Spatial correlation analysis of comprehensive efficiency of the photovoltaic poverty alleviation policy - Evidence from 110 counties in China

The photovoltaic poverty alleviation (PV-PA) policy is a promising policy innovation to achieve sustainable development in China. Based on first-hand field investigation data of 18 prefecture-level cities and 110 counties in China's Henan Province, this paper first evaluated the efficiency of PV-PA policy and analyzed its spatial correlation characteristics by adopting data envelopment analysis, spatial autocorrelation analysis and social network analysis methods. The results show that: (1) the comprehensive efficiency of the PV-PA policy in Henan Province is good, and that of the prefecture-level is better than the county-level, with great differences; (2) comprehensive efficiency of the PV-PA policy shows a significant spatial agglomeration phenomenon at the county-level, and regional development imbalance exists; and (3) PV-PA policy network linkages at prefecture-level are relatively weak. Finally, this paper makes policy recommendations for optimizing project scale, promoting regional balanced development, strengthening supervision and management, and enhancing the cooperation between policymakers.