frontier (version 0.9-6)

front41Est: Estimate a Stochastic Frontier Model by Frontier 4.1

Description

Estimate a stochastic frontier model with a modified version of Tim Coelli's program Frontier 4.1 (NOTE: this program has to be installed separately!).

Usage

front41Est( command = ifelse( .Platform$OS.type == "windows",
      "front41.exe", "front41.bin" ), ... )

Arguments

command

command to call the modified version of FRONTIER 4.1 (see details).

...

arguments passed to front41WriteInput.

Value

• front41Est returns a list of class front41Output that is returned by front41ReadOutput with two additional elements:
• input
  object returned by front41WriteInput.
• messages
  messages returned by FRONTIER 4.1.

Details

Using the command front41Est requires the installation of a modified version of Tim Coelli's FRONTIER 4.1. It is available on http://www.uni-kiel.de/agrarpol/ahenningsen/frontier/. as (FORTRAN) source code and (executable) binaries for GNU/Linux and MS-Windows.

References

Battese, G.E. and T. Coelli (1992), Frontier production functions, technical efficiency and panel data: with application to paddy farmers in India. Journal of Productivity Analysis, 3, 153-169.

Battese, G.E. and T. Coelli (1995), A model for technical inefficiency effects in a stochastic frontier production function for panel data. Empirical Economics, 20, 325-332.

Coelli, T. (1996) A Guide to FRONTIER Version 4.1: A Computer Program for Stochastic Frontier Production and Cost Function Estimation, CEPA Working Paper 96/08, http://www.uq.edu.au/economics/cepa/frontier.htm, University of New England.

See Also

front41WriteInput, front41ReadOutput

Examples

data( front41Data )
   front41Data$logOutput  <- log( front41Data$output )
   front41Data$logCapital <- log( front41Data$capital )
   front41Data$logLabour  <- log( front41Data$labour )

   front41Est( data = front41Data, crossSectionName = "firm",
      timePeriodName = "time", yName = "logOutput",
      xNames = c( "logCapital", "logLabour" ) )