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A Brief History of Production Functions

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Author Info
Mishra, SK

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Abstract

This paper gives an outline of evolution of the concept and econometrics of production function, which was one of the central apparatus of neo-classical economics. It shows how the famous Cobb-Douglas production function was indeed invented by von Thunen and Wicksell, how the CES production function was formulated, how the elasticity of substitution was made a variable and finally how Sato’s function incorporated biased technical changes. It covers almost all specifications proposed during 1950-1975, and further the LINEX production functions and incorporation of energy as an input. The paper in divided into (1) single product functions, (2) joint product functions, and (3) aggregate production functions. It also discusses the ‘capital controversy’ and its impacts.

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File URL: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/5254/
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Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number 5254.

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Date of creation: 09 Oct 2007
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Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:5254

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Related research
Keywords: Production function; Cobb-Douglas; CES; Transcendental; translog; Zellner-Revankar; VES; Bruno; Kadiyala; Diewert; Kummel; Mundlak; Engineering production function; Multi-output; joint product; Data Envelopment; Household production function; Humbug production function; capital controversy; Cambridge controversy.;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C30 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - General
C20 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - General
D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Capital and Total Factor Productivity; Capacity
B16 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Quantitative and Mathematical
B13 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Neoclassical through 1925 (includes Austrian, Marshallian, Walrasian)

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  1. Avi J. Cohen & G. C. Harcourt, 2003. "Retrospectives: Whatever Happened to the Cambridge Capital Theory Controversies?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 199-214, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Fare, Rolf, 1986. " On the Existence and Equivalence of Three Joint Production Functions," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 88(4), pages 669-74.
  3. Chizmar, John F & Zak, Thomas A, 1983. "Modeling Multiple Outputs in Educational Production Functions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(2), pages 17-22, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Samuelson, Paul A, 1979. "Paul Douglas's Measurement of Production Functions and Marginal Productivities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 923-39, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Revankar, Nagesh S, 1971. "A Class of Variable Elasticity of Substitution Production Functions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 61-71, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Koopmans, Tjalling C, 1979. "Economics among the Sciences," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(1), pages 1-13, March.
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  7. George J. Stigler, 1952. "The Ricardian Theory of Value and Distribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60, pages 187. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Lloyd, Peter J, 1969. "Elementary Geometric/Arithmetic Series and Early Production Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 77(1), pages 21-34, Jan./Feb.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Sato, Ryuzo, 1975. "The Most General Class of CES Functions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 43(5-6), pages 999-1003, Sept.-Nov. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Dhrymes, Phoebus J & Mitchell, B M, 1969. "Estimation of Joint Production Functions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 37(4), pages 732-36, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Rao, Potluri, 1969. "A Note on Econometrics of Joint Production," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 37(4), pages 737-38, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Vinod, Hrishikesh D, 1969. "Econometrics of Joint Production-A Reply," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 37(4), pages 739-40, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Lucas, Robert Jr, 1976. "Econometric policy evaluation: A critique," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 19-46, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Wibe, Soren A, 1984. "Engineering Production Functions: A Survey," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 51(204), pages 401-11, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Shaikh, Anwar, 1974. "Laws of Production and Laws of Algebra: The Humbug Production Function," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 56(1), pages 115-20, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Harcourt, G C, 1969. "Some Cambridge Controversies in the Theory of Capital," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 369-405, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Salvadori, Neri & Steedman, Ian, 1988. "Joint Production Analysis in a Sraffian Framework," Bulletin of Economic Research, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(3), pages 165-95, June.
  18. Harris, Donald J, 1973. "Capital, Distribution, and the Aggregate Production Function," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(1), pages 100-13, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Seiford, Lawrence M. & Thrall, Robert M., 1990. "Recent developments in DEA : The mathematical programming approach to frontier analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1-2), pages 7-38. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Vinod, H. D., 1976. "Canonical ridge and econometrics of joint production," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 147-166, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Hanoch, Giora, 1970. "Homotheticity in joint production," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 423-426, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Pollak, Robert A & Wachter, Michael L, 1975. "The Relevance of the Household Production Function and Its Implications for the Allocation of Time," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 83(2), pages 255-77, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Graham, John W & Green, Carole A, 1984. "Estimating the Parameters of a Household Production Function with Joint Products," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 66(2), pages 277-82, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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