Usage Efficiency of Financial Poverty Alleviation Funds: An Empirical Analysis of China’s Eastern Rural Areas

Objective: The focus in this study is on how to improve the disharmony between the financial poverty alleviation investment model and the economic development efficiency. Methods: In this paper, based on the efficiency measurement principle of DEA method, an input-output model for evaluating the performance of poverty alleviation funds in counties of Shandong Province is constructed. Then, the data published by the government of 30 poverty-stricken counties in Shandong Province are selected and usedto measure the performance of poverty alleviation funds by Frontier Analyst 4.0 software according to indicators, including comprehensive efficiency analysis (CCR model), pure technical efficiency analysis (BCC model) and scale efficiency analysis (SE model). Results: (1) The average comprehensive efficiency of the use of financial poverty alleviation funds in 30 poverty-stricken counties in Shandong Province is 0.7898, of which 16 values are lower than the average;(2) Among the 30 poverty-stricken counties, the pure technical efficiency of poverty alleviation funds in 15 counties is 1, and the average value of pure technical efficiency is 0.9670, while the pure technical efficiency of poverty alleviation funds in 10 counties is lower than the average level; (3) From the perspective of average scale efficiency, the average scale efficiency of the use of financial poverty alleviation funds in 30 poverty-stricken counties involved in the study is 0.8168, and the use of poverty alleviation funds in more than half of counties shows increasing returns on scale. Conclusion: In poverty-stricken counties, the overall efficiency of the use of financial poverty alleviation funds is not high, among which the pure technical performance of input and output of financial poverty alleviation funds is relatively low. Therefore, under the same investment, more detailed and differentiated capital investment projects should be built to improve the efficiency of resource investment. For some counties with declining returns to scale, poverty alleviation projects with different characteristics can be added to improve the overall efficiency of poverty alleviation funds in counties.