Factor Substitution in the Production of Library Services: Evidence from the North American Research Libraries

摘要

Economic analysis provides a rigorous foundation for the investigation of production activity, but relatively little attention has been given to service activities. This paper examines the technology of library services. Previous studies of library economics have focused mainly on economies of scale. The model proposed identifies scale economies, together with the substitution relationships among three categories of library staff, which are inferred from estimates of the cost function of 92 research libraries. For all categories of employees there is evidence of substitutability, but the demand for librarians is inelastic and the substitution possibilities weak. Student assistants are relatively strong substitutes for support staff and to a limited degree may be substituted for trained librarians.