| In this thesis, we take the capital utilization effect into account when estimating U.S. agricultural productivity from the dual perspective. To do so, we utilize two different models: trans-log total cost with no utilization effect and trans-log variable cost with a capital utilization effect. We do this to verify whether the capital utilization effects are significant in the measurement of the U.S. agricultural productivity. We find that adjusting for capital utilization changes the estimated levels of U.S. agricultural productivity at the means and points of approximation. We advise researchers to consider the input utilization effect in future studies of U.S. agricultural productivity. Along with our productivity analyses, we provide theoretical analyses for verifying the properties of the trans-log cost functions we use. . |
