This paper illustrates the results of two environmentally extended input-output applications base... more This paper illustrates the results of two environmentally extended input-output applications based on environmental-economic accounts concerning the attribution of environmental flows to final demand. First, total (direct and indirect) GHG emissions of the Italian vertically integrated industries from 1995 to 2008 are presented, including emissions avoided thanks to final and intermediate imports. In this case, the classical IO domestic technology assumption is conveniently integrated with supplementary data in consideration of the inexistence or non-representativeness of some primary industries in Italy. Then, estimates of the Italian material flows in terms of Raw Material Equivalents (RME) for the period 2000-2010 are presented building on the ongoing Eurostat RME project. RME indicators provide a valuable methodological improvement with respect to the current EW-MFA aggregate indicators, as they overcome the asymmetry between the heterogeneous parts by which the indicators currently in use are produced (flows from nature and traded flows). In order to derive such estimates, the environmental-economic accountingframework is fully exploited: the link between direct and indirect demand for raw materials on the one hand, and the final use of products on the other hand, is established through Leontiefs inter-industry interdependence model. The paper also proposes an in-depth analysis of the possible use of demand-based measures in the derivation of productivity indicators, focussing on resource productivity. In a policy setting where indirectflows are not neglected, raising carbon or resource productivity by transferring abroad of potential environmental burden is recognised as not being environmentally effective, i. e. as not leading to a reduction of pressures on a global scale. Moreover, we argue that the indicators used to measure productivity should use figures from National Accounts and from Environmental Satellite Accounts coherently.В статье представлены результаты расчетов двух вариантов применения модели «затраты-выпуск», учитывающей экологическую составляющую и основанной на эколого-экономических счетах, отражающих включение экологических потоков в конечный спрос. Во-первых, представлен общий объем выбросов (как прямых, так и непрямых) парниковых газов вертикально интегрированных промышленных отраслей Италии за период с 1995 по 2008 г., включая и те выбросы, которые не были произведены по причине импорта продуктов конечного и промежуточного использования. В этом случае классическая модель "затраты-выпуск", предполагающая учет отечественной технологии, хорошо интегрирована с дополнительными данными, учитывающими фактически не существующие или не представленные в Италии отрасли промышленности. Кроме того, даны оценки материальных потоков в Италии, а именно сырьевых эквивалентов, за период с 2000 по 2010 г., построенные в рамках реализации текущего проекта Евростата. Использование показателей сырьевых эквивалентов оказывает положительное влияние на методологию расчета агрегированных показателей текущих счетов потоков материалов в масштабах экономики (СПМ- МЭ), так как благодаря им преодолевается асимметрия между разнородными частями, на основе которых в настоящее время строятся эти агрегированные показатели (природные источники и потоки торгуемых товаров). Для получения такого рода оценок необходимо в полной мере использовать систему эколого-экономических счетов: связь между прямым и косвенным спросом на сырье, с одной стороны, и конечным использованием товаров - с другой, устанавливается через модель межотраслевого баланса Леонтьева. В статье также предложен углубленный анализ возможности использования измерений на основе спроса для построения показателей продуктивности, в частности показателей ресурсной продуктивности. Делается вывод о том, что политика, в которой учитываются непрямые потоки, а углеродная или ресурсная продуктивность повышается путем перемещения за границу потенциальной экологической нагрузки, является экологически неэффективной, так как не приводит к снижению воздействия на окружающую среду в глобальном масштабе. Авторы также утверждают, что для показателей, применяемых для измерения продуктивности, следует использовать согласованные данные из национальных счетов и сателлитных экологических счетов
The debate on sustainable development is mainly focused, in Italy, on issues related to the inter... more The debate on sustainable development is mainly focused, in Italy, on issues related to the interrelationships between the natural system and the economic system. This occurs both in the sphere of political discussion and in the context of related statistical work.
