Flexible functional forms are used to examine the characteristics of production technologies. The Fourier functional form is capable of approximating any function globally, with the specified expansion. Unfortunately the exact form of the expansion is not known. The regularity conditions are...

This paper examines the Multi-Product Asymptotically Ideal Production Model as an alternative to the translog and normalized quadratic functional forms using farm level data. Factors such as ease of estimation, imposition of regularity conditions, and quantitative differences in empirical...

In this paper we revisit the issue on the impact of public R&D expenditure on US agricultural productivity growth. We estimate a dual cost function using a state-by-year panel data set. We construct the potential R&D “spillins” based on both geographical location and production mix. We also...

This paper develops a method to jointly estimate crop yield elasticities and area elasticities with respect to output prices based on a theoretically consistent model. The model uses a duality theory approach for the multi-output and multi-input firm, and introduces uncertainty in the level of...

Over 30 million lunches and 9.8 million breakfasts are served every day to children in participating American schools through the USDA National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. It is challenging for participating local school food authorities (SFAs) to serve appealing, healthful meals...