Research on Responsibility-Sharing and Compensation Scheme for Agricultural Water Pollution Transfer Embodied in China’s Inter-Provincial Trade

Agricultural transboundary water pollution induced by inter-regional trade poses a complex and pressing challenge for environmental governance. This study integrates an agricultural water pollutant emission inventory, multi-regional input–output model, responsibility-sharing framework, and ecological compensation scheme to establish the collaborative control of agriculture water pollution embodied in China’s inter-provincial trade. The findings reveal, firstly, that inter-provincial agricultural trade led to significant transfers of agricultural water pollution, predominantly flowing from economically developed provinces to less developed provinces, reflecting a mismatch between economic gains and environmental costs. Specifically, Gansu and Qinghai bear the largest agricultural water pollution impact (2.15 Kt and 3.25 Kt, respectively), while it is still a loss in terms of economic net benefits (0.21 trillion and 0.06 trillion yuan, respectively). Secondly, the economic benefit responsibility-sharing shows that for most provinces, responsibility lies between production- and consumption-based accounting and provides a feasible pathway for responsibility sharing. Third, economically developed provinces like Beijing, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang bear the largest compensation liabilities to others, with 1.60 Kt, 0.73 Kt, and 0.54 Kt, respectively. Conversely, provinces including Qinghai, Gansu, and Jiangxi require the greatest compensation inflows, at 2.55 Kt, 0.62 Kt, and 0.34 Kt, respectively. Finally, the maximum acceptable payment value for compensating provinces and the minimum acceptable compensation value for recipient provinces are identified. Our study elucidates the inter-provincial disparities in agricultural water pollution burdens and economic benefits, establishing a quantitative foundation for optimizing responsibility-sharing and compensation strategies in China, which is crucial for fostering regional cooperation in water pollution control.