Accounting carbon emission responsibility on China's ICT sector under different principles based on the EE-MRIO model

The purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the ICT sector's carbon emission responsibility under production-based (PBA), consumption-based (CBA), income-based accounting principle (IBA) and shared-responsibility approach (SRA), focusing on the case of China. We utilise the environmentally extended multiregional input-output (EE-MRIO) model based on China's 2012 and 2017 provincial MRIO table. The empirical finding demonstrate that emission responsibilities assigned to the ICT sector under CBA is greater than those under SRA, IBA and PBA. Regional emissions are highly concentrated under the PBA and IBA. The absolute amount of ICT emission responsibility increased under all accounting method, but the increase in the national share varied significantly. The inter-sectoral carbon emission transfer pattern, shows ICT sector exhibits dual carbon lock-in effects, demonstrates strong supply-chain dependencies, upstream procurement anchored in energy-intensive sectors (S23, S14, S13), while downstream consumption shows path-dependent concentration in S23, S29. Inter-regional transfer exhibits significant regional heterogeneity. In economically developed provinces like Guangdong, Beijing and Zhejiang, the ICT sector has a significant downstream-pushing effect and notable upstream-pulling effect on other regions. Conversely, in less developed northeastern and northwestern provinces, the ICT sector, mainly serving local consumption, leads to minimal upstream and downstream carbon emissions effect. These results provide supportive references for China to develop a more integrated policies, supporting common but differentiated emission reduction targets.