An Environmentally Extended Social Accounting Matrix
Author(s)
Xie, Jian
Abstract
Although the social accounting matrix (SAM) approach has been widely used in national accounting and development economics, it still neglects important information, among which are the interactions between an economy and the environment. This paper environmentally extends SAM to capture the relationships among economic activities, pollution abatement activities, and pollution emissions. A numerical example of the environmentally extended social accounting matrix (ESAM) using Chinese 1990 data is presented. The multiplier and structural path analyses are applied to the ESAM for assessing environmental impacts of pollution-related economic policies. The analysis results show that an ESAM can be a useful tool for environmental policy analysis.
