IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/manchs/v69y2001i6p616-622.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Production Function with an Inferior Input: Comment

Author

Listed:
  • Christian E. Weber

Abstract

Epstein and Spiegel (The Manchester School, Vol. 68 (2000), No. 5, pp. 503–515) have discussed a production function in which one input is inferior: an increase in the target level of output reduces the quantity of the input demanded. This paper provides a more straightforward proof that the input in question is inferior. This proof has the added advantage that, unlike the proof of Epstein and Spiegel, it is based on the firm’s cost minimization problem. It thus emphasizes the connection between the firm’s cost minimization problem and the issue of input inferiority. It is also shown that, if we treat the Epstein–Spiegel functional form as a utility function rather than a production function, then the inferior good can exhibit Giffen behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian E. Weber, 2001. "A Production Function with an Inferior Input: Comment," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 69(6), pages 616-622, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:manchs:v:69:y:2001:i:6:p:616-622
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-9957.00273
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9957.00273
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1467-9957.00273?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kris De Jaegher, 2008. "Benchmark Two‐Good Utility Functions," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 76(1), pages 44-65, January.
    2. Sproule, Robert & Karras, Michael, 2022. "In Search of A Giffen Input: A Comprehensive Analysis of The Wold-Juréen (1953) Production Function," MPRA Paper 113007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Paolo Bertoletti & Giorgio Rampa, 2011. "On Marginal Returns and Inferior Inputs," Quaderni di Dipartimento 145, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods.
    4. Moffatt, Peter G., 2002. "Is Giffen behaviour compatible with the axioms of consumer theory?," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 259-267, July.
    5. Paolo Bertoletti & Giorgio Rampa, 2013. "On inferior inputs and marginal returns," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 109(3), pages 303-313, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:manchs:v:69:y:2001:i:6:p:616-622. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/semanuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.