Estimates of Farm Output Supply and Input Demand Elasticities: The Translog Profit Function Approach

Muhammad Ali Chaudhary, Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and Kaukab Hassan Naqvi
Additional contact information
Muhammad Ali Chaudhary: Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
Mushtaq Ahmad Khan: Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
Kaukab Hassan Naqvi: Planning Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad.

The Pakistan Development Review, 1998, vol. 37, issue 4, 1031-1050

Abstract: The importance of estimating valid elasticities of farm output supply and input demand can hardly be overemphasised. Reliable estimates of these elasticities are sine qua non for predicting accurately the farmer responsiveness to changes in inputoutput prices and government taxes and thereby for formulating successful agricultural incentive programmes consistent with national requirements of food, development and exports. In fact, robust estimates of the coefficients of such elasticities can serve as a solid basis in determining effective policy relevant interventions for promoting production, equity, efficiency, and finally egalitarian income distribution in the farm sector of the economy. Farmer input factor demand and output supply elasticities have earlier been derived with direct or indirect application of the Cobb-Douglas production function to farm survey data [Lau and Yotopoulos (1971); Yotopoulos (1972); Yotopoulos, Lau and Lin (1976); Junankar (1980) and Sindhu and Baanannte (1981)]. The Cobb- Douglas production function is based on highly restricted assumptions such as the unitary elasticity of substitution, constant returns to scale and "a priori" imposition of separability restrictions.

Date: 1998
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.pide.org.pk/pdf/PDR/1998/Volume4/1031-1050.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pid:journl:v:37:y:1998:i:4:p:1031-1050

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in The Pakistan Development Review from Pakistan Institute of Development Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Khurram Iqbal ().