The purpose of this paper is to generalize the Farrell indexes of productive efficiency to nonhomothetic production technologies, and at the same time maintain the cost interpretation of the Farrell measures. Since the generalized indexes rely heavily on recent developments in the estimation of frontier cost and production functions, several frontier models are reviewed. In addition to generalized indexes of technical, allocative, and overall productive efficiency, a variety of single-factor efficiency measures are discussed. The applicability of the proposed efficiency measures is illustrated with a numerical example of electric power generation.

Journal Article Summing up on the Australian case for Protection: Comment Get access Gary J. Manger Gary J. Manger University of New South Wales Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 96, Issue 1, February 1981, Pages 161–167, https://doi.org/10.2307/2936146 Published: 01 February 1981

Journal Article Monetary Policy in an Inside-Money, Open Economy: Reply Get access Donald J. Mathieson Donald J. Mathieson International Monetary Fund Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 96, Issue 2, May 1981, Pages 357–361, https://doi.org/10.2307/1882396 Published: 01 May 1981

This paper shows that (i) fixed costs of sufficient magnitude assure the existence of a vector of sustainable prices for the products of a natural monopolist—prices making him invulnerable against entry; (ii) nevertheless, fixed costs do not constitute barriers to entry; that is, they need not have undesirable welfare consequences; (iii) indeed, in market forms that we call perfectly contestable large fixed costs are completely compatible with many desirable attributes of competitive equilibrium; (iv) sunk costs do, however, constitute barriers to entry; and (v) finally, the profit and welfare consequences of entry barriers are described formally.

This paper examines the appropriate use of cross-section microdata in life cycle models. Drawing upon recent empirical work based upon panel data, we illustrate how these results can be used as priors to generate a distribution of life cycle earnings. Such a surrogate distribution can be shown to possess the same properties as actual distributions. We focus attention particularly upon the treatment of economic growth and the unobservable components of earnings. In the final section of the paper, we show how such distributions might be used in inequality analysis.

This paper derives a transactions theory of trade credit use from the motives of trading partners to economize on the joint costs of exchange. In the formal analysis, uncertain delivery time is used to generate a demand by firms to hold inventories of both goods and money. Trade credit is viewed as a mechanism that separates the exchange of money from the uncertainty present in the exchange of goods. By forewarning both trading partners of the timing of money flows, credit permits a reduction in precautionary money holdings and the more effective management of net money accumulations.