Abstract
Data on 37 chemical products are used to test a number of hypotheses about the learning curve and industrial price behavior. The results document a strong and consistent learning effect. Learning is found to be a function of cumulated industry output and cumulated investment rather than calendar time. Standard economies of scale appear significant but small in magnitude relative to the learning effect. Variations in the slope of the learning curve are linked to differences in R&D expenditures and capital intensity. Market concentration is found to be a strong influence on price flexibility and the timing of learningrelated price changes.
Keywords
Learning curveFlexibility (engineering)EconomicsInvestment (military)EconometricsFunction (biology)Learning effectScale (ratio)Demand curveCapital (architecture)Capital investmentMicroeconomics
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1984
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 213-213
- Citations
- 577
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Marvin B. Lieberman
(1984).
The Learning Curve and Pricing in the Chemical Processing Industries.
The RAND Journal of Economics
, 15
(2)
, 213-213.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2555676
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.2307/2555676