The paper presents a hypothesis concerning a differential formula for the production function. Th... more The paper presents a hypothesis concerning a differential formula for the production function. The problem of specifying the production function is attempted to be solved using a systems approach. The differential formula of the production function represents the structure of connection between flow and potential. They are the signal variables of the production process. These variables are represented in the differential production function by the new economic categories: “on production force” and “production front”. The production function as a differential equation of the production process is constituted by the new signal variables. The problem of finding relationships between the differential formula and traditional formulae of the production function is slated.
The Cambridge debate of the 1960s showed conclusively that the aggregation of capital, so as to o... more The Cambridge debate of the 1960s showed conclusively that the aggregation of capital, so as to obtain a surrogate production function according to Samuelson, is not possible in general, with critical implications also for other variants of neoclassical theory. The framework for the demonstration is that of linear activity analysis.There is an individual wage curve in function of the rate of profit for each technique. If these individual wage curves were straight lines, their envelope would define a wage curve resulting from all techniques, from which a surrogate production function could be derived, but all wage curves are straight only, if there is only one industry. And if wage curves are not straight, phenomena such as reswitching show that essential neoclassical hypotheses need not hold. A recent empirical investigation by Han and Schefold has found one empirical example for reswitching and several for reverse capital deepening.A rigorous derivation of surrogate production functions thus is ruled out also on empirical grounds, but the paradoxes seem not to be as frequent as the critics once thought, so that the question arises whether approximate surrogate production functions could be derived, with individual wage curves which would be sufficiently linear to construct approximate surrogate production functions, indicating a relationship between the intensity of capital and output per head which would be sufficiently precise to work with.The paper is part of a wider investigation, in which conditions for the existence of quasi-linear wage curves and the possibility of the construction of approximate surrogate production functions are given. The emphasis here is on the special hypotheses needed to obtain C.E.S. production functions.
In an article in the 2006 volume of this journal, Jonathan Temple presented a defence of the use ... more In an article in the 2006 volume of this journal, Jonathan Temple presented a defence of the use of the aggregate production function in growth theory in the light of various criticisms that have been levelled at it. These criticisms include the Cambridge Capital Theory Controversies, various aggregation problems, and the problems posed by the use of value data and the underlying accounting identity. We show that Temple has underestimated the seriousness of these criticisms, especially the last one, which vitiates the concept of the aggregate production function. Because of the identity, estimates of putative aggregate production functions, such as the aggregate elasticity of substitution, cannot be interpreted as reflecting the underlying technology, and hence the use of the aggregate production function is extremely problematical.
... In this paper we present a generalization of some of the results presented by Jondrow et al. ... more ... In this paper we present a generalization of some of the results presented by Jondrow et al. (1982), under the assumption that panel data on sample firms are available and that a more general distribution for firm effects, suggested by Stevenson (1980), applies for the ...
In the recent economic literature (Aigner and Chu [2], F0rsund and Hjalmarsson [5], Seitz [11], a... more In the recent economic literature (Aigner and Chu [2], F0rsund and Hjalmarsson [5], Seitz [11], and Timmer [12]), in continuation of the research initiated by Farrell [4], much attention has been paid to the estimation of productive efficien- cy by means of frontier production ...
The paper presents a hypothesis concerning a differential formula for the production function. Th... more The paper presents a hypothesis concerning a differential formula for the production function. The problem of specifying the production function is attempted to be solved using a systems approach. The differential formula of the production function represents the structure of connection between flow and potential. They are the signal variables of the production process. These variables are represented in the differential production function by the new economic categories: “on production force” and “production front”. The production function as a differential equation of the production process is constituted by the new signal variables. The problem of finding relationships between the differential formula and traditional formulae of the production function is slated.
The Cambridge debate of the 1960s showed conclusively that the aggregation of capital, so as to o... more The Cambridge debate of the 1960s showed conclusively that the aggregation of capital, so as to obtain a surrogate production function according to Samuelson, is not possible in general, with critical implications also for other variants of neoclassical theory. The framework for the demonstration is that of linear activity analysis.There is an individual wage curve in function of the rate of profit for each technique. If these individual wage curves were straight lines, their envelope would define a wage curve resulting from all techniques, from which a surrogate production function could be derived, but all wage curves are straight only, if there is only one industry. And if wage curves are not straight, phenomena such as reswitching show that essential neoclassical hypotheses need not hold. A recent empirical investigation by Han and Schefold has found one empirical example for reswitching and several for reverse capital deepening.A rigorous derivation of surrogate production functions thus is ruled out also on empirical grounds, but the paradoxes seem not to be as frequent as the critics once thought, so that the question arises whether approximate surrogate production functions could be derived, with individual wage curves which would be sufficiently linear to construct approximate surrogate production functions, indicating a relationship between the intensity of capital and output per head which would be sufficiently precise to work with.The paper is part of a wider investigation, in which conditions for the existence of quasi-linear wage curves and the possibility of the construction of approximate surrogate production functions are given. The emphasis here is on the special hypotheses needed to obtain C.E.S. production functions.
In an article in the 2006 volume of this journal, Jonathan Temple presented a defence of the use ... more In an article in the 2006 volume of this journal, Jonathan Temple presented a defence of the use of the aggregate production function in growth theory in the light of various criticisms that have been levelled at it. These criticisms include the Cambridge Capital Theory Controversies, various aggregation problems, and the problems posed by the use of value data and the underlying accounting identity. We show that Temple has underestimated the seriousness of these criticisms, especially the last one, which vitiates the concept of the aggregate production function. Because of the identity, estimates of putative aggregate production functions, such as the aggregate elasticity of substitution, cannot be interpreted as reflecting the underlying technology, and hence the use of the aggregate production function is extremely problematical.
... In this paper we present a generalization of some of the results presented by Jondrow et al. ... more ... In this paper we present a generalization of some of the results presented by Jondrow et al. (1982), under the assumption that panel data on sample firms are available and that a more general distribution for firm effects, suggested by Stevenson (1980), applies for the ...
In the recent economic literature (Aigner and Chu [2], F0rsund and Hjalmarsson [5], Seitz [11], a... more In the recent economic literature (Aigner and Chu [2], F0rsund and Hjalmarsson [5], Seitz [11], and Timmer [12]), in continuation of the research initiated by Farrell [4], much attention has been paid to the estimation of productive efficien- cy by means of frontier production ...
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