In this paper, the authors analyze the determinants of material inputs into individual production activities as a function of their outputs. They use observations on a large cross-section of U.S. manufacturing plants from the Census of Manufactures, including those that make goods primary to...

Although technical coefficients are estimated on the basis of flow data (use and make matrices), they are rarely treated as random variables. If this is done, an error term is added to the coefficients, rather than derived from the distribution of the data. Even so, the calculation of...