Abstract
Models of the behaviour of national economies have been developed and popularised for some time. The economic behaviour of whole industries has also been examined and statistical analysis has uncovered at least the main features of the working of a number of industries. There is no difficulty in principle in carrying this process of analysis on to the examination of individual products . The paper discusses these topics and illustrations are provided of national and industrial economic models and the behaviour of several product groups in the U.K. paper industry are examined. The results show that statistical analysis can reveal important economic influences at work, but that it is necessary to beware of special factors, technical, political and social, which can be of overriding importance for particular products at particular times.
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