By no means exclusive, the tendency of agricultural economists to emphasize the field’s historic commitment to applied economics is nonetheless intriguing and worthy of further exploration. If agricultural economists have demonstrated the ability to translate “practical” research into...

The first part of this essay reviews Paul Douglas's twenty-year research program of using the Cobb-Douglas function to statistically estimate relationships between inputs and outputs. Emphasis is placed on the evolution of Douglas's own conceptualization of the program, and also the variety of...