Abstract
From the very outset Political Economy has always had a particular interest in production. Nor indeed could it have been any different as humankind has always been eager to ensure its material needs are covered and guarantee its physical survival, reproduction and the fulfilling of the different needs it has developed over the course of history. This has resulted in an infinite variety of actions aimed at gathering, storing and processing all sorts of tangible goods, as well as social or personal services. This extensive set of intentional processes is generally known as production. It is a fundamental economic activity, the execution of which has always required different amounts of resources and time and over the course of history, this has involved the development of highly diverse social relations and technological skills.
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References
Engineering models of the production function express technical relationships using one or more explicit equations. This type of production functions are built when the process of transformation is reasonably homogenous and continuous. For instance, river cargo transport (Ton-Km/h) as a function of engine horsepower and the size of the boat, or steam generation of electricity (Kwh) expressed in terms of boiler temperature and pressure (De Neufville, 1990). Engineering production functions entail an important effort of data collection from experimental results. The identification of the production frontier is achieved by estimating several production functions.
Unfortunately, nowadays the life and work of Nicolae Georgescu-Roegen (1906–1994) is very little known amongst economists. References to him are to be found in Zamagni (1982), Georgescu-Roegen (1989, 1994)
It was at the Conference of the International Economic Association, held in Rome in 1965, that Georgescu-Roegen first presented the complete model of funds and flows (Georgescu-Roegen 1969). Since then the model has appeared, with no appreciable changes, time after time in his work. Notwithstanding, the last study wholly dedicated to this model was published in the mid-seventies.
The classification of funds and flows established by Georgescu-Roegen (1969, 1971, 1990: 207ff), is repeated by authors such as Ziliotti (1979: 628–630), Tani (1986: 200, 1993) and Scazzieri (1993: 110–112). In the text it has been added the funds encompassed by the term natural capital.
It must be said that the inclusion of this fund has been criticised as its role is strictly passive (Landesmann and Scazzieri 1996b: 222). Notwithstanding, in these pages to avoid a problem of completeness and consistency in the analytical representation of the production in line this fund will be considered. See chapter 4.2 below.
The table of the different elements of staged production is directly based on the work of Piacentini (1995) and Morroni (1992: chap. 7), whose findings were very similar. Nevertheless, both authors use the term “matrix” instead of “table” which is preferred here. The reason is that the concept is merely descriptive, and lacks the qualities required for mathematical manipulation.
A large number of the arguments given are later repeated in Georgescu-Roegen (1971).
It must be said that an attempt has been made to incorporate the funds and flows approach into a model of general interdependence (Tani 1988). Given of the lack of further research in this area, it is difficult to determine whether or not such an analytical work holds promise.
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(2007). Anatomy of the production process. In: Funds, Flows and Time. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71291-6_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71291-6_1
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