In this paper a ray-homothetic production function is used to determine returns to scale for Japanese agriculture for the period 1878 to 1940. The advantage of the ray-homothetic function is that it allows returns to scale to vary with both output and factor intensity. The results show that for...

In this paper, an alternative methodology for measuring the rate and bias of technical change is developed. The method is then applied to Japanese agricultural data for the period 1878 to 1938. The results indicate that Japanese agriculture was efficient, technical innovation was rapid, and this...