Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: scope and outline
- Part 1 Basic concepts and hypotheses
- Part 2 The model and its application
- 5 Introduction
- 6 Production as a sequential process
- 7 The matrix of production elements
- 8 Transformation of the matrix of production elements for empirical research
- 9 Towards empirical implementation: some case studies
- Part 3 Economies of scale, economies of scope and production flexibility
- References
- Index
8 - Transformation of the matrix of production elements for empirical research
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 February 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: scope and outline
- Part 1 Basic concepts and hypotheses
- Part 2 The model and its application
- 5 Introduction
- 6 Production as a sequential process
- 7 The matrix of production elements
- 8 Transformation of the matrix of production elements for empirical research
- 9 Towards empirical implementation: some case studies
- Part 3 Economies of scale, economies of scope and production flexibility
- References
- Index
Summary
In the course of the foregoing analysis we have seen that a production process may be represented either by a matrix or by a vector of functions of time of the different production elements, depending on whether or not the process is decomposable into different intermediate stages. The matrix of production elements (or the vector) contains information on the main variables characterizing the quantitative, temporal and organizational aspects involved in the economic analysis of the production process. Data on production techniques can be obtained directly from the functions that compose the matrix, or can easily be deduced from them by formulating a few ad hoc hypotheses (especially with regard to the use of the services of funds). However, for the purposes of empirical analysis it is preferable to transform the matrix of functions of time of production elements into two separate tables: the quantitative-temporal matrix and the organizational scheme. This transformation of the matrix of production elements makes it possible to ‘standardize’ the data of the different elementary processes under consideration, and thus create a homogeneous data base on which to make the comparisons required for empirical analysis.
The differences between theoretical and empirical representation arise from the fact that the matrix of production elements with respect to time is constructed according to theoretical criteria of consistency, while the quantitative and temporal matrix and the organizational scheme derived from it correspond to the requirements of empirical analysis.
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- Production Process and Technical Change , pp. 85 - 98Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1992