This paper introduces a new class of parameter estimators for dynamic models, called simulated non-parametric estimators (SNEs). The SNE minimizes appropriate distances between non-parametric conditional (or joint) densities estimated from sample data and non-parametric conditional (or joint) densities estimated from data simulated out of the model of interest. Sample data and model-simulated data are smoothed with the same kernel, which considerably simplifies bandwidth selection for the purpose of implementing the estimator. Furthermore, the SNE displays the same asymptotic efficiency properties as the maximum-likelihood estimator as soon as the model is Markov in the observable variables. The methods introduced in this paper are fairly simple to implement, and possess finite sample properties that are well approximated by the asymptotic theory. We illustrate these features within typical estimation problems that arise in financial economics.

Removal of short-run dynamics from a stationary time series to isolate the medium- to long-run component can be obtained by a bandpass filter. However, bandpass filters are infinite moving averages and can therefore deteriorate at the end of the sample. This is a well-known result in the literature isolating the business cycle in integrated series. We show that the same problem arises with our application to stationary time series. In this paper, we develop a method to obtain smoothing of a stationary time series by using only contemporaneous values of a large data set, so that no end-of-sample deterioration occurs. Our method is applied to the construction of New Eurocoin, an indicator of economic activity for the euro area, which is an estimate, in real time, of the medium- to long-run component of GDP growth. As our data set is monthly and most of the series are updated with a short delay, we are able to produce a monthly real-time indicator. As an estimate of the medium- to long-run GDP growth, Eurocoin performs better than the bandpass filter at the end of the sample in terms of both fitting and turning-point signaling.