RT Journal Article SR 00 ID 10.15609/annaeconstat2009.121-122.7 A1 Crampes, Claude A1 Renault, Jérôme T1 The Repairman Problem Revisited JF The Annals of Economics and Statistics YR 2016 FD 2016-06 VO 122 SP 7 OP 24 AB We use a probabilistic model to show that the development of a large number of small production units facing independent risks of failure must be accompanied by an approximately proportional increase in the number of repairmen. We derive the cost function of a machine in working condition, which increases with the cost of an installed machine and with the repair cost and failure probability, and decreases with repairman efficiency. We provide a very simple proof and generalize the results of Arrow et al. (1972). We also show that it is redundant to require installers to hire the number of repairmen necessary to reach a fixed availability level for each installed machine. PB Association pour le développement de la recherche en économie et en statistique SN 2115-4430 LK https://publications.ut-capitole.fr/id/eprint/22352/ UL http://tse-fr.eu/pub/30725