A CES Indirect Production Function / Boyan Jovanovic.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jovanovic, Boyan.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Technical Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. t0188.

NBER technical working paper series no. t0188

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Elasticity (Economics).

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1995.

Cambridge, Massachussetts : National Bureau of Economic Research, [1995]

Summary:

This paper derives an indirect production function that is, in a special case, of a constant elasticity of substitution form. This is not a contribution to the theory of aggregation generally. Instead it is a microfoundation for a specific but popular production function -- the CES -- that helps us express the important concept of the elasticity of substitution in terms of more primitive, and more intuitive concepts of the returns to scale. The paper presents a simple lemma, and then shows that several and diverse applications have a common logical structure: the production function often used in growth theory, the utility function when there is household production, human capital theory, and the concept of the aggregate technology shock.

Notes:

Print version record

October 1995.