Estimation of the production function with the variable utilization of capital assets in the Russian economy

Abstract

The paper considers the problem of estimating aggregate production functions taking into account the variable utilization rate of the capital assets that act as an unobservable variable for the macro and meso levels. The proposed approach is based on the microeconomic foundations of the producer’s behavior with the appropriate modification of the problem on optimizing the volumes of production inputs and outputs. Parameter estimates have been given for the Cobb–Douglas-type production function and the performance of the utilization rate of the capital assets in Russian economy over 2002–2014. The high statistical dependence of the performance of investment in fixed capital on changes in the utilization rate of the capital assets has been revealed.