Study on serviceability and efficiency of seven pilot carbon trading exchanges in China

Carbon trading has become a major innovation for many countries to cope with climate change, where in China the 7 pilot markets have been running for over 6 years with different performances shown. Being the actual venue where buyers and sellers trade carbon permits, how well and efficient a carbon trading exchange is designed directly affects whether the market can fulfill its environmental purpose. This paper selects 13 sub-indicators from three dimensions of main settings, risk prevention & control, and regional cooperation to evaluate the serviceability of the 7 exchanges in pilot carbon markets in China. Using which as input indicator and market operational effect as output indicator that represented by 5 sub-indicators including percentage of valid trading days, dispersion of trading volume etc., the study attempts to analyze how the serviceability of exchanges affect market operation. By applying the SUP-CCR-DEA (Super-efficiency CCR Data Envelope Analyze) model on 7 exchanges' trading data from 2013 to 2017, the study finds that the serviceability of the exchanges varies significantly, with Shanghai being the best and Shenzhen ranks the second. Obvious stratification is detected but with small changes during the four years observed, differences in main settings and transaction management system being the primary cause. It is found that the serviceability has a direct and significant impact on the market performance for all 6 exchanges except for Tianjin, and for those top-ranked exchanges, strong enforcement system and legally binding agreements contribute to their high service efficiency.