Eco-efficiency in industry and science, Oct 4, 2013
This article argues in favour of including a drastic increase of natural resources use efficiency... more This article argues in favour of including a drastic increase of natural resources use efficiency (RE) among the primary goals of society, with a higher priority level than that of increasing labour productivity (LP). This need is connected to that for a change of the way we look at natural resources (NR) use as well as at its final results. This change of perspective has impact on the very definition of RE. Indeed, RE should not be identified with resource productivity (RP), as RP expresses nothing more than the efficiency with which NR are used in production, regardless to the well-being implications of how production takes place, and of which “needs” does it satisfy. RE is thought in this article as of a more general ability to generate socially desirable results from NR use. The narrow-minded identification of the desirable effects of NR use with production’s economic value – represented by GDP in the numerator of RP – implies an inherently un-solvable trade-off between saving what remains of nature and keeping high living standards. A drastic reduction of NR use is necessary for sustainability; as a consequence dematerialisation should be an overarching goal of policy. Given these premises, drastically enhancing RE is, almost by definition, the only way to reconcile well-being and dematerialisation. This does a-priori not imply a decrease nor an increase of GDP, but requires radical structural changes of the way society is organised to respond to individual and social needs. An ecologically rational policy would strive to transform LP increases into non-working time, rather than into more production. This is one key element of the many far-reaching changes that are necessary in all aspects of the socioeconomic framework to drastically enhance RE. Well-being should be pursued, and not just defined and measured, beyond GDP, by active economic and non-economic policies, encouraging the emergence of new social, institutional and organisational arrangements that enable people to live less resource intensive – but possibly happier – lives. This requires that the domain where rational social choice rules, as opposed to competition and finance, be substantially expanded.
'In dieser Arbeit werden zum einen unterschiedliche Konzepte der Ressourcenproduktivitaet dis... more 'In dieser Arbeit werden zum einen unterschiedliche Konzepte der Ressourcenproduktivitaet diskutiert, die auf unterschiedlichen Abgrenzungen der Verursachung von Stoffstroemen und wirtschaftlichen Aktivitaeten (im In- und Ausland) beruhen. Diese lassen sich mit den in der Oekonomie ueblichen Definitionen von Arbeits- und Kapitalproduktivitaeten vergleichen. Darauf fusst eine empirische Analyse auf der Grundlage von Input-Output-Tabellen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland sowie den am Wuppertal Institut erhobenen Daten ueber den gesamten Materialinput.' (Autorenreferat)SIGLEAvailable from IAB-32114 BG 447 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman
Dottorato di ricerca in economia politica. 8. ciclo. Supervisore G. Fua'. Coordinatore G. Con... more Dottorato di ricerca in economia politica. 8. ciclo. Supervisore G. Fua'. Coordinatore G. ContiConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7, Rome; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale - P.za Cavalleggeri, 1, Florence / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal
Estimates of material flows in terms of Raw Material Equivalents (RME) provide a valuable methodo... more Estimates of material flows in terms of Raw Material Equivalents (RME) provide a valuable methodological improvement with respect to the current EW-MFA aggregate indicators, as they overcome the asymmetry between the heterogeneous parts by which make up the indicators currently in use. In order to derive such estimates, the environmental-economic framework provided by Environmental Accounts is fully exploited. The link between the direct and indirect demand for raw materials, on the one hand, and the final use of products, on the other hand, is established through Leontief’s inter-industry interdependence model. This paper illustrates the results of an application on a EW-MFA methodologically very advanced tool, which allows to produce accurate estimates of the material resource use of a country (in our application, Italy’s). In these estimates, the material resource use is expressed in RME. We also propose an in-depth analysis of the possible use of these estimates in the derivatio...
The growing economic and environmental relevance of biological residues from cultivation (non-edi... more The growing economic and environmental relevance of biological residues from cultivation (non-edible parts of vegetables, stalks, pruning residues, end-of-life trees...) calls for greater attention to their measurement. Biological residues from cultivation are often gathered and composted, or used as fodder, or for energy production. The remaining quantities are left on the soil or burnt in the open, or eventually landfilled. Different consequences in terms of environmental pressures and economic results arise from different management ways of these residues. It is therefore of great interest for research and policy use, to gain better knowledge on the amounts of biomass involved, as well as of their current distribution between the various possible destinations. We first introduce the notion of “biological residues from cultivation” and clarify its relation to the definitions of “products” and “residuals” in the general SEEA Central Framework physical flow accounts context (SEEA Ce...
From Schenau, S., “The Research agenda for the SEEA CF”, 2016, page 9, https://unstats.un.org/uns... more From Schenau, S., “The Research agenda for the SEEA CF”, 2016, page 9, https://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/londongroup/research.pdf. The present paper provides the required further clarifications of the differences in treatment, and reflects on the alternative solutions and possibilities for review of the SEEA CF text. We deal with the issue mainly from a conceptual point of view, though showing with a numerical example what the solution we propose could imply in terms of implementation1.
