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Modelling technical change in Italian agriculture: a latent variable approach
Author(s) -
Esposti Roberto,
Pierani Pierpaolo
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.29
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1574-0862
pISSN - 0169-5150
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2000.tb00074.x
Subject(s) - latent variable , estimator , econometrics , latent variable model , technical change , variable (mathematics) , covariance , covariance matrix , process (computing) , economics , computer science , statistics , mathematics , macroeconomics , mathematical analysis , productivity , operating system
This paper presents an alternative approach to the measurement of technical change. It is based on the latent variable level of technology that enters explicitly the input demand system and on a hypothesis about the innovation generating process. By adding measurement error equations, the behavioral system can be viewed as a Multiple Indicators/Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model. The parameter estimates are obtained with a maximum likelihood estimator which involves the implicit covariance matrix. The analysis refers to Italian agriculture and the results provide some evidence on the nature and level of technical change during the years 1961–1991.