Xu Nan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-49). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- Various Preference and Technology Specifications and Indeterminacy --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- CES Preference and Cobb-Douglas Technology --- p.7 / Chapter 2.2 --- Separable Utility and CES Technology --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3 --- Summary --- p.20 / Chapter 3. --- Capacity Utilization and Indeterminacy --- p.20 / Chapter 3.1 --- Separable Utility and Capacity Utilization --- p.21 / Chapter 3.2 --- Non-separable Utility and Capacity Utilization --- p.26 / Chapter 4. --- Production Depending on Average Consumption and Capital and Indeterminacy --- p.30 / Chapter 4.1 --- Production Depending on Aggregate Consumption and Capital --- p.32 / Chapter 4.2 --- Equivalence between the Two Settings --- p.36 / Chapter 5 . --- Concluding Remarks --- p.39 / Chapter 6. --- Appendix --- p.42 / Chapter 6.1 --- Properties of CES Utility Function --- p.42 / Chapter 6.2 --- Proof of Proposition 1 --- p.43 / Chapter 6.3 --- Derivation of Production Function in Section 3 --- p.45 / Chapter 6.4 --- Derivation of Depreciation Rate in subsection 3.2 --- p.46 / References --- p.47

Choi Hak. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves 185-193.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Syracuse University, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-163).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2006. / Includes bibliography.

David A. Castanon, Bernard C. Levy, Stanley B. Gershwin. / "March, 1982" / Bibliography: p. [4-5] / "N00014-77-C-0532" "ET-76-A01-2295"

Nonparametric linear programming tests for consistency with the hypotheses of technical efficiency and allocative efficiency for the general case of multiple output-multiple input technologies are developed in Part I. The tests are formulated relative to three kinds of technologies — convex, constant returns to scale and quasiconcave technologies. Violation indices as summary indicators of the distance of an inefficient observation from an efficient allocation are proposed. The consistent development of the violation indices across the technical efficiency and allocative efficiency tests allows us to obtain comparative measures of the degrees of technical inefficiency and pure allocative inefficiency. Constrained optimization tests applicable to cases where the producer is restricted to optimizing with respect to a subset of goods are also proposed. The latter tests yield the revealed preference-type inequalities commonly used as tests for consistency of observed data with profit maximizing or cost minimizing behavior as limiting cases. Computer programs for implementing the different tests and sample results are listed in the appendix. In part II, an empirical comparison of nonparametric and parametric measures of technical progress for constant returns to scale technologies is performed using the Canadian input-output data for the period 1961-1980. The original data base was aggregated into four sectors and ten goods and the comparison was done for each sector. If we assume optimizing behavior on the part of the producers, we can reinterpret the violation indices yielded by the efficiency tests in part I as indicators of the shift in the production frontier. More precisely, the violation indices can be considered nonparametric chained indices of technical progress. The parametric measures of technical progress were obtained through econometric profit function estimation using the generalized McFadden flexible functional form with a quadratic spline model for technical progress proposed by Diewert and Wales (1989). Under the assumption of constant returns, the index of technical change is defined in terms of the unit scale profit function which gives the per unit return to the normalizing good. The empirical results show that the parametric estimates of technical change display a much smoother behavior which can be attributed to the incorporation of stochastic disturbance terms in the estimation procedure and, more interestingly, track the long term trend in the nonparametric estimates. Part III builds on the theory of minimum wages in international trade and is a theoretical essay in the tradition of analyzing the effects of factor market imperfections on resource allocation. The comparative static responses of the endogenous variables — output levels, employment levels of fixed-price factors with elastic supply and flexible prices of domestic resources — to marginal changes in the economy's exogenous variables — output prices, fixed factor prices and endowments of flexibly-priced domestic resources -— are examined. The effect of a change in a fixed factor price on other flexible factor prices can be decomposed Slutsky-like into substitution and scale effects. A symmetry condition between fixed factor prices and flexible factor prices is obtained which clarifies the concepts of "substitutability" and "complementarity" between these two kinds of factors. As an illustration, the model is applied to the case of a devaluation in a two-sector small open economy with rigid wages and capital as specific factors. The empirical implementation of the general model for the Canadian economy is left to more able econometricians but a starting point can be the sectoral analysis performed in Part II. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

This thesis estimates the production, cost, and profit functions for North Dakota agriculture using state-level input-output quantity and price data for the period 1960-2004. A Cobb-Douglas functional form with Hick-neutral technology change is used to measure the contribution of capital, land, labor, materials, energy, and chemical inputs quantities and output quantity using the primal production function; contribution of capital quantity, land quantity, output quantity, labor price, materials price, energy price, and chemical price to cost using the dual restricted cost function; and the contribution of capital quantity, land quantity, labor price, materials price, energy price, chemical price, output price to profit using the dual restricted profit function. In contrast to previous studies, quantile regression is used to explore the linear or nonlinear relationship between the independent and dependent variable by estimating parameter coefficients at each quantile using time-series data. Empirical findings suggest the cost function is the best model to examine the relationship between input prices, output quantity and cost using quantile regression for North Dakota agriculture, Further, the quantile regression suggests a linear and non-linear relationship between cost and certain independent variables.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 194-197. / by Sergio Rodolfo Jara Diaz. / Ph.D.

Moll (1991) has criticised the proposal that demand restructuring should act as the impetus for economic growth in a post-apartheid South Africa on the grounds of, a lack of empirical support. The demand restructuring thesis is premised on two empirically testable assertions: firstly that realisable economies of scale are greater in labour-intensive wage goods sectors than in luxury goods and secondly that in manufacturing as a whole labour can easily substitute for capital. While a number of studies employing either the Cobb-Douglas (Cobb & Douglas, 1948) or Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES) ( Arrow, Chenery, Minhas & Solow, 1961) functions have attempted to quantify these features of technology, their conclusions are potentially invalid. Both functions impose the maintained hypotheses of homotheticity, homogeneity and seperability a priori. As primary hypothesis tests regarding the magnitude of parameters depend on the validity of both the hypothesis being tested and the underlying maintained hypotheses, the plausibility of maintained hypotheses is an important consideration when choosing a functional form for econometric analysis. Homotheticity and homogeneity constrain the theoretical determinants of economies of scale and seperability. The theoretical determinants of substitution thus limit the contexts in which functions which embody these hypotheses are likely to be appropriate. The mathematical concept of duality has permitted the development of flexible, general functions, such as the Transcendental Logarithmic Cost Function (Christensen, Jorgensen and Lau, 1971, 1973), which rather than imposing, permits the testing of the most commonly imposed maintained hypotheses. By applying this function to three sub-sectors of South African manufacturing both the validity of the commonly imposed maintained hypotheses and the empirical premises of the demand restructuring position are assessed in this dissertation. This application indicates that not only are the hypotheses of homotheticity, homogeneity and seperability invalid but that the inappropriate imposition of homotheticity, homogeneity and seperability invalid but that the inappropriate imposition of homotheticity biases estimates of scale downwards. Evidence also emerges to challenge Moll's (1991) assertions regarding the empirical validity of demand restructuring. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.