By representing a system of budget shares as an approximate factor model we determine its rank, i.e. the number of common functional forms, or factors, spanning the space of Engel curves. Once the common factors are estimated via approximate principal components, we identify them by imposing...

Simultaneity represents a fundamental problem when estimating the elasticity of substitution between capital and labour. To overcome this problem, a wide variety of external instruments has been applied in the literature. However, the use of instruments may lead to wrong inference if they are...

Existing estimation methods for multi-factor CES functions require limiting assumptions about the nature of technical change. We demonstrate how a system of equations and a fixed elasticity in the nested process can provide identification for more flexible specifications and for small data...

We estimate the effect of information on consumers' willingness to pay for branded goods in physically homogeneous consumer packaged goods categories. In a case study of headache remedies, we find that college education, working in a healthcare occupation, and other proxies for product knowledge...

We propose a demand model where consumers simultaneously choose a few different goodsfrom a large menu of available goods, and choose how much to consume of each good. Themodel nests multinomial discrete choice and continuous demand systems as special cases.Goods can be substitutes or...

Hedge Fund returns are often highly serially correlated mainly due to illiquidity exposures given that investments in such securities tend to be inactively traded and associated market prices are not always readily available. Following that, observed returns of such alternative investments tend...

The paper considers a neoclassical model set in the cost function approach to estimate primary energy factor demands for the Italian economy, using a translog cost function specification. Cointegration theory is employed to estimate the long-run factor share model, and the general to specific...

Elasticity of factor substitution is one of the key parameters of any computational general equilibrium model. Despite a wide use of this model in a policy analysis, there are a few estimates of the elasticity, with almost none for transition economies in Europe. To fill this gap, we estimate...

Widowhood and retirement are likely to change the economic environment of elderly households. While retirement primarily changes income and expenditure patterns, widowhood fundamentally changes the structure of the household. Beside high non-monetary cost of losing the partner, resources are no...