Input—output analysis (IOA) has been applied to study the integrated ecological—economic systems for decades. In this article, a physical input monetary output (PIMO) model is developed to aggregate economic systems with the associated ecological systems. The PIMO model utilizes economic information integrated in monetary input—output tables (MIOTs) and societal metabolism information provided by the method of material flow analysis (MFA). The fundamental process of applying PIMO model to practice is to make a PIMO table based on an existing MIOT. The computational framework of the PIMO model is then expressed by a set of mathematical correlations to represent mass balances of each economic sector and the entire economic system. Although there are four major categories of uncertainty in this approach, the PIMO model is relatively easy and sufficient to study an integrated national economic system and associated ecological system. A general algorithm of PIMO analysis is presented in this article and exampled with a case study on China's economy. In the case study, a PIMO table for China's economy is compiled with 43 economic sectors, 10 categories of resources, and 6 categories of wastes. Impacts on societal metabolism are studied by increasing final demands in different sectors. Each sector's influence on specific categories of resources or wastes is also studied by the PIMO model. Finally, the PIMO model is applied to evaluate a particular policy established by the Chinese central government. Results suggest that specific scenarios are suitable to achieve the predefined environmental goals.
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1 June 2010
Development of the Physical Input Monetary Output Model for Understanding Material Flows within Ecological—Economic Systems
XU Ming
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Journal of Resources and Ecology
Vol. 1 • No. 2
June 2010
Vol. 1 • No. 2
June 2010
ecological—economic systems
input—output analysis
material flow analysis
monetary input—output table
societal metabolism