Time in production economics: a brief historical excursus

In this paper, we critically review how alternative theories treat the time profile of production processes. We discuss how production and time are modelled in the Classical economics, in the von Neumann-Sraffa representation of production, and in mainstream production theories. Next, we focus on two time-specific analyses of production, developed by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen and Gordon Winston. Georgescu-Roegen's flow-fund model deals with the relationship between production organization, scale and efficiency. Winston's analysis of production can be considered as a complement of the flow-fund model, because it combines the time-specific representation of the production process in the fund-flow model with the cost i mplications of time-specific and duration-specific prices of the productive services.