An empirical study on the measurement of green total factor productivity and its influencing factors in the dairy farming industry in China

To promote the harmonious development of the economy, resources, and the ecological environment, it is imperative to improve the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of the dairy farming industry (DFI) in China. In this paper, the Global Malmquist–Luenberger (GML) productivity index method based on the directional distance function was used to calculate the GTFP of the DFI in China and its three main regions from 2007 to 2017, and the generalized least squares (GLS) model was used to explore the influencing factors of the GTFP of the DFI. The results show that (1) the GTFP of dairy farming fluctuates, with an average annual growth of 0.23% from 2007 to 2017. The source of this growth mainly came from technological progress, while technical efficiency deteriorated. (2) The GTFP of different provinces and the eastern, central, and western regions was affected by carbon emissions. (3) The GTFP of the DFI in the central and western regions also decreased in turn. From 2007 to 2017, the dairy industry in the eastern, central, and western regions achieved environmentally friendly technological progress. The difference between regions is reflected in the degree of the technical efficiency recession, considering carbon emissions. (4) The five factors of breeding scale, industrial structure, breeding technology level, urbanization process, and environmental regulation have different influences on the GTFP of the DFI in China and its three main regions. Improving the GTFP of dairy farming can promote the green, efficient, and healthy development of the DFI in China