Citation

Prendergast R. J. Dev. Stud. 1990; 27(1): 72-88.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00220389008422183

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between scale of production, optimal choice of technique and costs for three engineering industries: nuts and bolts, iron founding and machine tools. In all three industries costs of production fell as the scale of output increased. This was associated with switches of technique and the spread of fixed costs over a larger number of units. The capital‐output ratio fell and labour productivity increased with increases in scale while, in most cases, the capital‐labour ratio increased. The implications of these findings are briefly discussed.