Input-output anatomy of import elasticities

The elasticity of imports with respect to final demand, calculated from the 1964 and 1970 input-output tables for Austria, is equal to 1.35. Input-output analysis makes it possible to show how the value of the import elasticity is related to following structural changes: i) Changes in the shares of final demand components (i.e. of consumption, capital formation and exports) on total final demand; ii) changes in the pattern of final demand components; iii) changes in the technology matrix; iv) substitution of domestic output by imports in the final demand; and v) substitution of the domestic output by imports in the intermediate demand.