SEMAINE D'ETUDE SUR LE ROLE DE L’ANALYSE ECONOMETRIQUE ETC.

y.

~ _NERAL COMMENTS

Constancy of ®

330. The observed stability over both time and space of the
coefficient ®, may at first sight seem extraordinary. However,
on further reflection, and in the framework of the model, this
stability becomes much less astonishing. It expresses the fact
‘hat whatever the state of knowledge, the decrease in the productivity
 of the factors of production as they become more
distant in time remains constant. In a certain sense, this is
an index of the conceptual difficulty involved in thinking about
roundabout brocesses (1.

Estimation of © and the Distribution of the Active Population

331. There is a manifest relation between the value of the
average amortization period ® and the composition of the work-‘ng
 population, and it would seem reasonable to envisage estimating
 the value of ® directly in order to compare it with its
theoretical value, which in the case of the exponential model ic

(~~ —N
Ou I-2 7

") Relation
‘?) Relation

(211-0) and
251-11)

y

Allais - pag. 15.