The sawmill industry of the Lake States: a study of productivity, technological change, and factor demand

A translog variable cost function of the sawmill industry in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin was estimated using pooled time-series data for the period 1963-1996 with inputs labour, materials, and capital. The estimated model imposed Hicks-neutral technical change and allowed for nonconstant returns to scale as well as nonunitary elasticities of substitution amongst the inputs. Results for the Allen-Uzawa partial elasticity of substitution and the Morishima elasticity of substitution indicate that the three inputs were inelastic substitutes. The own-price elasticities of demand and the cross-price elasticities were all inelastic. The industry exhibits increasing returns to scale and positive technical change. Total factor productivity was increasing by 0.69%/year over the study period.