Transition and admission models in social demography

This paper was presented to the MSSB conference on Quantitative Social Theory and the Study of Formal Organizations held in August 1972. In it a matrix framework is presented which can be used to connect data on human stocks and flows. These data provide the variables for linear models based on transition and admission proportions, which can be interpreted either in terms of input-output analysis, as in economics, or in terms of probability theory. Corresponding to the quantity equation, representing the demographic data, a price equation is established which provides a link with economic data on unit costs and benefits. Illustrations are given at different levels and in various fields.