MAINTAINING THE BALANCE BETWEEN PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION IN ECOLOGICAL EFFICIENCY ASSESSMENT: EVIDENCE FROM OECD COUNTRIES

Enhancing ecological efficiency stands out as a crucial avenue to realize carbon emission reduction without compromising economic and social development. This study introduces a fairness-concern ecological efficiency evaluation model to address the overestimation of efficiency values in traditional models with maintaining the balance between production activities and environmental conservation during the process of ecological efficiency measurement. The theoretical model is applied to 28 OECD countries, and reveals a general ecological efficiency for them during 2013 to 2017. The efficiency value assessments presented herein offer policymakers valuable insights for enhancing efficiency based on diverse preferences.