person to work the counter pretty quickly as well.

Economists often use a short-hand form for the production function:

Access for free at openstax.org
7.2 • Production in the Short Run 163

where L represents all the variable inputs, and K represents all the fixed inputs.

Economists differentiate between short and long run production.

The short run is the period of time during which at least some factors of production are fixed. During the

period of the pizza restaurant lease, the pizza restaurant is operating in the short run, because it is limited to

using the current building—the owner can’t choose a larger or smaller building.

The long run is the period of time during which all factors are variable. Once the lease expires for the pizza

restaurant, the shop owner can move to a larger or smaller place.

Let’s explore production in the short run using a specific example: tree cutting (for lumber) with a two-person

crosscut saw.
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