Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2011, 19(5):34-47 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.345

Alternative Production Models in Economic Theory

Martin Dlouhý
Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, Fakulta informatiky a statistiky (dlouhy@vse.cz).

In the paper, marginal analysis and linear programming are described and then compared as two independent theoretical approaches to production theory. Although marginal analysis dominates economic literature, we argue that linear programming is an equivalent theory with some advantages and, of course, some disadvantages in comparison to marginal analysis. Marginal analysis will be a more suitable choice if we assume continuous changes and perfect substitution in production and unlimited capacities of production factors. On the other hand, linear programming describes production as a combination of a finite number of available technologies with limited capacities of production factors. However, the best choice is likely to combine both the approaches to complement one another. It is a paradox that many economic students know linear programming from operational research or management science courses, but they have no notion that linear programming is also one of the basic tools of quantitative economic analysis.

Keywords: production theory, production function, linear programming, marginal analysis
JEL classification: C02, D24

Published: August 1, 2011  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Dlouhý, M. (2011). Alternative Production Models in Economic Theory. Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, 19(5), 34-47. doi: 10.18267/j.aop.345
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. ALLEN, R. G. D. 1971. Matematická ekonomie. Praha : Academia, 1971.
    2. DLOUHÝ, M.; JABLONSKÝ, J.; NOVOSÁDOVÁ, I. 2007. Využití analýzy obalu dat pro hodnocení efektivnosti českých nemocnic. Politická ekonomie. 2007, č. 1, s. 60-71. ISSN 0032-3233. Go to original source...
    3. DORFMAN, R.; SAMUELSON, P A.; SOLOW, R. M. 1987. Linear programming and economic analysis. New York : Dover Publications, 1987 (reprint původního vydání z roku 1958).
    4. FENDEKOVÁ, E. 2006. Oligopoly a regulované monopoly. Bratislava : Iura Edition, 2006.
    5. FIALA, P; DLOUHÝ, M. 2006. Základy kvantitativní ekonomie a ekonomické analýzy. Praha : Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2006.
    6. HOLMAN, R. 2002. Mikroekonomie - středně pokročilý kurz. Praha : C. H. Beck, 2002.
    7. HUŠEK, R.; MAŇAS, M. 1989. Matematické modely v ekonomii. Praha : SNTL, 1989.
    8. CHARNES, A.; COOPER, W. W.; RHODES, E. 1978. Measuring the inefficiency of decision making units. European Journal of Operational Research. 1978, no. 2, s. 429-444. Go to original source...
    9. JABLONSKÝ, J. 2002. Operační výzkum: kvantitativní modely pro ekonomické rozhodování. Praha : Professional Publishing, 2002.
    10. JABLONSKÝ, J.; DLOUHÝ, M. 2004. Modely hodnocení efektivnosti produkčních jednotek. Praha : Professional Publishing, 2004.
    11. KOOPMANS, T. C. (ed.). 1951. Activity Analysis of Production and Allocation. New York : John Wiley and Sons, 1951.
    12. KOUTSOYIANNIS, A. 1979. Modern Microeconomics. 2. vyd. London : Macmillan Press, 1979. Go to original source...
    13. NICHOLSON, W. 2002. Microeconomic theory: basic principles and extensions. 8. Ed. South-Western, 2002.
    14. SAMUELSON, P A.; NORDHAUS, W. D. 1995. Economics. 15. Ed. New York : McGraw-Hill, 1995.
    15. SOUKUP J. 2003. Mikroekonomická analýza. Slaný : Melandrium, 2003.
    16. SOUKUPOVÁ, J.; MACÁKOVÁ, L. 2009. Teorie firmy. Slaný : Melandrium, 2009.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content