Integrated assessment model

Nicholas M. Holden

Chapter 94 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, 2026, pp 350-352 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Integrated assessment modeling is one of many tools used for integrated assessment. An integrated assessment model (IAM) is a scientific model that links sub-models of the environment with sub-models representing the economy, industry, and society. These models bring together multiple expertise to create evidence for decision-making. They are not designed for advancing scientific understanding per se. There are two main types of IAM: aggregated cost-benefit models, typically used to determine whether the cost of an intervention is worthwhile, and process-based models, used to evaluate the likely effectiveness of policies and strategic interventions. A shortcoming of various prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) methods has been the difficulty of using background data that represent what will happen in the future. IAMs offer LCA practitioners the ability to model technologies in future contexts by providing background data for different future scenarios, something that is likely to be more important in the future.

Keywords: Aggregated cost-benefit model; Process-based model; Scenarios; Dynamic forecast (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035309887
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