Costs and Factor Substitution in the Provision of Local Fire Services
基于纽约州地方消防部门数据，发现消防服务生产不符合常见生产函数形式，且外生社会经济变量显著影响成本与要素价格弹性，表明地方政府调整生产以应对要素价格上涨的灵活性有限。
Evidence on costs and factor substitution is presented for a sample of local fire departments in New York State. The results suggest that fire service production does not fit either Leontief, Cobb-Douglas, or CES technology. In addition, exogenous socioeconomic variables are found to significantly affect public-sector costs and the estimates of factor price elasticities. The findings of relatively low factor demand and substitution elasticities suggest that local governments may have limited flexibility in adjusting their production of fire services to minimize the impact of rising factor prices. Copyright 1992 by MIT Press.