The Structure of U.S. Agricultural Technology, 1910–78

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Abstract
This paper utilizes 1910–78 time‐series data and a single product aggregate translog profit function to measure the structure of U.S. agricultural technology. Duality relations are used to devise a multifactor measure of biased technical change. A measure of nonhomotheticity is introduced which indicates the effects scale change has had on aggregate cost shares. The empirical analysis finds that different, nonhomothetic technologies characterized the prewar and postwar periods. Differing technical change biases are consistent with relative price trends during the two periods, showing that the long‐run structure of U.S. agricultural technology has been consistent with the Hayami‐Ruttan induced innovation theory.

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