THE CASE OF A QUEER ISOQUANT: INCREASING MARGINAL RATES OF SUBSTITUTION OF GRAIN FOR ROUGHAGE IN CATTLE FINISHING

The purpose of this paper is to argue the reality of increasing marginal rates of substitution of grain for roughage in beef production. Most economists and animal scientists have the idea that these marginal rates of technical substitution are decreasing. Brokken et al., Heady et al., and Goodrich et al. have shown increasing marginal rates of substitution of grain for roughage in cattle feeding response functions.1 The practical implications of such substitution relations are enormously important for both the producers and consumers of beef as well as for economic and technical research in beef production.