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In economics, the concept of returns to scale arises in the context of a firm's production function.It explains the long-run linkage of increase in output (production) relative to associated increases in the inputs (factors of production).
Economies of scale is related to and can easily be confused with the theoretical economic notion of returns to scale. Where economies of scale refer to a firm's costs, returns to scale describe the relationship between inputs and outputs in a long-run (all inputs variable) production function.
There are three common ways to incorporate technology (or the efficiency with which factors of production are used) into a production function (here A is a scale factor, F is a production function, and Y is the amount of physical output produced): Hicks-neutral technology, or "factor augmenting": = (,)
The presence of increasing returns means that a one percent increase in the usage levels of all inputs would result in a greater than one percent increase in output; the presence of decreasing returns means that it would result in a less than one percent increase in output. Constant returns to scale is the in-between case.
If Y has a single output and prices are positive, then positive economies of scale are equivalent to increasing returns to scale. As with returns to scale, economies of scale may apply over a region. If a mill is operating below capacity then it will offer positive economies of scale, but as it approaches capacity the economies will become ...
If the coefficient is 1, then production is experiencing constant returns to scale. Note that returns to scale may change as the level of production changes. [2] A different usage of the term "output elasticity" is defined as the percentage change in output per one percent change in all the inputs. [3] The coefficient of output elasticity can ...
New trade theory (NTT) is a collection of economic models in international trade theory which focuses on the role of increasing returns to scale and network effects, which were originally developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
An example of the efficiency calculation is that if the applied inputs have the potential to produce 100 units but are producing 60 units, the efficiency of the output is 0.6, or 60%. Furthermore, economies of scale identify the point at which production efficiency (returns) can be increased, decrease or remain constant.