IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/jlaare/31142.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Structure of Models: Understanding Theory Reduction and Testing with a Production Example

Author

Listed:
  • Davis, George C.

Abstract

The language of economics is the language of models. Understanding the structure of this language offers many benefits. Unfortunately, the structure is ubiquitous in implementation but absent in documentation. This paper documents the structure of models in the context of the theory reduction and testing process. The structure is used to explain why there are several legitimate ways to deal with nonspherical errors in econometric models and why the recent work on stochastic preferences and technologies is a progressive step forward for the discipline. A production modeling exercise is presented to help illuminate the concepts.

Suggested Citation

  • Davis, George C., 2004. "The Structure of Models: Understanding Theory Reduction and Testing with a Production Example," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 29(1), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:jlaare:31142
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.31142
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/31142/files/29010065.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.31142?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steven Rappaport, 1998. "Models and Reality in Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1258.
    2. McElroy, Marjorie B, 1987. "Additive General Error Models for Production, Cost, and Derived Demand or Share Systems," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(4), pages 737-757, August.
    3. Hausman,Daniel M., 1992. "The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521415019, December.
    4. Arthur Lewbel, 2001. "Demand Systems with and without Errors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 611-618, June.
    5. George C. Davis, 1997. "The Logic of Testing Structural Change in Meat Demand: A Methodological Analysis and Appraisal," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(4), pages 1186-1192.
    6. Hausman,Daniel M., 1992. "The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521425230, December.
    7. Rulon D. Pope & Richard E. Just, 2002. "Random Profits and Duality," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(1), pages 1-7.
    8. Davis, George C., 1997. "The Formal Logic Of Testing Structural Change In Meat Demand: A Methodological Analysis," Faculty Paper Series 23975, Texas A&M University, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    9. V. Eldon Ball & Jean-Christophe Bureau & Richard Nehring & Agapi Somwaru, 1997. "Agricultural Productivity Revisited," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(4), pages 1045-1063.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mészáros, Sándor & Szabó, Gábor, 2005. "A hazai agrárökonómiai kutatás a nemzetközi kihívások tükrében. Agrárgazdaság, vidékfejlesztés és agrárinformatika (AVA). Debreceni Egyetem Agrártudományi Centrum, Agrárgazdasági és Vidékfejlesztési K," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(9), pages 707-712.
    2. Meszaros, Sandor, 2008. "Theory testing (hypothesis testing) in agricultural economics," Studies in Agricultural Economics, Research Institute for Agricultural Economics, vol. 107, pages 1-13, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Julian Reiss, 2001. "Natural economic quantities and their measurement," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 287-311.
    2. Steven Rappaport, 1999. "Book Reviews," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(3), pages 445-451.
    3. Steven Rappaport, 2001. "Economic models as mini-theories," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 275-285.
    4. David Calnitsky & Asher Dupuy-Spencer, 2013. "The economic consequences of homo economicus: neoclassical economic theory and the fallacy of market optimality," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 6(2), May.
    5. Suzuki, Tomo, 2003. "The accounting figuration of business statistics as a foundation for the spread of economic ideas," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 65-95, January.
    6. Fève, Frédérique & Fève, Patrick & Florens, Jean-Pierre, 2002. "Attribute Choices and Structural Econometrics of Price Elasticity of Demand," IDEI Working Papers 155, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse, revised 2003.
    7. Kevin D. Hoover, 2016. "The Crisis in Economic Theory: A Review Essay," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(4), pages 1350-1361, December.
    8. Itzhak Gilboa & Andrew Postlewaite & Larry Samuelson & David Schmeidler, 2011. "Economic Models as Analogies," PIER Working Paper Archive 12-001, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    9. Kakarot-Handtke, Egmont, 2013. "The Ideal Economy: A Prototype," MPRA Paper 51582, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Mur, Jesús & Angulo, Ana, 2009. "Model selection strategies in a spatial setting: Some additional results," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 200-213, March.
    11. Itzhak Gilboa & Andrew Postlewaite & Larry Samuelson & David Schmeidler, 2014. "A Model of Modeling," PIER Working Paper Archive 14-026, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    12. Miguel A. Duran, 2007. "Mathematical Needs and Economic Interpretations," Contributions to Political Economy, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 26(1), pages 1-16.
    13. Ole Røgeberg & Morten Nordberg, 2005. "A defence of absurd theories in economics," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 543-562.
    14. Schaefer, Alexander, 2021. "Rationality, uncertainty, and unanimity: an epistemic critique of contractarianism," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 37(1), pages 82-117, March.
    15. Rosa L. Matzkin, 2003. "Nonparametric Estimation of Nonadditive Random Functions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(5), pages 1339-1375, September.
    16. Joshua M. Epstein, 2007. "Agent-Based Computational Models and Generative Social Science," Introductory Chapters, in: Generative Social Science Studies in Agent-Based Computational Modeling, Princeton University Press.
    17. John B. Davis, 2013. "Mark Blaug on the historiography of economics," Chapters, in: Marcel Boumans & Matthias Klaes (ed.), Mark Blaug: Rebel with Many Causes, chapter 12, pages 159-176, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. William G. Tomek & Harry M. Kaiser, 1999. "On improving econometric analyses of generic advertising impacts," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(4), pages 485-500.
    19. Eran Binenbaum, 2005. "Towards a Relational Economics," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2005-04, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    20. Ricardo F. Crespo, 2012. "Models as signs" as "good economic models," Estudios Economicos, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Departamento de Economia, vol. 29(58), pages 1-12, january-j.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Research Methods/ Statistical Methods;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:jlaare:31142. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/waeaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.