A critical review of the current research mainstreams and the influencing factors of green total factor productivity

The current world economy needs to undergo a green transformation. Green total factor productivity provides the basis for judging whether a country or region can attain long-term sustainable development. However, there is little research into the factors that influence green total factor productivity and this has become an obstacle in the transition to a greener economy. On filtering relevant articles and interviews data collected from 2009 to 2019, open decoding, spindle decoding, and selective decoding are carried out to classify research conducted into green total factor productivity. From this analysis, cutting-edge research and knowledge gaps in green total factor productivity are identified. Also, an influencing factor model of green total factor productivity is built. Findings suggest that technical, economic, and government are the three main research streams involved in this transformation process. In particular, technology plays a decisive role, economy plays a guaranteeing role, and government plays a regulatory role. Moreover, the impact of these factors cannot be isolated, as each influence and mediate the other two. Results from this study will help further popularize green total factor productivity and provide a new starting point for reducing energy consumption and environmental pollution.