Why we call it technological coefficients? I'm learning linear programming's basic concepts. In following inequality: $$ \begin{align} \text{Minimize }c_1x_1 + c_2x_2 + \cdots+ c_nx_n \\\ \\\ \text{Subject to }a_{11}x_1 + a_{12}x_2 +\cdots+a_{1n}x_n & \geqslant b_1 \\\ \\\ a_{21}x_1 + a_{22}x_2 +\cdots+a_{2n}x_n & \geqslant b_2 \\\ & {}\ \vdots\\\ a_{m1}x_1 + a_{m2}x_2 +\cdots+a_{mn}x_n & \geqslant b_m \\\ \\\ x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n & \geqslant 0 \end{align} $$ My question is : Why we call $a_{ij}$ "technological coefficients" ? What is technology ? And why is it technological ? I don't know the meaning of "technological" in here. Thanks in advance **Update:** Book: Linear Programming and Network Flows. Written by: Mokhtar S. Bazaraa. 3rd Edition. Page 2

The term is strange but it is not a mathematical term. My guess is that the term originates from the Economics field where it is comonly used in theories like input-output (e.g Link-1). Looking back at the history of Linear Programming and its early economical motivations, it is possible that early papers used the terminology of the problem filed (namely, Economics) to present the theory, and it has been used every since.