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The production structure of food retailing in the United States: An initial inquiry
Author(s) -
Weliwita S. M. A.,
Miller Stephen E.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
agribusiness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1520-6297
pISSN - 0742-4477
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6297(199203)8:2<121::aid-agr2720080204>3.0.co;2-1
Subject(s) - economics , production (economics) , elasticity of substitution , capital (architecture) , constant elasticity of substitution , production function , substitution (logic) , microeconomics , order (exchange) , energy (signal processing) , function (biology) , output elasticity , econometrics , mathematics , statistics , archaeology , finance , evolutionary biology , biology , computer science , programming language , history
A translog cost function is fitted to aggregate data in order to examine substitution patterns among labor, capital, and energy as inputs in US food retailing. The results indicate that labor, capital, and energy are substitutes in the provision of retail food services, with capital and energy being closer substitutions than the other input combinations. The substitution possibilities for labor are limited. Own‐price elasticity estimates for labor, capital, and energy are all inelastic, with only the estimate for energy being significantly different from zero.