This paper illustrates the results of two environmentally extended input-output applications base... more This paper illustrates the results of two environmentally extended input-output applications based on environmental-economic accounts concerning the attribution of environmental flows to final demand. First, total (direct and indirect) GHG emissions of the Italian vertically integrated industries from 1995 to 2008 are presented, including emissions avoided thanks to final and intermediate imports. In this case, the classical IO domestic technology assumption is conveniently integrated with supplementary data in consideration of the inexistence or non-representativeness of some primary industries in Italy. Then, estimates of the Italian material flows in terms of Raw Material Equivalents (RME) for the period 2000-2010 are presented building on the ongoing Eurostat RME project. RME indicators provide a valuable methodological improvement with respect to the current EW-MFA aggregate indicators, as they overcome the asymmetry between the heterogeneous parts by which the indicators currently in use are produced (flows from nature and traded flows). In order to derive such estimates, the environmental-economic accountingframework is fully exploited: the link between direct and indirect demand for raw materials on the one hand, and the final use of products on the other hand, is established through Leontiefs inter-industry interdependence model. The paper also proposes an in-depth analysis of the possible use of demand-based measures in the derivation of productivity indicators, focussing on resource productivity. In a policy setting where indirectflows are not neglected, raising carbon or resource productivity by transferring abroad of potential environmental burden is recognised as not being environmentally effective, i. e. as not leading to a reduction of pressures on a global scale. Moreover, we argue that the indicators used to measure productivity should use figures from National Accounts and from Environmental Satellite Accounts coherently.В статье представлены результаты расчетов двух вариантов применения модели «затраты-выпуск», учитывающей экологическую составляющую и основанной на эколого-экономических счетах, отражающих включение экологических потоков в конечный спрос. Во-первых, представлен общий объем выбросов (как прямых, так и непрямых) парниковых газов вертикально интегрированных промышленных отраслей Италии за период с 1995 по 2008 г., включая и те выбросы, которые не были произведены по причине импорта продуктов конечного и промежуточного использования. В этом случае классическая модель "затраты-выпуск", предполагающая учет отечественной технологии, хорошо интегрирована с дополнительными данными, учитывающими фактически не существующие или не представленные в Италии отрасли промышленности. Кроме того, даны оценки материальных потоков в Италии, а именно сырьевых эквивалентов, за период с 2000 по 2010 г., построенные в рамках реализации текущего проекта Евростата. Использование показателей сырьевых эквивалентов оказывает положительное влияние на методологию расчета агрегированных показателей текущих счетов потоков материалов в масштабах экономики (СПМ- МЭ), так как благодаря им преодолевается асимметрия между разнородными частями, на основе которых в настоящее время строятся эти агрегированные показатели (природные источники и потоки торгуемых товаров). Для получения такого рода оценок необходимо в полной мере использовать систему эколого-экономических счетов: связь между прямым и косвенным спросом на сырье, с одной стороны, и конечным использованием товаров - с другой, устанавливается через модель межотраслевого баланса Леонтьева. В статье также предложен углубленный анализ возможности использования измерений на основе спроса для построения показателей продуктивности, в частности показателей ресурсной продуктивности. Делается вывод о том, что политика, в которой учитываются непрямые потоки, а углеродная или ресурсная продуктивность повышается путем перемещения за границу потенциальной экологической нагрузки, является экологически неэффективной, так как не приводит к снижению воздействия на окружающую среду в глобальном масштабе. Авторы также утверждают, что для показателей, применяемых для измерения продуктивности, следует использовать согласованные данные из национальных счетов и сателлитных экологических счетов
The debate on sustainable development is mainly focused, in Italy, on issues related to the inter... more The debate on sustainable development is mainly focused, in Italy, on issues related to the interrelationships between the natural system and the economic system. This occurs both in the sphere of political discussion and in the context of related statistical work.
