# Understanding the Leontief inverse

What I remember from economics about input/output analysis is that it basically analyses the interdependencies between business sectors and demand. If we use matrices we have $A$ as the input-output matrix, $I$ as an identity matrix and $d$ as final demand. In order to find the final input $x$ we may solve the Leontief Inverse:

$$x = (I-A)^{-1}\cdot d$$

So here's my question: Is there a simple rationale behind this inverse? Especially when considering the form:

$$(I-A)^{-1} = I+A + A^2 + A^3\ldots$$

What happens if we change an element $a_{i,j}$ in $A$? How is this transmitted within the system? And is there decent literature about this behaviour around? Thank you very much for your help!

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## migrated from economics.stackexchange.comMay 2 '12 at 8:06

This question came from our site for professional and academic economists and analysts.

Thanks to your question, I learnt about Input-Output Analysis. I found the following paper which might be related to your question: titled "TECHNICAL COEFFICIENTS CHANGE BY BI-PROPORTIONAL ECONOMETRIC ADJUSTMENT FUNCTION" iioa.org/pdf/14th%20conf/kratena_zakarias.pdf –  phaedrus Jan 7 '12 at 7:04
thanks for the comment but i think that's not quite what i was looking for. –  Seb Jan 18 '12 at 8:34

The equation you are concerned with relates total output $x$ to intermediate output $Ax$ plus final output $d$, $$x = Ax + d$$.
If the inverse $(I - A)^{-1}$ exists, then a unique solution to the equation above exists. Note that some changes of $a_{ij}$ may cause a determinate system to become indeterminate, meaning there can be many feasible production plans.
Also, increasing $a_{ij}$ is equivalent to increasing the demand by sector $i$ for the good produced by sector $j$. Thus, as sector $i$ produces more, it will consume more of sector $j$'s goods in its production process.