Estimating the Constant Elasticity of Substitution Function of Rice Production.The case of Vietnam in 2012.

BUI, LINH and HOANG, HUYEN and BUI, HANG (2015): Estimating the Constant Elasticity of Substitution Function of Rice Production.The case of Vietnam in 2012.

Abstract

Vietnamese rice production has achieved remarkable success over last decades. By the land and market reforms, known as “Doi Moi”, in which there were noticeable changes in policies such as land and production system were transformed from collective to individual contract system in 1980s, the process of legally privatization of farm properties, huge investment in irrigation system, Vietnam made progress in rice production. The country not only ensured its domestic demand but also started exporting rice and gradually became the second largest exporter in the world. An estimate of the constant elasticity of substitution function (CES) for Vietnam’s rice production is essential for the government to design effective policy on agricultural production. This study makes the first attempt to estimate the nested CES model for Vietnam rice production in 2012. The paper finds that the elasticity of substitution of Vietnam's nested CES model lies between 0.44 to 0.46. The results indicate that the weak substitutability between land and the nest (labor, capital) in the nested CES model. The paper also provides empirical evidence that the nested CES structure in which capital with land are nested inputs and labor plays a role as the third input is rejected. This suggests that it is impossible to take labor as the substitutable factor for land and capital. The findings would partly contribute to design the Vietnam’s effective policies on rice production with the appropriate allocation of inputs factors in order to achieve the optimal output.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Constant Elasticity of substitution, Levenberg-Marquardt method, Vietnam, rice production.
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C1 - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C5 - Econometric Modeling; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C8 - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology ; Computer Programs; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O13 - Agriculture ; Natural Resources ; Energy ; Environment ; Other Primary Products; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q15 - Land Ownership and Tenure ; Land Reform ; Land Use ; Irrigation ; Agriculture and Environment; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q18 - Agricultural Policy ; Food Policy

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