IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/mts/jrnlee/v15y2015i1p1-12.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On Teaching Production Theory: Integrating Short-Run and Long-Run Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Will C. Heath
  • Rand W. Ressler

Abstract

The microeconomic theory of production is typically presented to undergraduates in a way that leaves many students with a disjointed view of the subject. The short run is described as one kind of world, in which the firm pursues one set of objectives, commonly identified as “optimal factor employment.” The long run, on the other hand, is depicted as a very different kind of world, in which the firm pursues a different set of objectives, known as “optimal factor combination.” The purpose of this essay is to bring together familiar diagrammatic tools in a way that allows instructors to integrate short-run and long-run principles of factor employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Will C. Heath & Rand W. Ressler, 2015. "On Teaching Production Theory: Integrating Short-Run and Long-Run Analysis," Journal for Economic Educators, Middle Tennessee State University, Business and Economic Research Center, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:mts:jrnlee:v:15:y:2015:i:1:p:1-12
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://capone.mtsu.edu/jee/2015/pp1-12MS414.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    production theory; optimal factor employment; optimal factor combination; microeconomics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A20 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - General
    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • A23 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Graduate
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

    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:mts:jrnlee:v:15:y:2015:i:1:p:1-12. 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: Michael Roach (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/efmtsus.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.