INDUSTRY COST CURVES AND THE SPATIAL ORGANISATION OF PRODUCTION

The nature of production is examined for a particular class of economic activeiy at the scale of the region. Average cost conditions at the plant level are specified, from which the long‐run average cost curve of the regional industry is derived. Attention is then drawn to certain features of this curve, including the upward‐sloping form over part of its length. Consideration is also given to different types of adjustment over various time horizons. Finally, for a regional industry under unified control, long‐run equilbrium is specified for alternative forms of competition in the extraregional product market.