Research into the production function has a long history. Since the first work, in 1928, many studies have tended to support the hypothesis that production processes are well described by a linear homogeneous function with an elasticity of substitution of one between factors. New results are presented here, using 7 years of observations on Australian manufacturing industries during the 1950s and 1960s. In all seven cases, constant returns to scale are very closely approximated, and the coefficient for labor hovers near 0.6. The appropriate coincidence of the estimated coefficients with the shares received strengthens the competitive theory of distribution

The paper develops an explanation for the emergence of media of exchange through the unconcerted market behavior of individuals. Individuals are assumed to accomplish their ultimate exchanges through trading sequences which minimize the expected time spent searching for complementary trading partners. If individual perceptions of the trading environment are appropriately restricted, then the equilibrium pattern of trade will be some mixture of direct barter and use of a common good as medium of exchange. Although full monetization is always a locally stable exchange pattern, the economy may remain in universal direct barter or partially monetized states

This paper provides empirical results which indicate that consumer responses to imperfect, costly information have an important impact on price behavior in the retail gasoline market. Two aspects of price behavior are investigated: the market price dispersion at a point in time and the variability of price over time. Through use of a multiple-regression cross-city analysis of price behavior, both of these characteristics are shown to depend on a set of proxy variables representing the benefits and costs to consumers of acquiring information. In addition, prices vary more within a given city at stations catering to relatively well informed customers