Congestion in production correspondences

International audienceThis contribution aims to detect and measure more severe forms of congestion than the ones that could hitherto be evaluated in axiomatic production theory. To this end, we define a new S-disposal axiom, a kind of limited strong disposability. This S-disposal assumption leads to a duality result between a general input directional distance function and the cost function that is weaker than the ones established in the literature. Finally, we indicate how finite data sets can or cannot be rationalized by a minimal technology compatible with S-disposal, thereby generalizing the nonparametric weak axiom of cost minimization test