Eco-efficiency in industry and science, Oct 4, 2013
This article argues in favour of including a drastic increase of natural resources use efficiency... more This article argues in favour of including a drastic increase of natural resources use efficiency (RE) among the primary goals of society, with a higher priority level than that of increasing labour productivity (LP). This need is connected to that for a change of the way we look at natural resources (NR) use as well as at its final results. This change of perspective has impact on the very definition of RE. Indeed, RE should not be identified with resource productivity (RP), as RP expresses nothing more than the efficiency with which NR are used in production, regardless to the well-being implications of how production takes place, and of which “needs” does it satisfy. RE is thought in this article as of a more general ability to generate socially desirable results from NR use. The narrow-minded identification of the desirable effects of NR use with production’s economic value – represented by GDP in the numerator of RP – implies an inherently un-solvable trade-off between saving what remains of nature and keeping high living standards. A drastic reduction of NR use is necessary for sustainability; as a consequence dematerialisation should be an overarching goal of policy. Given these premises, drastically enhancing RE is, almost by definition, the only way to reconcile well-being and dematerialisation. This does a-priori not imply a decrease nor an increase of GDP, but requires radical structural changes of the way society is organised to respond to individual and social needs. An ecologically rational policy would strive to transform LP increases into non-working time, rather than into more production. This is one key element of the many far-reaching changes that are necessary in all aspects of the socioeconomic framework to drastically enhance RE. Well-being should be pursued, and not just defined and measured, beyond GDP, by active economic and non-economic policies, encouraging the emergence of new social, institutional and organisational arrangements that enable people to live less resource intensive – but possibly happier – lives. This requires that the domain where rational social choice rules, as opposed to competition and finance, be substantially expanded.
'In dieser Arbeit werden zum einen unterschiedliche Konzepte der Ressourcenproduktivitaet dis... more 'In dieser Arbeit werden zum einen unterschiedliche Konzepte der Ressourcenproduktivitaet diskutiert, die auf unterschiedlichen Abgrenzungen der Verursachung von Stoffstroemen und wirtschaftlichen Aktivitaeten (im In- und Ausland) beruhen. Diese lassen sich mit den in der Oekonomie ueblichen Definitionen von Arbeits- und Kapitalproduktivitaeten vergleichen. Darauf fusst eine empirische Analyse auf der Grundlage von Input-Output-Tabellen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland sowie den am Wuppertal Institut erhobenen Daten ueber den gesamten Materialinput.' (Autorenreferat)SIGLEAvailable from IAB-32114 BG 447 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman
Dottorato di ricerca in economia politica. 8. ciclo. Supervisore G. Fua'. Coordinatore G. Con... more Dottorato di ricerca in economia politica. 8. ciclo. Supervisore G. Fua'. Coordinatore G. ContiConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7, Rome; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale - P.za Cavalleggeri, 1, Florence / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal
Estimates of material flows in terms of Raw Material Equivalents (RME) provide a valuable methodo... more Estimates of material flows in terms of Raw Material Equivalents (RME) provide a valuable methodological improvement with respect to the current EW-MFA aggregate indicators, as they overcome the asymmetry between the heterogeneous parts by which make up the indicators currently in use. In order to derive such estimates, the environmental-economic framework provided by Environmental Accounts is fully exploited. The link between the direct and indirect demand for raw materials, on the one hand, and the final use of products, on the other hand, is established through Leontief’s inter-industry interdependence model. This paper illustrates the results of an application on a EW-MFA methodologically very advanced tool, which allows to produce accurate estimates of the material resource use of a country (in our application, Italy’s). In these estimates, the material resource use is expressed in RME. We also propose an in-depth analysis of the possible use of these estimates in the derivatio...
The growing economic and environmental relevance of biological residues from cultivation (non-edi... more The growing economic and environmental relevance of biological residues from cultivation (non-edible parts of vegetables, stalks, pruning residues, end-of-life trees...) calls for greater attention to their measurement. Biological residues from cultivation are often gathered and composted, or used as fodder, or for energy production. The remaining quantities are left on the soil or burnt in the open, or eventually landfilled. Different consequences in terms of environmental pressures and economic results arise from different management ways of these residues. It is therefore of great interest for research and policy use, to gain better knowledge on the amounts of biomass involved, as well as of their current distribution between the various possible destinations. We first introduce the notion of “biological residues from cultivation” and clarify its relation to the definitions of “products” and “residuals” in the general SEEA Central Framework physical flow accounts context (SEEA Ce...
From Schenau, S., “The Research agenda for the SEEA CF”, 2016, page 9, https://unstats.un.org/uns... more From Schenau, S., “The Research agenda for the SEEA CF”, 2016, page 9, https://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/londongroup/research.pdf. The present paper provides the required further clarifications of the differences in treatment, and reflects on the alternative solutions and possibilities for review of the SEEA CF text. We deal with the issue mainly from a conceptual point of view, though showing with a numerical example what the solution we propose could imply in terms of implementation1.
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