Recounts the history of a widely used statistical technique in economics, offering insight into how innovative research tools gain acceptance.

Jeff E. Biddle is a Professor of Economics at Michigan State University. He is a past president of the History of Economics Society, and his current research focuses on the history of empirical methods in economic research.

Part I. Paul Douglas and his Regression, 1927-1948: 1. The Origins of Douglas's Production Function Research Program and his Initial Time Series Studies; 2. The Douglas-Mendershausen Debate and the Cross Section Studies; 3. Theoretical and Econometric Challenges of the Early 1940s, and Douglas's Final Word; Part II. The Diffusion of the Cobb-Douglas Regression: 4. Three Important Developments in the Life of the Cobb-Douglas Regression, 1952-1961; 5. The Cobb-Douglas Regression in Agricultural Economics, 1944-1965; 6. The Cobb-Douglas Regression as a Tool for Measuring and Explaining Economic Growth; Part III. Conclusion; 7. On the Success of the Cobb-Douglas Regression; References; Index.