Innovation Efficiency and Its Influencing Factors in China’s New Energy Enterprises: An Empirical Analysis

Against the backdrop of global energy transition and sustainable development, advancing the new energy industry has become a critical pathway for optimizing energy structures and achieving the dual carbon goals. However, while China’s new energy sector has experienced rapid growth, it has also exposed a series of challenges, including insufficient innovation momentum, irrational resource allocation, and low conversion rates of R&D outcomes. To delve into the root causes and propose improvement pathways, this study selected 76 listed new energy enterprises from 2021 to 2023 as samples. It comprehensively employed the DEA-BCC model, Malmquist productivity index, and Tobit regression model to conduct empirical analysis across three dimensions: static, dynamic, and influencing factors. The findings revealed: firstly, during the study period, overall static efficiency remained low, with only about 32.90% of enterprises operating efficiently. Efficiency decomposition indicated that low and unstable pure technical efficiency constrained overall efficiency gains. In contrast, while scale efficiency was relatively high, its growth was sluggish, and some enterprises exhibited significant scale irrelevance. Secondly, dynamic total factor productivity exhibited fluctuating growth primarily driven by technological progress. However, declining technical efficiency—particularly the deterioration of scale efficiency—indicated that while the new energy industry advanced technologically and expanded in scale, its management capabilities had not kept pace. This mismatch among the three factors trapped the industry in a “high investment, low efficiency” dilemma. Thirdly, regression analysis of influencing factors indicated that corporate governance and market competitiveness were pivotal to innovation efficiency: the proportion of independent directors and revenue growth rate exerted significant positive impacts, while equity concentration showed a significant negative effect. Firm size had a weaker influence, and government support did not demonstrate a significant positive impact. Accordingly, this paper proposes pathways to enhance innovation efficiency in new energy enterprises, including optimizing corporate governance structures, formulating differentiated subsidy policies, and improving the innovation ecosystem. The findings of this study not only provide empirical references for the innovative development of the new energy industry but also offer theoretical support for relevant policy formulation.