Aggregation Effect in Carbon Footprint Accounting by the Multi-Region Input-Output Mode

Sector aggregation can influence the robustness of the results of environmentally-extended analysis using MRIO models which limits its practical application. In this paper, we examined the size of the aggregation error in carbon footprint accounting using MRIO models and tried to explore factors which influence the effect of the aggregation error by Monte-Carlo simulations using the AIO2000 Table. We found that the range of error rates is pretty high (-479, 166), which indicates that sector aggregation has large effects on the results of ecological footprint accounting using the MRIO model. By ranking top error simulations, we found that there is a high concentration over specific regions and specific sectors, indicating that these regions and sectors are more influential on the size of the aggregation error. In addition, we found a relation between carbon intensity and final demand of sectors which may potentially contribute to large aggregation errors.