Environmental efficiency of Japanese regions before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake
Natural disasters can significantly impact environmental and economic performance through various channels, including infrastructure damage, supply chain disruptions, and changes in energy systems. While previous studies have examined isolated aspects of the Great East Japan Earthquake's (GEJE)...
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Elsevier
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Sustainable Futures |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825006112 |
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| author | Satoshi Honma Yoshiaki Ushifusa Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary Soyoka Okamura Lilu Vandercamme |
| author_facet | Satoshi Honma Yoshiaki Ushifusa Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary Soyoka Okamura Lilu Vandercamme |
| author_sort | Satoshi Honma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Natural disasters can significantly impact environmental and economic performance through various channels, including infrastructure damage, supply chain disruptions, and changes in energy systems. While previous studies have examined isolated aspects of the Great East Japan Earthquake's (GEJE) environmental impact, a comprehensive analysis of regional environmental efficiency changes before and after this unprecedented disaster remains unexplored. This study employs a slacks-based measure data envelopment analysis model to evaluate the environmental and energy efficiency of 47 Japanese regions from 2005 to 2017. The model incorporates seven inputs (labor, capital, coal, oil, gas, renewables, and electricity), one desirable output (gross regional product), and four undesirable outputs (CO2, SOx, NOx, and dust). The study's results indicate that the mean environmental efficiency deteriorated from 0.529 in 2005 and 0.518 in 2008 (before GEJE), to 0.501 in 2011 and 0.464 in 2014 (after GEJE), but then improved to 0.527 in 2017. The earthquake severely damaged Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima in the Tohoku region, but these areas were inefficient even before the disaster. Kanto environmental efficiency deteriorated from unity in 2005 and 2008 to 0.839 in 2008 and 0.698 in 2011, then improved back to unity in 2017. The study also presents potential reduction ratios for energy and undesirable outputs. Panel Tobit regression analysis reveals that gross regional product per capita and tertiary industry share positively correlate with environmental efficiency, suggesting that economic development and service sector growth contribute to environmental improvement. These findings provide important insights for building environmentally resilient regional economies in disaster-prone areas. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ab71d132d6324e8a99632771f91aa61d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2666-1888 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sustainable Futures |
| spelling | doaj-art-ab71d132d6324e8a99632771f91aa61d2025-08-20T02:45:27ZengElsevierSustainable Futures2666-18882025-12-011010104710.1016/j.sftr.2025.101047Environmental efficiency of Japanese regions before and after the Great East Japan EarthquakeSatoshi Honma0Yoshiaki Ushifusa1Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary2Soyoka Okamura3Lilu Vandercamme4School of Political Science and Economics, Tokai University, Japan; Tokai University Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability (TRIES), Tokai University, Tokyo, Japan; Corresponding author.Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, The University of Kitakyushu, JapanTokai University Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability (TRIES), Tokai University, Tokyo, JapanGraduate School of Economics, The University of Tokyo, JapanGraduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, JapanNatural disasters can significantly impact environmental and economic performance through various channels, including infrastructure damage, supply chain disruptions, and changes in energy systems. While previous studies have examined isolated aspects of the Great East Japan Earthquake's (GEJE) environmental impact, a comprehensive analysis of regional environmental efficiency changes before and after this unprecedented disaster remains unexplored. This study employs a slacks-based measure data envelopment analysis model to evaluate the environmental and energy efficiency of 47 Japanese regions from 2005 to 2017. The model incorporates seven inputs (labor, capital, coal, oil, gas, renewables, and electricity), one desirable output (gross regional product), and four undesirable outputs (CO2, SOx, NOx, and dust). The study's results indicate that the mean environmental efficiency deteriorated from 0.529 in 2005 and 0.518 in 2008 (before GEJE), to 0.501 in 2011 and 0.464 in 2014 (after GEJE), but then improved to 0.527 in 2017. The earthquake severely damaged Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima in the Tohoku region, but these areas were inefficient even before the disaster. Kanto environmental efficiency deteriorated from unity in 2005 and 2008 to 0.839 in 2008 and 0.698 in 2011, then improved back to unity in 2017. The study also presents potential reduction ratios for energy and undesirable outputs. Panel Tobit regression analysis reveals that gross regional product per capita and tertiary industry share positively correlate with environmental efficiency, suggesting that economic development and service sector growth contribute to environmental improvement. These findings provide important insights for building environmentally resilient regional economies in disaster-prone areas.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825006112Environmental efficiencyData envelopment analysisFukushima nuclear disasterJapan |
| spellingShingle | Satoshi Honma Yoshiaki Ushifusa Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary Soyoka Okamura Lilu Vandercamme Environmental efficiency of Japanese regions before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake Sustainable Futures Environmental efficiency Data envelopment analysis Fukushima nuclear disaster Japan |
| title | Environmental efficiency of Japanese regions before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake |
| title_full | Environmental efficiency of Japanese regions before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake |
| title_fullStr | Environmental efficiency of Japanese regions before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental efficiency of Japanese regions before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake |
| title_short | Environmental efficiency of Japanese regions before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake |
| title_sort | environmental efficiency of japanese regions before and after the great east japan earthquake |
| topic | Environmental efficiency Data envelopment analysis Fukushima nuclear disaster Japan |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825006112 |
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