Inequality in Per Capita Water Availability: A Theil’s Second Measure Approach

This paper puts forward the application of Theil’s second measure in order to investigate international per capita water availability disparities. This index permits disparities to be disintegrated within and between groups of countries in a reliable way. An analysis of 188 countries for the period 1990–2012 demonstrates three observations: first, decline in per capita water availability disparities is characterized by both within-group and between-group inequality elements; second, between-group inequalities are at present the key contributor of the entire inequality scenario; and lastly, a comprehensive investigation on within-group inequalities divulges the noteworthy explanatory role played by Middle East countries towards increase in inequalities and countries pertaining to North America, Asia and Oceania towards decline in inequalities.