Comparative analysis of embodied liabilities using an inter-industrial process model: gasoline- vs. electro-powered vehicles

We developed a model of economy-wide production systems by incorporating a material balance concept into the standard input-output framework. This int er-industrial process model represents the physical flow of materials throu ghout the industrial network and thus is able to address the entire process involved with the production of a target product according to its material content. The model, which is based on some physically allowable assumption s, was calibrated using the available input-output coefficients for aggrega ted processes (sectors). We used detailed data on environmentally hazardous emissions and labour requirements for each sector to analyse the liabiliti es of substitutable products in terms of different factors, origins, and st ages of the inter-industrial process network. To empirically examine the mo del, we applied it to analyse the production of a popular gasoline-powered vehicle and an electro-powered vehicle. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.