Energy efficiency comparison amongst service industry in Chinese provinces from the perspective of heterogeneous resource endowment: Analysis using undesirable super efficiency SBM-ML model

Abstract The super efficiency slack-based measure (SBM) with undesirable outputs was used in this paper to determine the energy efficiency of the service industry in various provinces from 2007 to 2017. The different characteristics of the energy efficiency of service industry in different provinces were obtained from the perspective of heterogeneous resource endowment. The findings show that: ⅰ) China's service industry's overall energy efficiency fluctuates in a ‘W' shape. Provinces with varying resource endowments demonstrated significant variation in energy efficiency. Provinces with a high concentration of technology and energy had the highest and lowest levels, respectively, indicating an upward and downward trend. ⅱ) Energy efficiency improvements in China's service sector were primarily a result of technological advancements. Technological advancement and technical efficiency were the primary causes in technology- and labor-intensive provinces, respectively, whereas the combined effect of both factors was the primary cause in energy-intensive provinces. ⅲ) Foreign investment and environmental regulation may both contribute to the improvement of energy efficiency in the service industry, while energy structure and government intervention may work against it. Additionally, a U-shaped relationship was observed between the service industry's development level and energy efficiency. As a result, policymakers should develop targeted promotion strategies based on the resource endowment and development stage of the service industry in various provinces.