 Varying-Parameter Supply Functions and the Sources of Economic Distress in American Agriculture, 1866-1914Thomas Cooley and Stephen DeCanio () No 57, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc Abstract: 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. Date: 1974-09 Published as Cooley, Thomas F. and DeCanio, Steven J. "Varying-Parameter Supply Functions and the Sources of Economic Distresss in American Agriculture, 1866-1914." The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. LIX, No. 1, (February 1977). Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbr:nberwo:0057 Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from Access Statistics for this paper More papers in NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC. |
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