A GRAPHICAL ILLUSTRATION OF THE DULOY PARADOX

As a guide to the reorganisation of resources, the MVP /MFC comparison can result in the adjustment of resources to new levels which are actually further away from their optimal levels than their original values. Duloy illustrated this paradox mathematically in the context of fitted agricultural production functions in a paper published in 1959. His result is of considerable importance to agricultural micro-economists; however, it is not easy to teach to students of poor mathematical background. The need to be able to teach in literary form the Duloy Paradox--that increasing the application of a factor with a relatively high MVP can result in a movement away from the optimum input-mix--led to the following analysis.