IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v94y2013icp78-85.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

International trade of scarce water

Author

Listed:
  • Lenzen, Manfred
  • Moran, Daniel
  • Bhaduri, Anik
  • Kanemoto, Keiichiro
  • Bekchanov, Maksud
  • Geschke, Arne
  • Foran, Barney

Abstract

Recent analyses of the evolution and structure of trade in virtual water revealed that the number of trade connections and volume of virtual water trade have more than doubled over the past two decades, and that developed countries increasingly import water embodied in goods from the rest of the world to alleviate pressure on domestic water resources. At the same time, as demand continues to increase and climate change threatens to alter hydrological cycles, water scarcity is a growing problem. Does research into virtual water trade need to consider water scarcity and differentiate flows out of water-scarce regions from flows out of water-abundant regions? Previous studies sum and compare virtual water volumes originating in countries experiencing vastly different degrees of water scarcity. We therefore incorporate water scarcity into an assessment of global virtual water flows. We use input–output analysis to include indirect virtual water flows. We find that the structure of global virtual water networks changes significantly after adjusting for water scarcity.

Suggested Citation

  • Lenzen, Manfred & Moran, Daniel & Bhaduri, Anik & Kanemoto, Keiichiro & Bekchanov, Maksud & Geschke, Arne & Foran, Barney, 2013. "International trade of scarce water," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 78-85.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:94:y:2013:i:c:p:78-85
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.06.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800913002176
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.06.018?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Kumar & O. Singh, 2005. "Virtual Water in Global Food and Water Policy Making: Is There a Need for Rethinking?," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 19(6), pages 759-789, December.
    2. van Oel, P.R. & Mekonnen, M.M. & Hoekstra, A.Y., 2009. "The external water footprint of the Netherlands: Geographically-explicit quantification and impact assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 82-92, November.
    3. Ansink, Erik, 2010. "Refuting two claims about virtual water trade," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 2027-2032, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guangyao Deng & Liujuan Wang & Yanan Song, 2015. "Effect of Variation of Water-Use Efficiency on Structure of Virtual Water Trade - Analysis Based on Input–Output Model," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(8), pages 2947-2965, June.
    2. Fracasso, Andrea & Sartori, Martina & Schiavo, Stefano, 2014. "Determinants of virtual water flows in the Mediterranean," MPRA Paper 60500, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Marta Antonelli & Martina Sartori, 2014. "Unfolding the Potential of the Virtual Water Concept. What is still under debate?," IEFE Working Papers 74, IEFE, Center for Research on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    4. Fracasso, Andrea, 2014. "A gravity model of virtual water trade," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 215-228.
    5. Alina Petronela Alexoaei & Valentin Cojanu & Cristiana-Ioana Coman, 2021. "On Sustainable Consumption: The Implications of Trade in Virtual Water for the EU’s Food Security," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-19, October.
    6. Mohamad Afkhami & Thomas Bassetti & Hamed Ghoddusi & Filippo Pavesi, 2018. "Virtual Water Trade: The Implications of Capital Scarcity," Working Papers 03/2018, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    7. Lizhi Xing & Wen Chen, 2023. "Structural Characteristics and Evolutionary Drivers of Global Virtual Water Trade Networks: A Stochastic Actor-Oriented Model for 2000–2015," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-20, February.
    8. Gawel, Erik & Bernsen, Kristina, 2011. "What is wrong with virtual water trading?," UFZ Discussion Papers 1/2011, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    9. Lenzen, Manfred & Bhaduri, Anik & Moran, Daniel & Kanemoto, Keiichiro & Bekchanov, Maksud & Geschke, Arne & Foran, Barney, 2012. "The role of scarcity in global virtual water flows," Discussion Papers 133478, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    10. Erik Gawel & Kristina Bernsen, 2013. "What is Wrong with Virtual Water Trading? On the Limitations of the Virtual Water Concept," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 31(1), pages 168-181, February.
    11. Zhang, Chao & Anadon, Laura Diaz, 2014. "A multi-regional input–output analysis of domestic virtual water trade and provincial water footprint in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 159-172.
    12. Delbourg, Esther & Dinar, Shlomi, 2020. "The globalization of virtual water flows: Explaining trade patterns of a scarce resource," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    13. Fu, YiCheng & Zhao, Jinyong & Wang, Chengli & Peng, Wenqi & Wang, Qi & Zhang, Chunling, 2018. "The virtual Water flow of crops between intraregional and interregional in mainland China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 204-213.
    14. Cazcarro, I. & Hoekstra, A.Y. & Sánchez Chóliz, J., 2014. "The water footprint of tourism in Spain," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 90-101.
    15. Kastner, Thomas & Kastner, Michael & Nonhebel, Sanderine, 2011. "Tracing distant environmental impacts of agricultural products from a consumer perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 1032-1040, April.
    16. Reimer, Jeffrey J., 2012. "On the economics of virtual water trade," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 135-139.
    17. Sehgal, Shaina & Babu, Suresh, 2021. "Economic Transformation of the Nicobar Islands Post-tsunami: A Material Import–Export Analysis," Ecology, Economy and Society - the INSEE Journal, Indian Society of Ecological Economics (INSEE), vol. 4(02), July.
    18. Berrittella, Maria & Rehdanz, Katrin & Tol, Richard S.J., 2006. "The Economic Impact of the South-North Water Transfer Project in China: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis," Climate Change Modelling and Policy Working Papers 12021, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    19. María Jesús Beltrán & Esther Velázquez, 2011. "Del metabolismo social al metabolismo hídrico," Documentos de Trabajo de la Asociación de Economía Ecológica en España 01_2011, Asociación de Economía Ecológica en España.
    20. Luis Santos Pereira, 2017. "Water, Agriculture and Food: Challenges and Issues," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(10), pages 2985-2999, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:94:y:2013:i:c:p:78-85. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.