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It is possible that there are some tensions between an analytical 
definition and a statistical definition of industry. 
 
Customs officials have long struggled to deal with definitions of traded 
goods (especially as misclassification may be deliberately made to avoid  
tariffs). An international union of custom agencies created an 
International Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (the 
Harmonized System or HS). The HS is a broad classification system of 
approximately 5,000 headings  
(in 6-digits) which are used for classifying goods involved in 
international trade. First introduced on 1 January 1988, it has 
subsequently been adopted as the basis for describing and classifying goods 
for Customs purposes by most trading nations. It provides international 
omparability of trade information for administrative and statistical 
purposes. 
 
There are many dimensions in classification systems. One approach is to 
lump together things using same or similar inputs, or originating from same 
producers. Another approach is to consider the end-user’s perspective. For 
example, men's shirts may vary widely according to the input used, but the 
user may see them all as shirts. On the reverse side, a garment 
manufacturer may produce men's shirts and boy’s shirts and women’s blouses 
from essentially the same materials, using pretty much the same technology, 
that is, a blouse is a shirt by another name or a man's shirt is a boy's 
shirt for boys known as men. There are many other possibilities of 
classification. 
 
For the historian of thought, perhaps the more interesting question is the 
analytical definition. I have no idea what that might be. I need help. 
 
Mohammad Gani 
 
 
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