Creating multi‐scale nested MRIO tables for linking localized impacts to global consumption drivers

Abstract

Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratories (IELabs) enable the construction of national‐to‐local‐scale multi‐regional input–output (MRIO) models. These IELabs have been proven to be especially important for analyzing research questions that warrant sub‐national spatial detail. The field of industrial ecology has clearly progressed from the time of national‐only input–output tables. Here, we present a newly developed tool called NLab—“nested IELab”—that nests sub‐national MRIO tables within global country‐scale MRIOs. This capability allows for the investigation of interactions between sub‐national production and consumption systems, with global systems interlinked via international trade. We provide a technical and mathematical roadmap for construction of nested input–output tables in the NLab, and demonstrate this capability through a real‐world assessment of the Western Australian wine industry. Our results suggest that nested MRIO tables provide an added layer of detail at a regional level, when undertaking consumption‐based footprint assessments, leading to improved assessment of quantification of regional impacts. The NLab presented in this work provides tools for analysis of complex trade linkages between industries at various scales, which has the further potential to open avenues for policy‐makers to analyze the implications of local decisions at a global level, and vice versa.

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