Knowledge that Transforms

[This lecture surveys the history and recent resurgence of interest in models with errors in variables and substantive unobservable variables. Among several examples of such models, special attention is paid to a schooling-occupation-income achievement model in which identification and estimation are based on the variance-components structure (across families) of the unobserved individual ability variable.]

[A set of independent axioms are exhibited which characterize the price mechanism. The Debreu-Scarf limit theorem on the core of an economy and a category theory viewpoint are employed in the analysis.]

[This paper considers the application of various models of consumer demand to United Kingdom time series from 1900 to 1970. As well as testing the various forms of the "Rotterdam" model, reparametrization of that system is carried out in order to test the linear expenditure system and the direct addilog system on an exactly comparable basis. A further variant of the Rotterdam model is also introduced; this is intermediate between symmetry and additivity and allows for the calculation of all cross price elasticities from information on own price and income elasticities alone. The results of testing these models on a nine commodity model using maximum likelihood estimation are presented and discussed. Unlike most previous work, and in spite of some anomalous results, the United Kingdom experience seems broadly consistent with neoclassical demand theory. However, all restrictions more stringent than those directly implied by the theory are rejected, though it is maintained that these may still be of considerable practical significance in particular instances.]

[This paper presents a method for obtaining the large sample distribution of the mean deviation and related measures of income inequality.]

A nonparametric framework for deriving the asymptotic MSE-optimal predictor for a multiplicative model is presented. The resulting predictor is compared to several known competitors in a limited Monte Carlo experiment. RECENT PAPERS BY Zellner [10] and Teekens and Koerts [7] address themselves to the problem of minimum-MSE prediction in a Cobb-Douglas-type multiplicative model under a lognormal distribution assumption for the disturbance term. Each derives the finite sample predictor (which turns out to be a function of the familiar least-squares predictor) for the model based on the assumption that ?2, the variance of the lognormally distributed disturbance, is known. An approximately optimal finite sample predictor is then suggested, where an estimate of w2 is utilized. Under certain conditions the approximately optimal predictor poses a computational burden. Under others, the predictor is easily computed, but no longer are small sample properties guaranteed. Our purpose in this note is to present a general framework for deriving the asymptotically optimal-MSE predictor for this multiplicative model without the imposition of a distributional assumption at the outset. Not only does this exercise provide us with a convenient vehicle for discussing further the aforementioned contributions, it also yields a viable distribution-free predictor that may

[This paper presents a model of an economy in which the formation of equilibrium is completely explained by the independent optimizing behavior of individual agents, and thus reformulates the concept of equilibrium in a way which is essentially related to that of stability.]

[This paper presents an axiomatic characterization of commodities for which the consumer faces a choice of quality rather than a choice of quantity. Properties of individual and market demand functions for commodities of differing quality levels are derived. Properties of comparative static price changes in response to supply changes at one or more quality levels are also developed. The analysis is then applied to price changes in housing markets.]

Abstract : The existence of equilibrium points under majority rule is investigated for an n-dimensional issue space and an expanded class of indifference contours. The paper generalizes previous problem formulations and results.