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The von Liebig Hypothesis
Author(s) -
Paris Quirino
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.2307/1243200
Subject(s) - assertion , econometrics , sample (material) , extension (predicate logic) , regression , economics , statistics , mathematics , computer science , thermodynamics , physics , programming language
Using a celebrated sample of corn response to nitrogen and phosphorus collected by Heady and Pesek, it is shown that a von Liebig model with Mitscherlich regimes is the best interpreter of the experimental data. This assertion is based upon the results of nonnested hypothesis tests among five alternatives. An extension of the test to switching regression models reinforces the superiority of the von Liebig hypothesis for this sample. Cost functions, dual to von Liebig production functions, have continuous derivatives with respect to the parameters and may be easier to estimate when input prices are available.