Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment
Input-output life cycle assessment (IO-LCA) estimates the environmental burdens of a product or service over its life cycle by representing it as a unit of final demand within an environmentally extended input-output model. Rather than mapping individual processes, it leverages the Leontief inverse to capture the complete, economy-wide supply chain at once, eliminating the truncation that limits process-based LCA. Popularized by Hendrickson, Lave, and Matthews, IO-LCA and its hybrid extensions are distinct from process LCA in scope, data, and the way system boundaries are drawn.
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Sources
- Hendrickson, C., Lave, L. B., & Matthews, H. S. (2006). Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Goods and Services: An Input-Output Approach. RFF Press. ISBN: 9781933115245
- Leontief, W. (1970). Environmental repercussions and the economic structure: an input-output approach. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 52(3), 262–271. DOI: 10.2307/1926294 ↗
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Input-Output and Hybrid Life Cycle Assessment (Leontief-Based Environmental LCA). ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/economics/life-cycle-assessment-io
Which method?
Set this method beside its closest kin and read them side by side — the library lays the books on the table; the choice is yours.
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- Input-Output Multiplier AnalysisEconomics↔ compare
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