The Decompositions of Cost Variation

Abstract

In this paper a number of meaningful and empirically implementable decompositions of the cost variation (in difference and ratio form) are developed. The components distinguished are price level change, technical efficiency change, allocative efficiency change, technological change, scale of activity change, and price structure change. Given data from a (balanced) panel of production units, all the necessary ingredients for the computation of the various decompositions can be obtained by using linear programming techniques. An application is provided.