This paper examines the changes in total factor productivity (TFP) of township health centers in China from 2018 to 2022, aiming to provide a policy basis for improving service efficiency. Statistical data on township health centers from 29 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) across China for the past five years (2012-2018) were obtained from the Data Website of the National Bureau of Statistics of China. The DEA Malmquist index method was employed to analyze the TFP of township health centers. The results indicate that between 2018 and 2022, the average technical efficiency of township health centers in China was 0.754, the average pure technical efficiency was 0.801, and the average scale efficiency was 0.939. The TFP change index of township health centers in China decreased by 4.9%, with the technical efficiency change index down by 4.3%, the technological change index down by 0.6%, the pure technical efficiency change index down by 1.2%, and the scale efficiency change index down by 3.1%. The average TFP change index for coastal, northeastern, central, and western regions was 0.984, 0.872, 0.944, and 0.954, respectively. The overall service efficiency in coastal regions was superior to that in the northeast, west, and central regions, with the northeast region exhibiting the lowest overall service efficiency.

Weikun Wang. Research on Service Efficiency of Township Health Centers Based on DEA-Malmquist Index. International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology (2025), Vol. 7, Issue 1: 77-84. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJFS.2025.070112.

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