| Abstract: | This paper estimates household production functions directly, considers their characteristics, and compares them with previous indirectly estimated functions. Interviews with 135 Missoula, Montana area married couple households provided the data. The results suggest that endogeneity and a previous lack of output and capital data which led to the use of the indirect methodology are not insurmountable problems. The results tend to confirm the feasibility of directly measuring household outputs since the production function results are reasonable. Directly estimated household production functions offer the possibilities for estimation of short-term household output changes and testing hypotheses about households' economic behavior. |
