Overview

This volume presents a new approach to econometric modeling of aggregate consumer behavior. The approach has successfully extricated demand modeling from the highly restrictive framework provided for more than half a century by the model of a representative consumer. Like the representative consumer model that preceded it, the new approach rests on the theory of individual behavior. The centerpiece of the volume is an econometric model of demand obtained by aggregating over a population of utility-maximizing consumers. The essential innovation is to incorporate attributes of consumers reflecting heterogeneous preferences into a model of aggregate behavior. Heterogeneity is captured by allowing preferences to depend on the demographic characteristics of households. This model unifies the two principal streams of empirical research on consumer behavior by pooling aggregate time series with cross-section data for individual households and provides a new point of departure for future research.

Full Product Details

Author:   Dale W. Jorgenson
Publisher:   MIT Press Ltd
Imprint:   MIT Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.70cm , Height: 3.80cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   1.035kg
ISBN:  

9780262100625

ISBN 10:   0262100622
Pages:   574
Publication Date:   11 August 1997
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   Out of stock  

Table of Contents

Part 1 Transcendental logarithmic utility functions, L.R. Christensen et al: introduction; transcendental logarithmic utility functions; testing the theory of demand; empirical results; summary and conclusion. Part 2 The structure of consumer preferences, D.W. Jorgenson and L.J. Lau: introduction; transcendental logarithmic utility functions with time-varying preferences; preference structure; empirical results. Part 3 Statistical tests of the theory of consumer behaviour, D.W. Jorgenson and L.J. Lau: introduction; integrability; additive demand functions; Rotterdam demand functions; conclusion. Part 4 The integrability of consumer demand functions, D.W. Jorgenson and L.J. Lau: introduction; integrability; homogeneity and summability; symmetry; nonnegativity and monotonicity; conclusion; appendices. Part 5 Testing the integrability of consumer demand functions, United States, 1947-1971, D.W. Jorgenson and L.J. Lau: introduction; integrability; empirical tests; conclusion. Part 6 The structure of consumer preferences, Federal Republic of Germany, 1950-1973, K. Conrad and D.W. Jorgenson: introduction; transcendental logarithmic utility functions with time-varying preferences; preference structures; statistical tests; empirical results; summary. Part 7 Testing the integrability of consumer demand functions, Federal Republic of Germany, 1950-1973, K. Conrad and D.W. Jorgenson: introduction; direct and indirect systems; integrability; estimation and testing; conclusion; appendix. Part 8 Transcendental logarithmic model of aggregate consumer behaviour, D.W. Jorgenson et al: introduction; exact aggregation for consumers with identical preferences; exact aggregation with differences in individual preferences; demands as functions of prices; translog model of consumer behaviour; econometrics of the translog model; aggregate consumer behaviour in the United States, 1958-1974; appendices. Part 9 Aggregate consumer expenditure on energy, D.W. Jorgenson and T.M. Stoker: aggregate consumer expenditures on energy; individual energy expenditures; appendix - aggregate energy expenditures. Part 10 Nonlinear three-stage least squares pooling of cross-section and time-series observations, D.W. Jorgenson and T.M. Stoker: introduction; stochastic specification; the nonlinear three-stage least squares estimator; parametric hypothesis tests; estimation subject to inequality restrictions; illustration - residential demand for energy; conclusion; appendices. Part 11 Two-stage budgeting and consumer demand for energy, D.W. Jorgenson et al: introduction; translog model of consumer behaviour; econometrics of exact aggregation; empirical results; appendix - instrumental variables, 1958-1978.

Reviews

Dale W. Jorgenson's contributions to consumer and welfare economics collected in these volumes represent a very impressive achievement in the way they combine economic theory, theoretical and applied econometrics, statistics, and empirical work with actual macro and micro data. His work certainly has become a considerable source of inspiration to economists and econometricians working in these areas, and I am sure they will inspire future generations as well. --Erik Biorn, Professor of Economics, University of Oslo

Author Information

Dale W. Jorgenson is Samuel W. Morris University Professor at Harvard University. He is the author of 24 books on economics, including Productivity volumes 1 and 2 (MIT Press, 1995). His collected papers have been published in ten volumes by the MIT Press, starting in 1995.

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