Assessment of Lexicographic Minimax Allocations of Blue and Green Water Footprints in the Yangtze River Economic Belt Based on Land, Population, and Economy

Gang Liu, Fan Hu, Yixin Wang and Huimin Wang
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Gang Liu: State Key Laboratory of Hydrology of Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Fan Hu: Institute of Management Science, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Yixin Wang: Institute of Management Science, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Huimin Wang: State Key Laboratory of Hydrology of Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: To assess different impacts of land, population and economy factors on the lexicographic minimax optimal allocation of blue and green water footprints, a comprehensive discriminant rule is constructed in this paper based on the Gini coefficient and Theil entropy index. The proposed rule is employed to estimate the influence of the aforesaid factors (land, population and economy) on the corresponding allocation schemes from a fairness perspective. To demonstrate its applicability, the proposed approach is applied to a water resources allocation study for 11 provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). The results indicate that: (1) the economy-based lexicographic allocation of water footprints (LAWF) is more equalitarian for the provinces with high water footprint quotas. The land area-based LAWF is more equalitarian for the provinces with low water footprint quotas. The population-based LAWF is more equalitarian for the provinces with medium water footprint quotas. (2) The contribution of intra-regional variation in the population-based LAWF scheme is the largest of the three schemes. The inter-regional variation contributed the largest in the land area-based LAWF scheme. (3) Two synthetic schemes which integrate multiple factors among land area, economy and population are more equalitarian than the three single-factor schemes. Compared with the original situation which is an equalitarian but ineffective allocation, the two synthetic schemes have greater effect on the improvement of the supply-demand balance of water resources carrying capacity. Therefore, the defect of the population, economy and land area factors acting alone should be resolved by designing a weighting system, in order to optimize the allocation of water resources.

Keywords: water footprint; lexicographic minimax allocation; Gini coefficient; Theil entropy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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