本文利用 1986 年的廠商資料，估計臺灣製造業 9 個細項產業的超越對數生產函 數（ transcendental logarithmic production function ），以探討企業規模與企業效率 、勞動與資本等要素間的替代關係等。 首先，本研究發現員工數不到 100 人之中小企業， 其勞動或資本邊際生產力並非都不如百人員工以上的大企業。其次，對要素替代彈性的估計 ，則顯現出中小企業比大大企業在生產要素的調整上較富彈性。至於有很多產業的平均規模 彈性大於 1，顯示有規模報酬遞增的情形，但這現象在中小企業並沒有大企業顯著。此外， 本文以修正最小平方法估計邊界生產函數（ frontier production function ）， 發現以 Farrell 指數代表的大企業技術效率水準普遍不如處於競爭壓力下的中小企業，這說明了中 小企業的另一種潛能。
This study estimates both average and frontier production functions for nine selected Taiwan manufacturing industries in 1986. By using two factors' transcen-dentral logarithmic production function form, we compare productivity, flexibility, and technical efficiency between SMEs (defined by entrerprises with less than 100 employees) and their larger counterparts. Our empirical results suggest that, in some industries, SMEs were superior to larger firms, with respect to their labor or capital productivity. In most industries, small enterprises tended to have larger partial elasticity of substitution and higher technical efficiency (measured in the estimated Farrell index). These findings show the flexibility and better internal performance of SMEs among Taiwan manufactures.
