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- Title
Output fluctuations at the plant level.
- Authors
Bresnahan, Timothy F.; Ramey, Valerie A.
- Abstract
This paper examines the short-run dynamics of manufacturing costs by detailing how plants in the U. S. automobile industry change output Weekly data show a variety of margins on which firms adjust production. These margins, which are distinct from the usual factor demand choices, differ in their lumpiness, their adjustment costs, and their variable costs. The existence of these margins explains several empirical puzzles of output fluctuations. Using a theory of the short-run dynamic cost function, we are able to inlet some of the characteristics of the underlying cost function from the dynamic behavior of the different margins.
- Subjects
UNITED States; BUSINESS cycles; UNITED States manufacturing industries; AUTOMOBILE factories; INDUSTRIAL costs; AUTOMOBILE industry; INDUSTRIAL productivity; VARIABLE costs; COST; OPERATING costs
- Publication
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1994, Vol 109, Issue 3, p593
- ISSN
0033-5533
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/2118415