Decomposition analysis of aggregate embodied CO2 intensities in import products of the construction industry from the perspective of border-crossing frequency

Abstract

Sustainable development of the construction industry requires balancing economic growth and resulting environmental impacts. The aggregate embodied CO2 intensity (CI), defined as the ratio of embodied CO2 emissions per embodied value added, has been studied in previous research to evaluate the environment performance and mitigation policies from a final demand perspective. However, there is a relative lack of studies analysing CI from the perspective of border-crossing frequency (BCF), the number of national border crossings of traded products. This paper first analyses the CI in import products of the construction industry at each BCF under a multi-regional input–output framework and decomposes the change in CI in import products into the value-added distribution factor and the efficiency factor under conditions of BCF. The results indicate that CIs in import products of construction industries experienced declines from 2000 to 2014. The value-added distribution factor appeared to have an inhibitory effect only at the first BCF on the growth in CIs in import products of construction industries and prompted growth in CIs in import products at higher-order BCFs. The efficiency factor had a significant promoting effect on the decline in CIs in import products of construction industries but this promotion effect became weaker with an increase in the level of BCF. The reduction effect of the value-added distribution factor on the changes in CIs in import products of construction industries was smaller than that of the efficiency factor, indicating that the decrease in the CI was largely determined by the improvement in environmental efficiency at each BCF. Driving force analysis of the change in CI in import products of the construction industry from the perspective of BCF can effectively help in adjusting the import structure in order to control the growth of CI in import products.