In this paper we employ index number theory in addressing the problem of adjusting real national income and real domestic product for changes in a country's terms of trade. More specifically, using recent developments in the theory of production, we address the problems related to measuring: Ci) real output produced and real input utilized by the private business sector; (ii) productivity growth or technical change; (iii) the effects on domestic real output of changes in the terms of trade; and (iv) the impact on final sales to domestic purchasers of changes in the balance of payments deficit, in a consistent accounting framework. This treatment of international trade allows us to undertake comparative statics analyses using only production theory, whereas in the traditional paradigm which treats traded goods as perfectly substitutable with a class of domestic goods, a general equilibrium framework is required. We illustrate our suggested solutions using U.S. data for the years 1968-82.

Effects of public infrastructure investment on the costs and productivity of private enterprises have proven difficult to quantify empirically. One piece of this puzzle that has received little attention is spatial spillovers. We apply a cost-function model to 1982-1996 state-level U.S. manufacturing data, to untangle the private cost-saving effects of inter- and intrastate public infrastructure investment. We implement two spatial adaptations-including a spatial spillover index in the theoretical model, and allowing for spatial autocorrelation in the stochastic structure. Recognizing such spillovers both increases the estimated magnitude and significance of cost savings from intrastate public infrastructure, and augments these productive effects. © 2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In this study, we consider the impacts of dramatic regulatory reform during the 1980s on the efficiency of farms in New Zealand, using unbalanced panel data. A translog distance function representing the multiple output and input technology and incorporating nonneutral regulatory impacts is used for the analysis. Determinants of technical inefficiency, including a regulatory variable, a time term, and a debt/equity ratio, are also incorporated in a one-step model estimated by maximum-likelihood, stochastic production frontier methods. We find evidence of regulatory-induced changes in output composition - toward beef and deer, and away from wool, and especially lamb - but little associated technical inefficiency. These patterns motivated investment in complementary capital, land, and beef/deer livestock inputs. Firms that were more flexible in their adaptation toward these new mixes adjusted to regulatory changes with less upheaval, so any existing inefficiency appears linked to debt/ equity levels. © 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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The structural transformation of agriculture in recent decades has raised serious concerns about the future of the family farm. This study examines the economic performance of U.S. farms, to explore the potential of smaller farms to compete with larger entities, and ultimately to survive in this rapidly changing environment. We use deterministic and stochastic frontier methods and survey data to measure and evaluate factors underlying scale economies (SEC) and efficiency (SEF) of corn-belt farms for 1996-2001. Our results suggest that family farms are both scale and technically inefficient. Potential for the exploitation of significant scale and scope economies, and some greater technical efficiency, seem to be driving trends toward increased farm size and dwindling competitiveness of the small family farm. JEL Classification: O3, O13