Convergence Analysis on Energy Utilization Efficiency in Electric Power Industry of China——Based on Malmquist Index Model by Using of the Regional Panel Data

By using of Malmquist index method, the energy utilization efficiency in electric power industry within the period from 2001 to 2008 is calculated in this paper, and it is divided into technological progress index, the change of pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency. Then characteristics of regional difference and trends in energy utilization efficiency of six regions in China are also analyzed by using of β convergence model. The research shows that technological progress is the main factor that determines the improvement of energy utilization efficiency. To some extent, the variety of pure technical efficiency can improve energy efficiency, but the effect is not so significant. During sample period, the scale efficiency is declined to some extent, which shows that power industry has not reached the long term optimal scale. From the β convergence test for energy utilization efficiency of six regions in China, we can see that energy utilization efficiency in electric power industry of the five regions in China is in convergence state, and the convergence speed of East China power is the fastest.