Choice between alternative flexible functional forms has received little explicit treatment in many empirical agricultural studies. Theoretical criteria and empirical techniques for choosing between flexible functional forms are reviewed. Theoretical topics include definitions of flexibility, mathematical expansions, separability, and regular regions. Empirical techniques examined are Monte Car...

Several common flexible functional forms are evaluated for Texas agricultural production utilizing three procedures. Nested hypothesis tests indicate that the normalized quadratic is the marginally-preferred functional form followed by the generalized Leontief. Predictive accuracy results are ambiguous between the generalized Leontief and the normalized quadratic. Statistical performance favors...

This paper develops a separable functional form in which all the relevant aggregator functions are modeled to the desired degree of approximation. This leads to separable structures that are more flexible than those implied by parametric restrictions of flexible functional forms. Tests of separability can then be accomplished in a non-nested framework. This approach is illustrated with an appli...

Constructing functional forms and their corresponding force field parameters for the metal-linker interface of metal-organic frameworks is challenging. We propose fitting these parameters on the elastic tensor, computed from ab initio density functional theory calculations. The advantage of this top-down approach is that it becomes evident if functional forms are missing when components of the ...

The application and estimation of expected utility based decision models would benefit from having additional simple and flexible functional forms to represent risk preferences. The literature so far has provided these functional forms for the utility function itself. This work shows that functional forms for the marginal utility function are as useful, are easier to provide, and can represent ...

development of the structural form is directly influenced by the architectural concern for aesthetic appeal. the architectural challenge is to create building forms that satisfy the functional requirements, yet are aesthetically and economically successful. the structural challenge is to create structural forms that accommodate the functional requirements while supporting the imposed loads as e...

Flexibility is a concept associated with variable needs of human beings.Today transformable structures are used to meet human changeable demands with different purposes and functions such as facades, roofs, sunshades, etc.A Flexible structure must be able to change physically and adapt to predetermined conditions.To provide flexibility and adaptability,transformable systems are required to poss...

This paper develops a new class of functional depths. A generic member this is coined $J$th order $k$th moment integrated depth. It based on the distribution cross-sectional halfspace depth function in marginal evaluations (in time) random process. Asymptotic properties proposed depths are provided: we show that they uniformly consistent and satisfy an inequality related to law iterated logarit...