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Factor Substitution in U.S. Manufacturing: Does Plant Size Matter?

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  • Nguyen, Sang V
  • Streitwieser, Mary L

Abstract

We use micro data for 10,412 U.S. manufacturing plants to estimate the degrees of factor substitution by industry and by plant size. We find that (1) capital, labor, energy and materials are substitutes in production, and (2) the degrees of substitution among inputs are quite similar across plant sizes in a majority of industries. Two important applications of these findings are that (1) small plants are typically as flexible as large plants in factor substitution; consequently, economic policies such as energy conservation policies that result in rising energy prices would not cause negative effects on either large or small U.S. manufacturing plants; and (2) since energy and capital are found to be substitutes, the 1973 energy crisis is unlikely to be a significant factor contributing to the post 1973 productivity slowdown. Copyright 1999 by Kluwer Academic Publishers

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  • Nguyen, Sang V & Streitwieser, Mary L, 1999. "Factor Substitution in U.S. Manufacturing: Does Plant Size Matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 41-57, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:12:y:1999:i:1:p:41-57
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    8. Sebastian M. Deininger & Lukas Mohler & Daniel Mueller, 2018. "Factor substitution in Swiss manufacturing: empirical evidence using micro panel data," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 154(1), pages 1-15, December.
    9. Suho Bae, 2010. "Public Versus Private Delivery Of Municipal Solid Waste Services: The Case Of North Carolina," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 28(3), pages 414-428, July.
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    11. Jorge Ibarra Salazar & Francisco García Pérez, 2016. "Las demandas de factores productivos en la industria maquiladora," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 31(2), pages 265-303.
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    14. Suho Bae, 2009. "The responses of manufacturing businesses to geographical differences in electricity prices," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(2), pages 453-472, June.

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