Imprimitivity in Decomposable Economies

Abstract

This note extends the analysis of imprimitive indecomosable economies (e.g.~Nikaido, 1968, 1970) to the case of economies represented by a decomposable matrix. Using graph theory we show that imprimitivity leads to cyclical production lags also in decomposable economies, although in such a case the property must not be referred to the matrix representing the economy but to its indecomposable sub-matrices along the block-diagonal. The structure of the overall flow of commodities depends on both the number of imprimitive sub-matrices and their imprimitivity index.