Capital misallocation, technological innovation, and green development efficiency: empirical analysis based on China provincial panel data.

The study aims to analyze the impacts of capital misallocation and technological innovation on green development efficiency in China by using the panel data from 2000 to 2018. We employ the Super-SBM model to evaluate green development efficiency and use the system generalized method of moments (GMM) for empirical estimation. The results suggest that capital misallocation has a significant inhibitory effect on green development efficiency. Moreover, capital misallocation restrains technological innovation, which plays an important role in improving green development efficiency. Further research on the effect of regional heterogeneity indicates that the negative impact of capital misallocation on green development efficiency is more significant in the central and western regions, while the effect is not significant in the eastern region. Our findings provide useful policy implications for improving green development efficiency in China.