Integrating hesitant multiplicative preferences and best‐worst method into the graph model for conflict resolution with applications to water resources conflict in the Yellow River Basin

Uneven distributions of water resources upstream and downstream in the Yellow River Basin, along with outdated measures for water resource management and protection, have led to severe water resource conflicts. The prerequisite for using a graph model for conflict resolution (GMCR) to solve water resource conflicts in the Yellow River Basin is obtaining a true and reliable preference ranking for each decision-maker (DM), which can be used to carry out conflict analysis. However, the traditional preference acquisition method of GMCR only considers decision situations where DMs have simple preferences. To overcome the above-described shortcoming, this study considers a widely used multi-criteria decision-making method for GMCR to characterize the uncertainty of DMs. Specifically, within GMCR, a hesitant multiplicative best–worst method (HMBWM) is constructed based on hesitant multiplicative preference relations (HMPRs). Based on this, a set of stability definitions called hesitant multiplicative stability was constructed in GMCR with uncertainty. Finally, to ensure the effectiveness and practicality of GMCR with HMPRs, we select water resource conflicts in the Yellow River Basin as the research context for conflict analysis. The hesitant multiplicative stability analysis results provide effective policy recommendations for the sustainable utilization of water resources and for protecting the ecological environment of the Yellow River Basin.