Applied Modeling Techniques and Data Analysis 1

8 Exploring the Distribution of Conditional Quantile Estimates: An Application to Specific Costs of Pig Production in the European Union

This communication uses symbolic data analysis tools to visualize conditional quantile estimation intervals, applying it to the problem of cost allocation in agriculture. After recalling the conceptual framework of the estimation of agricultural production costs, the first part presents the empirical model, the quantile regression approach and the interval data processing techniques used as symbolic data analysis tools. The second part presents the comparative analysis of the econometric results of pig production between 12 European Member States, using principal component analysis and the divisive hierarchical clustering of the estimation intervals, by discussing the relevance of the exploratory graphs obtained for the international comparisons.

“Applied economists increasingly want to know what is happening to an entire distribution, to the relative winners and losers, as well as to averages.”

Angrist and Pischke (2009)

8.1. Introduction

The integration of agriculture in the 28 Member States resulting from the enlargement of the European Union (EU) has raised both in the context of competitive markets as markets subject to regulation, recurring needs for estimating production costs for major agricultural products, following the successive reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The analysis of agricultural production costs is a ...