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In economics, an expansion path (also called a scale line〔Jain, TR; Khanna OP (2008). ''Economics.'' VK Publications, ISBN 978-81-87344-77-3〕) is a curve in a graph with quantities of two inputs, typically capital and labor, plotted on the axes. The path connects optimal input combinations as the scale of production expands.〔Hirschey, Mark (2008). ''Managerial economics.'' Cengage Learning, ISBN 978-0-324-58886-6〕 A producer seeking to produce the most units of a product in the cheapest possible way attempts to increase production along the expansion path.〔Prusty, Sadananda (2010). ''Managerial Economics.'' PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 978-81-203-4094-7〕 Economists Alfred Stonier and Douglas Hague defined ''expansion path'' as "that line which reflects the least cost method of producing different levels of output, when factor prices remain constant."〔Stonier, Alfred W.; Hague, Douglas C. (1980). ''A textbook of economic theory, 5th edition.'' Longmans ISBN 978-0-582-29530-8〕 The points on an expansion path occur where the firm's isocost curves, each showing fixed total input cost, and its isoquants, each showing a particular level of output, are tangent. As a producer's allowable total cost increases, the firm moves from one of these tangency points to the next; the line joining the tangency points is called the expansion path.〔Salvatore, Dominick (1989). ''Schaum's outline of theory and problems of managerial economics.'' McGraw-Hill, ISBN 978-0-07-054513-7〕 If an expansion path forms a straight line from the origin, the production technology is considered homothetic (or homoethetic).〔Rasmussen, Svend (2011). ''Production Economics: The Basic Theory of Production Optimisation.'' Springer, ISBN 978-3-642-14609-1〕 In this case, the ratio of input usages is always the same regardless of the level of output, and the inputs can be expanded proportionately so as to maintain this optimal ratio as the allowable total cost expands. A Cobb–Douglas production function is an example of a production function that has an expansion path which is a straight line through the origin.〔 ==See also== *Conditional factor demands *Income-consumption curve, the closest analog in consumer theory 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Expansion path」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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