Equation of Finite Change and Structural Analysis of Mean Value

Abstract

This paper describes a problem of finding the contributions of multiple variables to a change in their function. Such a problem is well known in economics, for example, in the decomposition of a change in the mean price via the varying in time prices and volumes of multiple products. Commonly, it is considered by the tools of index analysis, the formulae of which present rather heuristic constructs. As shown in this work, the multivariate version of the Lagrange mean value theorem can be seen as an equation of the function’s finite change and solved with respect to an interior point whose value is used in the estimation of the contribution of the independent variables. Consideration is performed on the example of the weighted mean value function, which is the main characteristic of statistical estimation in various fields. The solution for this function can be obtained in the closed form, which helps in the analysis of results. Numerical examples include the cases of Simpson’s paradox, and practical applications are discussed.

Keywords

• Lagrange mean value theorem
• multiple variables
• finite change formula
• contributions of variables
• weighted mean value
• mean price