How well do light-use efficiency models capture large-scale drought impacts on vegetation productivity compared with data-driven estimates?

•Five LUE models were evaluated against data-driven GPP products and ancillary data.•Data-driven models are able to reasonably well represent GPP dynamics at site levels.•The simulated GPP by LUE models reasonably responded to droughts at regional scales.•Considerable differences existed in the amplitude and phase of GPP seasonal anomalies.•LUE models consistently exhibited a likely misrepresentation of drought legacy effects.