Hostname: page-component-7f64f4797f-l842n Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-04T10:59:31.665Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE ET INTERVIEW: PROFESSOR W. ERWIN DIEWERT

Part of: ET Interviews

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2017

Kevin J. Fox
Kevin J. Fox*
Affiliation:
UNSW Sydney
*
2Address correspondence to Kevin J. Fox, School of Economics & Centre for Applied Economic Research, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; e-mail: K.Fox@unsw.edu.au.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'

Information

Type
ET INTERVIEW
Information
Econometric Theory , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , June 2018 , pp. 509 - 542
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

1

Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z1 and the School of Economics, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; e-mail: erwin.diewert@ubc.ca.

Note: A longer version of this interview is available as Discussion paper 16-02, Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia.

This interview came about due to the encouragement of Peter C.B. Phillips.

References

REFERENCES

Afriat, S.N. (1967) The construction of utility functions from finite expenditure data. International Economic Review 8, 67–77.Google Scholar
Afriat, S.N. (1972) The theory of international comparisons of real income and prices. In Daly, D.J. (ed.), International Comparisons of Prices and Output. Studies in Income and Wealth, vol. 37, pp. 13–69. National Bureau of Economic Research.Google Scholar
Afriat, S.N. (1973) On a system of inequalities in demand analysis: An extension of the classical method. International Economic Review 14, 460–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, R.C. & Diewert, W.E. (1981) Direct versus implicit superlative index number formulae. The Review of Economics and Statistics 63(3), 430–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Avriel, M., Diewert, W.E., Schaible, S., & Zang, I. (2010) Generalized Concavity. SIAM Classics in Applied Mathematics, vol. 63. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berndt, E.R., Darrough, M.N., & Diewert, W.E. (1977) Flexible functional forms and expenditure distributions: An application to Canadian consumer demand functions. International Economic Review 18, 651–675.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackorby, C., Davidson, R., & Donaldson, D. (1977) A homiletic exposition of the expected utility hypothesis. Economica 44, 351–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackorby, C. & Diewert, W.E. (1979) Expenditure functions, local duality, and second order approximations. Econometrica 47, 579–601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boskin, M.J. (Chair), Dullberger, E.R., Gordon, R.J., Griliches, Z., & Jorgenson, D.W. (1996) Final Report of the Commission to Study the Consumer Price Index. U.S. Senate, Committee on Finance. US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Byushgens, S.S. (1925) Ob odnom klasse giperpoverkhnostey: po povodu ‘idealnova indeksa’ Irving Fisher a pokupatelnoi sili deneg. Mathematischeskii Sbornik 32, 625–631.Google Scholar
Caves, D.W., Christensen, L.R., & Diewert, W.E. (1982a) The economic theory of index numbers and the measurement of input, output and productivity. Econometrica 50, 1393–1414.Google Scholar
Caves, D.W., Christensen, L.R., & Diewert, W.E. (1982b) Multilateral comparisons of output, input and productivity using superlative index numbers. Economic Journal 96, 659–679.Google Scholar
Christensen, L.R., Jorgenson, D.W., & Lau, L. (1971) Conjugate duality and the transcendental logarithmic production function. Econometrica 39, 255–256.Google Scholar
Debreu, G. (1951) The coefficient of resource utilization. Econometrica 19, 273–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1971) An application of the Shephard duality theorem: A generalized Leontief production function. Journal of Political Economy 79, 481–507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1973) Functional forms for profit and transformation functions. Journal of Economic Theory 6, 284–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1974a) Functional forms for revenue and factor requirements functions. International Economic Review 15, 119–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1974b) Applications of duality theory. In Intriligator, M.D. & Kendrick, D.A. (eds.), Frontiers of Quantitative Economics, vol. 2, pp. 106–171. North-Holland.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1974c) Intertemporal consumer theory and the demand for durables. Econometrica 42(3), 497–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1974d) A note on aggregation and elasticities of substitution. Canadian Journal of Economics 7, 12–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1976) Exact and superlative index numbers. Journal of Econometrics 4, 114–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1977) Walras’ theory of capital formation and the existence of a temporary equilibrium. In Schwödiauer, E. (ed.), Equilibrium and Disequilibrium in Economic Theory, pp. 73–126. Reidel Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1978a) Optimal tax perturbations. Journal of Public Economics 10, 138–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1978b) Superlative index numbers and consistency in aggregation. Econometrica 46, 883–900.