ABSTRACT
This chapter provides cross-comparisons of the results from econometrically estimated flexible form production, cost, and profit models of the U.S. agricultural sector. It discusses the full static equilibrium and partial static equilibrium production models that are specified and estimated using aggregate data for U.S. agriculture. The chapter provides a perspective on results derived from the different econometric models, all of which purport to measure the production structure of the aggregate agricultural sector in the United States. Model-by-model comparisons of the estimated price elasticities, the measures of total factor productivity, and the factor biases from these econometric models are provided. A series of primal and dual models of aggregate production behavior has been estimated using the same set of data for the U.S. agricultural sector. The specifications have permitted the production structure to vary with respect to input and output aggregations, returns to scale, homotheticity, technological change biases, and treatment of fixed versus variable factors.
