Abstract

Under the heterogeneity of forestry production technology for different provinces and regions of China, this paper calculates the technical efficiencies and technological gap ratios of four major forest regions in China during 2005–2015, considering time and space dimensions. The study adopts a meta-frontier theoretical framework to research on the total factor productivity of forestry, its components, and growth sources. Finally, regional convergence is also tested. The results show low forestry technical efficiency in general, with diverse regional disparities. As expected, the levels of forestry technical efficiency and the technological gap ratios in the four major forest regions change under the different technology frontiers. The total factor productivity of forestry has improved slightly, driven mainly by the change in technical efficiency, although its growth sources differ across the four forest regions. The national total factor productivity shows no trend of convergence, while absolute convergence appears in all four forest regions and nationally, implying that improving technical efficiency is the key driving force for growing forestry TFP in China.