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1980) Aggregation problems in the measurement of capital. In Usher, D. (ed.), The Measurement of Capital, pp. 433–528. The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1981a) The measurement of deadweight loss revisited. Econometrica 49, 1225–1244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1981b) Alternative characterizations of six kinds of quasiconcavity in the nondifferentiable case with applications to nonsmooth programming. In Schaible, S. & Ziemba, W.T. (eds.), Generalized Concavity in Optimization and Economics, pp. 51–93. Academic Press.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1981c) The economic theory of index numbers: A survey. In Deaton, A. (ed.), Essays in the Theory and Measurement of Consumer Behaviour in Honour of Sir Richard Stone, pp. 163–208. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1983a) Cost-benefit analysis and project evaluation: A comparison of alternative approaches. Journal of Public Economics 22(3), 265–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1983b) The measurement of waste within the production sector of an open economy. Scandinavian Journal of Economics 85(2), 159–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1983c) The theory of the output price index and the measurement of real output change. In Diewert, W.E. & Montmarquette, C. (eds.), Price Level Measurement, pp. 1049–1113. Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1984) The measurement of deadweight loss in an open economy. Economica 51(1), 23–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1985) A dynamic approach to the measurement of waste in an open economy. Journal of International Economics 19, 213–240.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1992) Exact and superlative welfare change indicators. Economic Inquiry 30, 565–582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1993a) Duality approaches to microeconomic theory. In Diewert, W.E. & Nakamura, A.O. (eds.), Essays in Index Number Theory, vol. 1, pp. 105–175. North-Holland.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1993b) Symmetric means and choice under uncertainty. In Diewert, W.E. & Nakamura, A.O. (eds.), Essays in Index Number Theory, vol. 1, pp. 355–433. North-Holland.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1995a) Functional form problems in modeling insurance and gambling. The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance Theory 20, 135–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1995b) Axiomatic and economic approaches to elementary price indexes. In Ducharme, L.M. (ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Price Indices, October 31–November 2, 1994. First Meeting of the International Working Group on Price Indices. Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1996) Comment on CPI biases. Business Economics 31(2), 30–35.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1998) Index number issues in the consumer price index. The Journal of Economic Perspectives 12(1), 47–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (1999b) Axiomatic and economic approaches to international comparisons. In Heston, A. & Lipsey, R.E. (eds.), International and Interarea Comparisons of Income, Output and Prices, Studies in Income and Wealth, vol. 61, pp. 13–87. The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2003a) Hedonic regressions: A consumer theory approach. In Feenstra, R.C. & Shapiro, M.D. (eds.), Scanner Data and Price Indexes, pp. 317–348. University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2003b) Hedonic regressions: A review of some unresolved issues. Paper presented at the Seventh Meeting of the Ottawa Group, Paris, France, May 27–29.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2005a) On Measuring Inventory Change in Current and Constant Dollars. Discussion paper 05–12, Department of Economics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2005b) Welfare, productivity and changes in the terms of trade. Report prepared for the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Washington D.C., November 22, 2005.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2005c) Index number theory using differences rather than ratios. American Journal of Economics and Sociology 64(1), 311–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2006a) Adjacent period dummy variable Hedonic regressions and bilateral index number theory. Annales d’Économie et de Statistique, No. 79/80, 759–786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2006b) Comment. In Jorgenson, D.W., Landefeld, J.S., & Nordhaus, W.D. (eds.), A New Architecture for the U.S. National Accounts, Studies in Income and Wealth, vol. 66, pp. 287–307. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2008) What is to be done for better productivity measurement. International Productivity Monitor 16(Spring), 40–52.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2009a) Similarity indexes and criteria for spatial linking. In Prasada Rao, D.S. (ed.), Purchasing Power Parities of Currencies: Recent Advances in Methods and Applications, chapter 8, pp. 183–216. Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2009b) The aggregation of capital over vintages in a model of embodied technical progress. Journal of Productivity Analysis 32(1), 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2010a) User costs versus waiting services and depreciation in a model of production. Journal of Economics and Statistics 230(6), 759–771.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2010b) New methodological developments for the International Comparison Program. Review of Income and Wealth 56, S11–S31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2010c) Understanding PPPs and PPP-based national accounts. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 2, 36–45.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2011a) The Paris OECD-IMF workshop on real estate prices: Conclusions and future directions. In Erwin Diewert, W., Balk, B.M., Fixler, D., Fox, K.J., & Nakamura, A.O. (eds.), Price and Productivity Measurement: Volume 1—Housing, pp. 87–116. Trafford Press.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2011b) Measuring productivity in the public sector: Some conceptual problems. Journal of Productivity Analysis 36, 177–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2012) The measurement of productivity in the nonmarket sector. Journal of Productivity Analysis 37, 217–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2014a) Decompositions of profitability change using cost functions. Journal of Econometrics 183, 58–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2014b) The treatment of financial transactions in the SNA: A user cost approach. Eurostat Review of National Accounts and Macroeconomic Indicators 1, 73–89.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2015a) Decompositions of productivity growth into sectoral effects. Journal of Productivity Analysis 43, 367–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. (2015b) Reconciling gross output TFP growth with value added TFP growth. International Productivity Monitor 29(Fall), 60–67.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E., Avriel, M., & Zang, I. (1981) Nine kinds of quasiconcavity and concavity. Journal of Economic Theory 25(3), 397–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E., Fixler, D., & Zieschang, K. (2012) Problems with the Measurement of Banking Services in a National Accounting Framework. Discussion paper 12–03, Department of Economics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Fox, K.J. (2008) On the estimation of returns to scale, technical progress and monopolistic markups. Journal of Econometrics 145, 174–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Fox, K.J. (2010) Malmquist and Törnqvist productivity indexes: Returns to scale and technical progress with imperfect competition. Journal of Economics 101, 73–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E & Fox, K.J. (2016a) Alternative User Costs, Rates of Return and TFP Growth Rates for the US Nonfinancial Corporate and Noncorporate Business Sectors: 1960–2014. Discussion paper 16-03, Vancouver School of Economics, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada V6T 1L4.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Fox, K.J. (2016b) Sunk costs and the measurement of commercial property depreciation. Canadian Journal of Economics 49(4), 1340–1366.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Fox, K.J. (2017) Decomposing productivity indexes into explanatory factors. European Journal of Operational Research 256, 275–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E., Heravi, S., & Silver, M. (2009) Hedonic imputation versus time dummy indexes. In Diewert, W.E., Greenlees, J., & Hulten, C.R. (eds.), Price Index Concepts and Measurement, pp. 161–202. University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Huang, N. (2011a) Estimation of R&D depreciation rates: A suggested methodology and preliminary application. Canadian Journal of Economics 44(2), 387–412.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Huang, N. (2011b) Capitalizing R&D expenditures. Macroeconomic Dynamics 15(4), 537–564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Mendoza, N.F. (2007) The Le Chatelier Principle in data envelopment analysis. In Färe, R., Grosskopf, S., & Primont, D. (eds.), Aggregation, Efficiency, and Measurement, pp. 63–82. Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Mizobuchi, H. (2009) Exact and superlative price and quantity indicators. Macroeconomic Dynamics, 13(Suppl. 2), 335–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Morrison, C.J. (1986) Adjusting output and productivity indexes for changes in the terms of trade. Economic Journal 96, 659–679.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Parkan, C. (1983) Linear programming tests of regularity conditions for production functions. In Eichhorn, W., Henn, R., Neumann, K., & Shephard, R.W. (eds.), Quantitative Studies on Production and Prices, pp. 131–158. Physica-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Schreyer, P. (2008) Capital measurement. In Durlauf, S.N. & Blume, L.E. (eds.), The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd ed. Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Diewert, W.E., Turunen-Red, A.H., & Woodland, A.D. (1989) Productivity and pareto improving changes in taxes and tariffs. Review of Economic Studies 56, 199–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Wales, T.J. (1985) Flexible functional forms and global curvature conditions. Econometrica 55, 43–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Wales, T.J. (1995) Flexible functional forms and tests of homogeneous separability. Journal of Econometrics 67, 259–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Wei, H. (2017) Getting rental prices right for computers. Review of Income and Wealth 63(Suppl. 1), S149–S168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diewert, W.E. & Woodland, A.D. (1977) Frank Knight’s theorem in linear programming revisited. Econometrica 45, 375–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, E.O. & Bell, P.W. (1961) The Theory and Measurement of Business Income. University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrell, M.J. (1957) The measurement of production efficiency. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, 120, 253–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, I. (1922) The Making of Index Numbers. Houghton-Mifflin.Google Scholar
Gini, C. (1931) On the circular test of index numbers. Metron 9(9), 3–24.Google Scholar
Hanoch, G. & Rothschild, M. (1972) Testing the assumptions of production theory: A nonparametric approach. Journal of Political Economy 80, 256–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Haan, J. (2008) Reducing drift in chained superlative price indexes for highly disaggregated data. Paper presented at the EMG Workshop 2008, December 10–12, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Coogee Beach, Sydney.Google Scholar
de Haan, J. (2010) Hedonic price indexes: A comparison of imputation, time dummy and ‘re-pricing’ methods. Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbücher fur Nationalökonomie und Statistik) 230, 772–791.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Haan, J. & Diewert, W.E. (eds.) (2011) Residential Property Price Indices Handbook. Eurostat.Google Scholar
Hicks, J.R. (1946) Value and Capital, 2nd ed. Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Hicks, J.R. (1961) The measurement of capital in relation to the measurement of other economic aggregates. In Lutz, F.A. & Hague, D.C. (eds.), The Theory of Capital, pp. 18–31. Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, R.J. (2001) Measuring inflation and growth using spanning trees. International Economic Review 42, 167–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hotelling, H. (1932) Edgeworth’s taxation paradox and the nature of demand and supply functions. Journal of Political Economy 40, 577–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inklaar, R. & Diewert, W.E. (2016) Measuring industry productivity and cross country convergence. Journal of Econometrics 191, 426–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ivancic, L., Diewert, W.E., & Fox, K.J. (2011) Scanner data, time aggregation and the construction of price indexes. Journal of Econometrics 161, 24–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jorgenson, D.W. & Griliches, Z. (1967) The explanation of productivity change. The Review of Economic Studies 34, 249–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jorgenson, D.W. & Griliches, Z. (1972) Issues in growth accounting: A reply to Denison, Edward F.. Survey of Current Business 52(4), Part II (May), 65–94.Google Scholar
Kohli, U.R.J. (1978) A gross national product function and the derived demand for imports and supply of exports. Canadian Journal of Economics 11, 167–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohli, U. (1990) Growth accounting in the open economy: Parametric and nonparametric estimates. Journal of Economic and Social Measurement 16, 125–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Konüs, A.A. & Byushgens, S.S. (1926) K probleme pokupatelnoi cili deneg. Voprosi Konyunkturi 2, 151–172.Google Scholar
Kopp, R.J & Diewert, W.E. (1982) The decomposition of frontier cost function deviations into measures of technical and allocative efficiency. Journal of Econometrics 19, 319–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFadden, D. (1966) Cost, Revenue and Profit Functions: A Cursory Review. IBER Working paper no. 86, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
McFadden, D. (1978) Cost, revenue and profit functions. In Fuss, M. & McFadden, D. (eds.), Production Economics: A Dual Approach, vol. 1, pp. 3–109. North-Holland.Google Scholar
Pollak, R.A. (1983) The theory of the cost-of-living index. In Diewert, W.E. & Montmarquette, C. (eds.), Price Level Measurement, pp. 87–161. Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Reinsdorf, M.B. (1998) Formula bias and within-stratum substitution bias in the U.S. CPI. The Review of Economics and Statistics 80(2), 175–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samuelson, P.A. (1947) Foundations of Economic Analysis. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Shephard, R.W. (1953) Cost and Production Functions. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Uzawa, H. (1964) Duality principles in the theory of cost and production. International Economic Review 5, 291–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Varian, H.R. (1982) The nonparametric approach to demand analysis. Econometrica 50, 945–973.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Varian, H.R. (1984) The nonparametric approach to production analysis. Econometrica 52, 579–597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar