Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/154776 
Year of Publication: 
1997
Series/Report no.: 
Nota di Lavoro No. 12.1997
Publisher: 
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milano
Abstract: 
We present estimates of inventory models based on firm level panel data and investigate whether over-simplified specification of the production technology may account for the frequent failure to find technological incentives to smooth production in the context of the standard linear-quadratic model of inventory behavior. In particular, we argue that if the role of quasi-fixed factors is not modeled properly, this may lead to inconsistent estimates of marginal costs and, therefore, to erroneous conclusions about the convexity/concavity of the cost function. The model is accordingly extended to allow for a general restricted quadratic cost function, on the assumption that capital is costly to adjust. The evidence obtained by estimating the standard inventory model on a panel of Italian manufacturing firms suggests that marginal costs are decreasing. However, this result is overturned when one allows for the general quadratic cost function with capital as a quasi-fixed input, implying that the firm's technology provides incentives to smooth production.
Subjects: 
Inventories
Production Smoothing
Cost Function
JEL: 
D21
D92
E22
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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