Economic Growth Target, Government Expenditure Behavior, and Cities’ Ecological Efficiency—Evidence from 284 Cities in China

As a composite indicator that incorporates economic efficiency and environmental protection, ecological efficiency is a valuable tool for measuring regional green development and accelerating regional green transformation. As the economy transitions, Chinese economic growth targets affect local governments’ behaviors, thereby impacting ecological efficiency. In this study, the ecological efficiency level of 284 cities in China was measured using the EBM-DEA method from 2007 to 2019, and the spatial exploration analysis method and the dynamic double fixed effect spatial Durbin model were applied to analyze urban ecological efficiency’s spatial correlations, impacts, and mechanisms. The conclusions are as follows: China’s urban ecological efficiency has increased over time. At the spatial level, it shows the distribution characteristics of east > northeast > middle > west. In terms of spatial agglomeration, there are typically spatial agglomerations, high–high agglomerations, and low–low agglomerations in Chinese cities’ ecological efficiency. There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth target and ecological efficiency. According to regional differences, the economic growth target in the eastern region has a U-shaped impact on ecological efficiency, while in the central, northeast, and western cities they have an inverted U-shaped effect on ecological efficiency. In terms of the impact mechanism, through the intermediary effect test, it is found that appropriate economic growth target setting can promote the proportion of energy conservation and environmental protection expenditure and fiscal science and technology expenditure. Excessive economic growth target setting can inhibit the proportion of energy conservation and environmental protection expenditure and fiscal science and technology expenditure. The proportion of energy conservation and environmental protection expenditure and fiscal science and technology expenditure can promote ecological efficiency. The enlightenment is as follows: China should weaken the economic growth target in official promotion assessment, set differentiated economic growth targets for different regions, and increase the proportion of energy conservation and environmental protection expenditure and fiscal science and technology expenditure to promote ecological efficiency.