Abstract
Because of data difficulties, there has been little empirical work analyzing the determination of the quality of a firm's output. This article constructs a latent variable model for this problem that uses easily obtainable data. The model is developed from the relationship between the firm's input demand functions and reduced-form output functions, and it has a novel multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) interpretation. The model also allows identification of an intercept, implying that an index of quality that is comparable across samples can be constructed. As an example, a latent variable model of nursing-home quality is estimated.

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