A person cannot make many decisions at a time, but an organization needs millions of interrelated decisions. We incorporate this idea into a standard theory of production. Two assumptions are emphasized: an agent cannot optimize more than one input at a time, and there is interaction among inputs. When a firm alternates its attention, the demand for inputs gradually adjusts to the static optimal level. When a firm optimally allocates its attention, this adjustment may not occur. We investigate the conditions under which the adjustment takes place. The results are applied to a standard investment theory. The derived investment-capital ratio is independent of firm size and imperfectly correlated with Tobin's Q.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Volume (Year): 33 (2009) Issue (Month): 2 (February) Pages: 345-362 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
(with abstract),
plain text
(with abstract),
BibTeX,
RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite),
ReDIF