This paper presents some research at the Oslo Institute of Transport Economics, whose objective has been to develop a national model for the analysis of freight transport and related activities in Norway. This model, called GODMOD, exists in an early operational version in the form of a static general equilibrium model, comprising 21 production activities, 26 goods, and four highly aggregated `consumers'. The production activities are divided into several goods and transport producing sectors. The goods are labour, capital, and 24 produced goods and services. GODMOD is concerned mainly with the relationship between a firm's demand for intermediate goods and freight transport. It emphasises that freight transport and production are determined simultaneously within an economic equilibrium system of production and consumption, in which relative prices are most significant for the supply and application of goods and services. The model's format and structure are presented, together with its treatment of macroeconomic factors and its calibration and data basis. It is applied to estimate carbon dioxide discharge from Norwegian freight transport, and possible effects of a carbon tax on this discharge.
Abstract