Sustainable development of the Yellow River Basin, China, has gained comprehensive realistic and academic attention as a significant part of high-quality development. Current study used the 30 years (1997-2017) panel data of 9 provinces and constructed Drivers, Pressure, State, Impact and Response analysis framework and super efficiency Slack-Based Measure (DPSIR-SBM) model to evaluate rural sustainable development efficiency (RSDE). For the reason, the convergence, divergence and their influencing factors are discussed from three aspects, which are σ convergence, absolute β convergence and conditional β convergence. The research findings revealed that the RSDE in yellow river basin display a fluctuating downward pattern per an average decrease rate of 0.03%, while regional differences exist in three sub-basins. The upper and lower basins display a fluctuating upward pattern, whereas the middle basin present a fluctuating downward pattern. Moreover, regional differences were also observed from the average RSDE, followed by the spatial pattern of "upper basin > lower basin > middle basin". σ convergence exist in the whole basin as well as in its upper basin, while absolute β convergence exists in the whole basin and in the lower basin, and there exists conditional β convergence in the whole as well as in all the three sub-basins. Initial RSDE, planting structure, financial autonomy rate and mechanization level inhibit the improvement of RSDE, while urbanization level and rural GDP per capita have negative and non-significant impact on RSDE of the whole basin.
Keywords: Convergence; DPSIR-super efficiency SBM; Regional difference; Rural sustainable development efficiency; Yellow river basin.
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