Output Fluctuations at the Plant Level
利用美国汽车行业工厂的周度数据，研究企业调整产出的多种短期边际（如加班、库存等），这些边际不同于常规要素需求，其调整成本和可变成本各异，有助于解释产出波动的若干经验谜题。
This paper examines the short-run dynamics of manufacturing costs by detailing how plants in the U. S. automobile industry change output. Weekly data show a variety of margins on which firms adjust production. These margins, which are distinct from the usual factor demand choices, differ in their lumpiness, their adjustment costs, and their variable costs. The existence of these margins explains several empirical puzzles of output fluctuations. Using a theory of the short-run dynamic cost function, we are able to infer some of the characteristics of the underlying cost function from the dynamic behavior of the different margins.