ECONOMIES OF SCALE AND INPUT-SUBSTITUTION IN PUBLIC-LIBRARIES

A translog cost function is applied to 1988 data for 194 Indiana public libraries to measure economies of scale and input substitution elasticities. Book circulation measures library output and costs include noncapital expenditures. Scale economies exist for libraries with circulations up to 55,000 per year. Larger libraries exhibit constant returns to scale. Labor, books, and supplies/services are all substitutes with inelastic own-price and cross-price elasticities. © 1992.