Abstract
Traditionally, the production function was assumed to be additive and homogeneous. The constant elasticity of substitution (CES) production function adds flexibility by treating the elasticity of substitution as an unknown parameter, but retains the assumptions of additivity and homogeneity and imposes very stringent limitations on patterns of substitution. The dual formulation of production theory characterizes the production function by means of a dual representation such as a price or cost function, and generates explicit demand and supply functions as derivatives of the price or cost function.
Keywords
- Bias of technical change
- CES production function
- Cobb–Douglas functions
- Cost flexibility
- Cost function
- Demand function
- Economies of scale
- Elasticity of substitution
- Hicks, J.
- Implicit function theorem
- Input–output analysis
- Jorgensen, D. W.
- Price function
- Production functions
- Simultaneous equations models
- Supply function
- Technical change
JEL Classifications
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Jorgenson, D.W. (2018). Production Functions. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1895
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1895
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