The "Matrioshka principle' in the hierarchical decomposition of multi-regional social accounting systems

Considers multiplier decomposition in multi-regional accounts systems, and the isolation of cause and effect routes in sophisticated linked and extended regional analytic models. The authors review the existing decomposition methods, and identify the rapid increase in the non-uniqueness of such procedures as systems become larger and multi-regional. To attempt to deal with this non-uniqueness, they introduce the "Matrioshka' principle, a hierarchical stepwise approach analogous to the method of principal components analysis. -from Editors