Application of the environmentally extended input-output method in the identification of key sectors: A PRISMA-guided systematic review

The overarching goal of this systematic literature review is to identify, present and in detail analyze relevant published studies in Scopus-indexed publications regarding the identification of key sectors in the economy with the application of the environmentally extended input-output methodology (EEIO). For this reason, the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines for systematic literature reviews have been adopted. The Scopus scientific database was surveyed with the keywords “Environmentally extended input-output”, “key sectors”, “transmission sectors” and “key industries”, which led to a total of 50 published papers in English. After implementing all of the steps of the PRISMA guidelines, which included both electronic and manual searches, a total of 8 relevant papers remained for qualitative analysis. Most of these papers were conducted for the period between 2000 and 2017. The key findings are elaborated in a narrative synthesis and reveal that most authors indicate the electricity, transport and construction sectors as the sectors with the highest pollutant emissions; the household sector is also singled out as a sector that has a large impact on carbon emissions. The underlying purpose of this paper is to raise awareness and knowledge among scholars and local and national policymakers in regard to the key sectors and empirical ways for their identification with the application of the EEIO method. Lastly, the scientific and practical implications of the study are provided, and plans and guidelines for future work are presented.