This paper presents a new index called sustainable total-factor ecology efficiency (STFEcE), which integrates the ecological footprint and human development index into the framework of total-factor energy efficiency. Compared with the total-factor ecology efficiency index, the new index can better reflect the sustainable development efficiency of a region. This study uses data from 30 provinces of China over the period 2005-2016 to measure the STFEcE. Considering the heterogeneity of regional development in China, the meta-frontier slack-based data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is implemented. The results are as follows. First, the STFEcE for China is low, indicating the great potential for improvement in the sustainable development efficiency of China. Second, the heterogeneity of the STFEcE across the three regions of China (eastern, central, and western) is evident, given the "concave" trend from the eastern region to the western region. Third, decomposing the STFEcE into the technology inefficiency and management inefficiency indexes shows that the management efficiency of the eastern region needs to be improved, whereas the technology efficiency of the central region needs enhancement. For the western region, both the technology efficiency and management efficiency need improvement.
Keywords: Ecological footprint; Human development index; Slack-based measure (SBM); Sustainable total-factor ecology efficiency.
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