| Total factor productivity(TFP)studies are important for understanding and assessing the overall efficiency and competitiveness of a country’s economy.In China,where increasing total factor productivity serves as a driving force for high-quality development,TFP studies can help assess the drivers of China’s economic growth and the challenges it may face in the future.In addition,TFP research can help policy makers identify opportunities to improve productivity and enhance national competitiveness.At the city level,total factor productivity refers to a city’s level of productivity,which is the result of a combination of human capital,physical capital,technological progress,and other factors.Studying urban total factor productivity can help to understand the development and influencing factors of urban economies,however,total factor productivity measurements at the city level are still in the minority in China.In view of this,in this paper,total factor productivity is measured using the C-D production function and DEA-Malmquist index based on the estimation of capital stock in the scope of cities,and total factor productivity measurement and analysis at the city level is studied by carrying out the following tasks: first,literature is reviewed.In this paper,the concepts of capital stock,total factor productivity and the current status of domestic and international research are explained.Second,in terms of data selection and processing,this paper defines the concepts and selects the processing methods for the four indicators of capital stock involved in total factor productivity and its measurement,and collects relevant data from China Statistical Yearbook,China Urban Statistical Yearbook,China Statistical Yearbook of Fixed Asset Investment,and provincial or local statistical yearbooks,etc.,on the basis of which the data are processed and applied.Then,after the descriptive statistical analysis of the capital stock estimation results,the production function test,capital-output ratio test and convergence test are conducted to judge the validity of the capital stock estimation results.Finally,the estimated capital stock is used to measure the total factor productivity and analyze the results and convergence using the Cobb-Douglas production function and DEA-Malmquist index,respectively.The following main conclusions are drawn from the analysis:(1)According to the results obtained from the production function test,it is found that the ratio of labor to capital coefficients is larger in the municipal districts compared to the city level,indicating that the municipal districts have more advantages in utilizing capital and labor,which leads to a higher level of overall economic development.(2)The capital stock is tested for capital-output ratios and it is found that the capital-output ratios obtained from the two sets of capital stock estimates for the city and the city district are generally on the rise,and the capital-output ratio for the city district is higher than the capital-output ratio for the city.Comparing the results with those of previous studies,we find that the overall trend of the capital-output ratio is generally consistent with the results predicted by previous scholars,which are all on an upward trend.(3)After using the two measures of total factor productivity,it is found that TFP is generally on the rise,indicating that total factor productivity in Chinese cities is generally on the rise,but how steadily it grows needs to be considered.(4)Based on the Cobb-Douglas production function and the DEA-Malmquist index method,it can be seen that the city-wide TFP is higher than that of the municipal districts.In analyzing the development differences of provincial capitals in the central and eastern regions,it is found that the highest and lowest total factor productivity of provincial capitals in the central,eastern,and western regions are Wuhan and Taiyuan,Guangzhou and Haikou,and Chengdu and Xining,respectively.(5)In the convergence analysis related to capital stock and total factor productivity,it is concluded that the coefficients of variation of both citywide and municipal districts are decreasing,i.e.,they respond to the absolute convergence,which leads to the conclusion that the absolute differences of fixed capital stock and total factor productivity of cities are tending to decrease. |
