Varying-Parameter Supply Functions and the Sources of Economic Distress in American Agriculture, 1866-1914 / Thomas F. Cooley, Steven J. DeCanio.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cooley, Thomas F.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

DeCanio, Steven J.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w0057.

NBER working paper series no. w0057

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Parameter estimation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1974.

Cambridge, Mass. : National Bureau of Economic Research, 1974.

Summary:

The agrarian unrest in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century is examined. This unrest is often viewed as stemming from the inability of farmers to adapt to changing conditions in world agriculture. This hypothesis is tested in the context of a distributed lag supply function. Varying parameter estimation methods are used to trace the history of the parameters in the supply function and to decompose observed prices into permanent and transitory components over time. The patterns of variation are tested for conformity with a model of rational price-expectation formation. The conclusion is that farmers behaved as economic theory would predict, but that neither theory nor practice gave them relief from the troubles which plagued them.

Notes:

Print version record

September 1974.