Intermediate Inputs and External Economies

作     者：Haiwen Zhou 

作者机构：Department ofEconomics Old Dominion University Norfolk VA 23529 USA 

出 版 物：《Frontiers of Economics in China-Selected Publications from Chinese Universities》 (中国高等学校学术文摘·经济学（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2014年第9卷第2期

页      面：216-239页

学科分类：02[经济学] 0201[经济学-理论经济学] 020105[经济学-世界经济] 

主　　题：external economies internal increasing returns linkage effects choice of technology oligopolistic competition 

摘      要：Is the degree of external economies （at the industry level） higher than the degree of internal increasing returns （at the firm level）？ If so, what is the exact source of this difference？ In the general equilibrium model in which firms producing final goods choose the degree of specialization of their technologies, external economies arise from the usage of intermediate inputs and the existence of internal increasing returns. It is frequently assumed that increasing returns are absent at the firm level while present at the industry level. In this model, the existence of increasing returns at the form level is necessary for the existence of external economies at the industry level. We show that the degree of external economies increases with the level of linkage effects. However, a higher linkage effect does not always lead firms to choose more specialized technologies.