Two-stage dynamic data envelopment analysis measuring the overall efficiency and productivity changes of industry and agriculture in EU countries

Carbon emissions from industrial production affect agricultural production, and forests have the benefit of being carbon neutral. Therefore, this study adopts the dynamic network data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, takes carbon emissions as the link between industry and agriculture, and explores the production efficiency of industry and agriculture. It further incorporates forest area as a carry-over for evaluation and discusses 27 EU members' dynamic overall efficiency and productivity changes in 2014–2018. The empirical results are as follows. 1) The EU countries' industrial stage efficiency is better than their agriculture efficiency, with Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, and the Netherlands exhibiting the best efficiency performance. 2) The overall efficiencies of the Czech Republic, Portugal, and Croatia are the worst, because their misallocation of resources and excessive energy input cannot improve their output value. 3) The agricultural productivity of EU countries is better than that of industry productivity. 4) The EU has made great efforts at planting forests. 5) As energy consumption and carbon emissions are still rising, the EU still needs to do more to achieve the carbon reduction goals of the Paris Agreement and the Eu's 2030 zero carbon emissions.