MULTI-OUTPUT TRANSLOG PRODUCTION COST FUNCTION - THE CASE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES (FROM ECONOMIC MODELS OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, 1978, BY J M HEINEKE - SEE NCJ-61013)

• NCJ Number: 61019
• Author(s): M N DARROUGH; J M HEINEKE
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 44 pages
• Grant Number(s): 75-NI-99-0123
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Elsevier North-Holland, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: Netherlands

Annotation

AN ECONOMIC MODEL OF AN OPTIMIZING FIRM WAS USED TO CHARACTERIZE THE PRODUCTION STRUCTURE OF A SAMPLE OF 35 MEDIUM-SIZED U.S. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.

Abstract

THE MODEL BEGAN WITH A SECOND ORDER APPROXIMATION TO AN ARBITRARY MULTI-OUTPUT, MULTI-INPUT PRODUCTION POSSIBILITIES FUNCTION. COMBINED CROSS-SECTIONAL AND TIME SERIES DATA FROM 35 CITIES WERE USED TO TEST FOR THE EXISTENCE OF AGGREGATE INDEXES OF POLICE OUTPUT, FOR THE DISJOINTEDNESS OF OUTPUTS, AND FOR THE CONSISTENCY OF THE ESTIMATED COST FUNCTION WITH OPTIMIZING BEHAVIOR AS PREDICTED BY CLASSICAL ECONOMIC THEORY. RESULTS INDICATE THAT POLICE ADMINISTRATORS' DECISIONS ARE INCONSISTENT WITH COST MINIMIZATION, THAT THE HYPOTHESIS OF NONJOINT PRODUCTION IS INCORRECT, AND THAT RETURNS TO SCALE VARY CONSIDERABLY WITH ACTIVITY LEVELS. IN ADDITION, NO CONSISTENT INDEX WAS FOUND FOR ANY OF THE SUBAGGREGATES OF OUTPUTS, WHICH INDICATED THAT AGGREGATION OF POLICE OUTPUTS INTO ONE MEASURE RESULTS IN LOSS OF INFORMATION. RETURNS TO SCALE, MARGINAL COSTS, AVERAGE COSTS, AND AVERAGE RATES OF TRANSFORMATION AT THE SAMPLE MEAN WERE ALSO CALCULATED. FURTHER RESEARCH IS RECOMMENDED, ESPECIALLY ON THE SUBJECT OF CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON. TABLES, FOOTNOTES, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. FOR THE COMPLETE VOLUME OF WHICH THIS STUDY IS A PART, SEE NCJ61013. (CFW)