Comprehensive Regional Eco-Efficiency Analysis Based on Data Envelopment Analysis: The Case of Polish Regions

Summary This article examines the concept of eco-efficiency at a regional level as an approach to promote the sustainable transformation of regions, using the regions of Poland as an example. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) method—the input-oriented Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes (CCR) model—was chosen as the eco-efficiency analysis tool because of its high capability to measure the regional eco-efficiency. The research process was divided into two stages. First, the chosen instruments of mathematical statistics (e.g., Hellwig's method and coefficient of determination) were applied to ensure an appropriate combination of environmental and economic indicators of the eco-efficiency equation. Next, the CCR model was used to calculate the eco-efficiency scores. The results of the study have revealed that the regions of Lubuskie, Mazowieckie, Śląskie, Warminsko-Maurskie, and Wielkopolskie are relatively eco-efficient, whereas the remaining regions use too many environmental resources in relation to the produced value of goods and services. Six of the eleven eco-inefficient regions in Poland have increasing returns to scale, that is, the usage of natural resources connected with the negative impact upon the environment rises slower than the values of goods and services. Notwithstanding, it is beneficiary from the perspective of sustainability. The obtained research results are a valuable source of management information for the creation of regional environmental protection strategies and a basis for searching for the causes of eco-inefficiency.