Physical Input-Output Analysis and Disposals to Nature

The enormous increase in interest — in the last 2 decades — for environmental issues has led to a markedly upsurge in the collection of data. One of the new types of data sources that have become available is the physical input-output table (PIOT). The production sector in an economy distinguishes industries and the intermediate flows between the industries are measured in the same physical unit, such as billion tons (bt). This is in contrast to the usual monetary input-output tables (MIOTs) that measure the intermediate deliveries in money terms, such as billion dollars. Examples of published PIOTs can be found in Kratterl and Kratena (1990), Kratena et al. (1992), Konijn et al. (1997), Stahmer et al. (1997), Pedersen (1999), Nebbia (2000), Mäenpää (2002), and Hoekstra (2003).¹

On the one hand, PIOTs can be regarded as a natural extension of the so-called hybrid input-output tables, as far as their numerical implementation is concerned.²