ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter we defined the conceptual framework for this research in relationship to four concepts: technology, scale (either in terms of output or capacity), scope or output variety and costs. It is now time to describe how this framework was turned into a workable method and research design, bearing in mind that the focus of the research was firms-institutions which in many cases are not used to providing detailed data and are often suspicious and unwilling to be ‘sniffed’ at by academic researchers.
