Considering the effects of imprecision and uncertainty in ecological footprint estimation: An approach in a fuzzy environment

This paper demonstrates the development of the Ecological Footprint within a fuzzy environment. The approach taken provides a means to understand the impacts of imprecision and uncertainty in the input-output framework, which forms a cornerstone of many recently constructed Footprint estimates. The paper uses, as a basis, an example of Footprint construction presented in the paper of Bicknell et al. [Bicknell, K.B., Ball, R.J., Cullen, R., Bigsby, H.R., 1998. New methodology for the Ecological Footprint with an application to the New Zealand economy. Ecological Economics 27, 149-160]. The analysis considers levels of fuzziness surrounding the technical coefficients in the underlying input-output framework. The results presented fully exposit the effect of the defined analysis, including the presentation of; fuzzy sector Ecological Footprints and overall fuzzy Ecological Footprint. Accompanying these findings, the fuzzy versions of certain moments associated with these Footprints are also presented, namely possibilistic mean and variance. The findings contribute to the elucidation of the potential policy impacts afforded when acknowledging imprecision and uncertainty in the data used in estimating Ecological Footprints. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.