Economies of Scale and Farm Size in the Antebellum Sugar Sector

1977 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 959-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. Schmitz
Keyword(s):  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Scale Economies ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Sugar Production ◽  
Steam Power ◽  
Increasing Returns To Scale ◽  
Plantation Economy ◽  
Manufacturing Stage

This article explains the emergence of a plantation economy in the antebellum sugar sector. The hypothesis of increasing returns to scale was tested using a Zellner-Revankar generalized production function model. Economies of scale were found using samples from the manuscript censuses, but these scale economies diminished with size. A second important factor in explaining the size distribution of farms was the dual technology in the manufacturing stage of sugar production. Farms with inferior horse-power mills had poorer survival records and less flexibility in expansion than those using steam power mills.

Kaldor-Verdoorn's law and increasing returns to scale

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuele Millemaci ◽  
Ferdinando Ofria
Keyword(s):  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Labor Cost ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Increasing Returns To Scale ◽  
Capital Growth ◽  
Cost Growth ◽  
Verdoorn's Law

Purpose – The aim of this study is to investigate the validity of the Kaldor-Verdoorn's law in explaining the long-run determinants of the labor productivity growth for the manufacturing sector of some developed economies (Western European Countries, Australia, Canada, Japan and the USA). Design/methodology/approach – The authors consider the period 1973-2006 using data provided by the European Commission – Economics and Financial Affairs. The method is instrumental variable. The robustness of estimates is checked by means of the Chow and the CUSUM and CUSUMQ tests. The authors consider the traditional specification of the dynamic Verdoorn law and the one which also includes investment to output ratio (I/Y), as a proxy of the capital growth rate, and the average labor cost growth, as a proxy of supply factors. Findings – The findings suggest that the law is valid for the manufacturing as countries show increasing returns to scale. Capital growth and labor cost growth do not appear important in explaining productivity growth. The estimated Verdoorn coefficients are found to be substantially stable throughout the period. Originality/value – The authors consider the most recent years, which has been characterized by a constant decline in the average GDP growth rates; a productivity growth decline; the long-term reduction in the manufacturing share of total employment. The authors examine the importance of alternative hypotheses such as those related to the existence of supply constraints. The authors check the stability of the KVL throughout the period under the consideration and across countries. The authors evaluate whether, in the case of the developed countries, economies of scale are significant.

scholarly journals Increasing Returns and All That: A View from Trade

2002 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Werner Antweiler ◽  
Daniel Trefler
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Comparative Advantage ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Scale Economies ◽  
Trade Flows ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Large Database ◽  
Trade Data ◽  
Increasing Returns To Scale ◽  
Factor Endowments

Do scale economies help to explain international trade flows? Using a large database on output, trade flows, and factor endowments, we find that allowing for the presence of increasing returns to scale in production significantly increases our ability to predict international trade flows. In particular, using trade data, we find that a third of all goods-producing industries are characterized by increasing returns to scale. Thus, scale economies are a quantifiable and important source of comparative advantage.

scholarly journals Increasing Returns and Economic Growth of Russian Regions: Empirical Verification of Verdoorn’s Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 39-48
Author(s):  
Artem Isaev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Regional Growth ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Extended Model ◽  
Russian Regions ◽  
Increasing Returns To Scale ◽  
The Russian Federation

The paper tests the Kaldor-Verdoorn model on the base of the Russian Federation regional data for 2005–2017. According to the model, the process of regional growth has the property of cumulative causality. As a result of the benefits bringing by economies of scale, industrialized regions demonstrate faster growth rates at the expense of their economically less-advanced counterparts. Traditional and extended model specifications are examined. The extended specification additionally takes into account the presence of large agglomerations in a number of Russian regions. Estimates demonstrate the presence of cumulative causality and significant increasing returns to scale in manufacturing industry of Russian regions. Meanwhile, the study did not reveal an impact of large industrial agglomerations on the growth rates of the corresponding regions

scholarly journals Returns to Scale for EU Regions – evidence from the spatial panel model

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (329) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicja Anna Olejnik
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Regional Growth ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Increasing Returns To Scale ◽  
Spatial Panel ◽  
Panel Model ◽  
Eu Regions ◽  
Spatial Panel Model ◽  
The Eu

Recent findings emphasise the importance of localised returns to scale for the regional growth as well as for the agglomeration processes. However, it is still not well established whether returns to scale are constant or increasing, and to what extent. Therefore, in this study we apply specification which describes the productivity growth with the growth of output through the Verdoorn’s law. This study aims to provide some new estimates of the degree of returns to scale for EU regions. Our findings show that the hypothesis of increasing returns to scale is still valid in today’s EU economy. To test the hypothesis, we have employed the Multidimensional Spatial Panel Durbin Model with Spatial Fixed Effects. The research is conducted for 261 regions of the EU 28. The paper concludes that increasing returns to scale in EU regions are substantial.

Network Effects

2010 ◽  
pp. 1007-1013
Author(s):  
Erik den Hartigh
Keyword(s):  
Network Effects ◽  
Returns To Scale ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Increasing Returns To Scale ◽  
The Subject

From the 1980s, network effects attracted a lot of interest in economics and management sciences. This was mainly due to the work of Arthur (e.g., 1988, 1989, 1990). While the subject of increasing returns to scale in companies had a long tradition in economics, network effects (i.e., increasing returns in markets) had hardly been addressed.

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