Measuring air polluters’ responsibility in transboundary pollution networks

Abstract

This study proposes a new method of graph computing for environmental economics. We apply a weighted graph model that reproduces the structure of SOx emission–deposition tables. Our data apply scientific and technical data on emissions, atmospheric processes, and effects on the environment of sulfur oxides from the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program of the long-range transmission of air pollutants in Europe. Our graph metrics consider both the activity and the amount of pollution for each polluter. The results show the contribution of oxidized sulfur emitted from one country and deposited to another. The most influential node of the country-to-country blame network is tracked using indicators of centrality. Exploring options and metrics for ranking the blame for SOx pollutants, we depict the degree of the responsibility for SOx depositions in EU countries graphically. © 2017, Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies and Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature.