Socioeconomic impacts of hydropower development on the Yibin–Chongqing section, upper reaches of the Yangtze River

• A multi-regional CGE model is specially built for Yibin–Chongqing section of Yangtze.
• The enormous economic benefits that can be brought about by hydropower development.
• CGE is a new idea for quantitatively assessing the impact of energies development.

The aim of this paper is to quantify the socioeconomic impacts of hydropower development to reflect its positive functions from multiple perspectives and dimensions. By applying the multi-regional Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to a case study of the Yibin–Chongqing section along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the analysis shows that hydropower development has outstanding benefits for the regional economy and livelihood improvement, as proved by various indicators including consumption, investment, GDP, employment, and income. Meanwhile, application of the CGE model provides an effective way to quantitatively assess the socioeconomic impact of hydropower and other clean energy development.