Sustainability Assessment of Provincial-Level Regions in China Using Composite Sustainable Indicator

Pingtao Yi, Lu Wang, Danning Zhang and Weiwei Li
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Pingtao Yi: School of Business Administration, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110167, China
Lu Wang: School of Business Administration, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110167, China
Danning Zhang: School of Economics, Liaoning University, Shenyang 110136, China
Weiwei Li: School of Business Administration, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110167, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 19, 1-20

Abstract: Sustainability development is a core issue and policy-priority in China to meet the long-term ecological civilization and economic growth. In this paper, the sustainability of the 31 Chinese provincial-level administrative regions (provinces for short) was investigated using a composite sustainability indicator (CSI). The CSI was constructed by aggregating thirty sustainability indicators involving economic, social, and environmental dimensions hierarchically. Moreover, a piecewise mean range normalization method was developed for weakening the impact of outlier(s). The results indicate that further improvement of the provinces’ sustainability is needed, since only three provinces (accounting for 9.68%) showed better performance and development momentum, simultaneously. However, over half of the provinces showed comparatively optimistic sustainability prospect, indicating a possibility of further sustainability improvement in China under a positive and effective guidance. In terms of the individual provinces, the decline of the sustainability of Liaoning and Tianjin was significant whereas Anhui, Hunan, and Hubei showed more optimistic development prospects. For the four regions, Middle China was on the rise, the decline of Northeastern China was serious, and East China and West China showed better development, but they should also keep vigilance on the possible decline because of the decline of competitive advantages.

Keywords: sustainability assessment; composite sustainability indicator; provincial-level region; piecewise mean range normalization; dynamic ranking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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