Identifying priority areas for European resource policies: a MRIO-based material footprint assessment

Stefan Giljum (), Hanspeter Wieland (), Stephan Lutter (), Martin Bruckner (), Richard Wood (), Arnold Tukker () and Konstantin Stadler ()
Additional contact information
Stefan Giljum: Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU)
Hanspeter Wieland: Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU)
Stephan Lutter: Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU)
Martin Bruckner: Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU)
Richard Wood: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Arnold Tukker: Leiden University
Konstantin Stadler: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Journal of Economic Structures, 2016, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-24

Abstract: Abstract In the context of the transformation toward a “green economy,” issues related to natural resource use have rapidly increased in importance in European and international policy debates. The large number of studies applying economy-wide material flow analysis so far mostly produced aggregated national indicators, making the results difficult to connect to policies, which are often designed for single sectors or consumption areas. This paper provides a detailed assessment of the composition of EU’s material footprint in its global context, aiming at identifying the main product groups contributing to overall material consumption and specifying the geographical sources for the raw materials required to satisfy EU’s final demand. Based on multi-regional input–output (MRIO) modeling, we apply production layer decomposition to assess supply chains and their structural changes from 1995 to 2011. The global MRIO database used in this study is EXIOBASE 3, which disaggregates 200 products and 163 industries, of which 33 represent material extraction sectors. By that means, we increase the level of detail to a degree where policies can more easily connect to. We find that the generally growing material footprint of the EU was characterized by a dramatic shift regarding the origin of raw materials, with the share of materials extracted within the EU territory falling from 68 % in 1995 to 35 % in 2011. In 2011, raw materials extracted in China to produce exports to the EU already contributed an equal share to EU’s material footprint as material extraction within the EU itself. Import dependency is most critical for the material group of metal ores, with only 13 % of all metals required as inputs to EU final demand stemming from within the EU. Regarding product composition, construction was confirmed as the most important sector contributing to the material footprint, followed by the group of manufacturing products based on biomass. Materials embodied in service sector activities together contributed a quarter to the total material footprint in 2011, making services an important, but currently disregarded area for European resource policies. We also find that supply chain structures became more complex over time, with a growing part located outside the EU territory.

Keywords: Material footprint; Multi-regional input–output analysis; Production layer decomposition; Supply chains; Resource policies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s40008-016-0048-5 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:jecstr:v:5:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1186_s40008-016-0048-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/40008

DOI: 10.1186/s40008-016-0048-5

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Structures is currently edited by Shigemi Kagawa and Kazuhiko Nishimura

More articles in Journal of Economic Structures from Springer, Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().