Evaluation of Water Environment Performance Based on a DPSIR-SBM-Tobit Model

Abstract

Environmental problems - specifically relating to water - have become the key factors restricting sustainable development. To evaluate the performance of water environment, this study takes 31 provinces in China as the research area and constructs a water environment performance evaluation index system based on a DPSIR framework (Drivers, Pressures, State, Impact and Response). The undesirable output slack measure model (SBM) is used to calculate the water environment performance of 31 provinces from 2005 to 2017. According to the study, the performance of the water environment in China shows a trend of decline, and the overall performance is low. The water environment performance in different provinces shows obvious differences. The Tobit model is then introduced to analyze the influence of indicators on water environment efficiency. The driving force indicators have significant negative effects on water environment performance. The pressure indicators have significant positive effects on the water environment performance. The state indicators play a significant role in promoting the improvement of water environment performance. With regard to the impact indicators, both industrial added value water consumption and GDP growth rate have significant negative effects on water environment performance. The impact of different response measures on water environment performance is inconsistent.