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Economics and operations management: towards a theory of endogenous production speed
Author(s) -
Powell Philip T.,
Schmenner Roger W.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
managerial and decision economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.288
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1099-1468
pISSN - 0143-6570
DOI - 10.1002/mde.1057
Subject(s) - profit (economics) , economics , production (economics) , division of labour , microeconomics , returns to scale , wage , production theory , division (mathematics) , labour economics , industrial organization , market economy , mathematics , arithmetic
A firm chooses the production speed and amount of labor that maximizes profit in a perfectly competitive market. Faster production raises management expenses and the unit cost of production mistakes. Adding workers enhances the division of labor on the production line and raises work‐in‐process inventory. When the division of labor is high, a rise in the wage can increase the optimal production speed and quantity of output. When price falls, optimal production speed and optimal division of labor can move in opposite directions. Output quantity can also rise, generating a downward sloping supply curve in the absence of increasing returns to scale. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.