Non-convex costs and capital utilization: A study of production scheduling at automobile assembly plants
利用十一家汽车装配厂的详细数据，通过动态规划模型解释生产调度的异质性，发现当产量低于最小有效规模时，非凸性导致生产集中、资本利用率低且波动大；反之则资本利用率高且波动小。
I study detailed data from eleven automobile assembly plants. These data display considerable cross-plant heterogeneity in production scheduling. To explain the observed heterogeneity, I solve a dynamic programming model. When desired production is below the plant's minimum efficient scale, non-convexities induce production bunching; the plant uses less than full capital utilization on average and production is more volatile than sales. When desired production is above the plant's minimum efficient scale, the plant operates in a convex region of the cost curve. In this case, it uses high levels of capital utilization and production is less volatile than sales.