Environmentally extended input-output analysis in complex networks: a multilayer approach

TL;DR

This paper introduces a multilayer network framework for environmentally extended input-output analysis, enabling detailed insights into global energy flows and sector roles across economies.

Contribution

It extends traditional input-output analysis with a multilayer network approach and adapts the MD-HITS algorithm to identify key sectors and economies.

Findings

The multilayer approach reveals sectoral and regional roles in energy flows.

Application to real data demonstrates meaningful insights into global energy networks.

The method identifies key sectors and economies using adapted hub and authority scores.

Abstract

In this paper we propose a methodology suitable for a comprehensive analysis of the global embodied energy flow trough a complex network approach. To this end, we extend the existing literature, providing a multilayer framework based on the environmentally extended input-output analysis. The multilayer structure, with respect to the traditional approach, allows us to unveil the different role of sectors and economies in the system. In order to identify key sectors and economies, we make use of hub and authority scores, by adapting to our framework an extension of the Kleinberg algorithm, called Multi-Dimensional HITS (MD-HITS). A numerical analysis based on multi-region input-output tables shows how the proposed approach provides meaningful insights.