Breaking the Chains? A Sector Matrix for Motoring

Abstract

This paper challenges the productionist chain concept of economic activity. It also provides a constructive alternative in the form of sector matrix analysis which considers the two non-corresponding webs of demand and supply side relations around the production, distribution and use of goods and services. Sector matrix analysis constructs the demand side in terms of the complementary and competing demands made by end users, and the supply side in terms of the corporate consolidation of surplus from different activities inside and outside a specific demand matrix. The scope and potential for this new kind of analysis is illustrated with material on motoring and the article uses a range of evidence, including car assembler accounts and United Kingdom (UK) data on household demand, to show how a motoring sector matrix can be used to pose new questions and provide different answers to old ones about the car industry.