05) generated evident negative effects on carbon emission efficiency of this industry. The research results have important reference values for making cross-provincial emission reduction plans for the construction industry, promoting its carbon emission efficiency, and driving the research and development of green building materials and clean energy.