The implementation of integrated models in a multi-regional system

Considers conceptual, methodological and practical concerns faced when operationalising a modular integrated framework for subregions of a state. The authors point to a number of conceptual problems that arise in integrating multi-regional input-output, econometric and programming models. In the second, empirical part of the chapter, they focus on the sensitivity of the results of a model to three aspects of an integration strategy: the choice of a single region versus a multi-regional spatial scale; the selection of a linking versus an embedding approach to the various modules and the problem of spatial aggregation of incompatible zonal data. The model is a combination of a 19-sector and 5-region MRIO model with a linear programming water-allocation model for 12 hydrological basins in California. The simulation experiments provide strong evidence that the choice of a particular integration strategy affects the results. -from Editors