We consider a first-order autoregression with i.i.d. errors and a fixed initial condition. The asymptotic distribution of the normalized least-squares estimator as the sampling interval converges to zero is shown to be the same as the exact distribution of the continuous-time estimator in an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. This asymptotic distribution permits explicit consideration of the effect of the initial condition. The appropriate moment-generating function is derived and used to tabulate the limiting distribution and probability density functions, the moments and some power functions. The adequacy of this asymptotic approximation is found to be excellent for values of the autoregressive parameter near one and any fixed initial condition. Copyright 1991 by The Econometric Society.

We consider the null hypothesis that a time series has a unit root with possibly nonzero drift against the alternative that the process is «trend-stationary». The interest is that we allow under both the null and alternative hypotheses for the presence for a one-time change in the level or in the slope of the trend function. We show how standard tests of the unit root hypothesis against trend stationary alternatives cannot reject the unit root hypothesis if the true data generating mechanism is that of stationary fluctuations around a trend function which contains a one-time break

This paper considers issues related to estimation, inference, and computation with multiple structural changes that occur at unknown dates in a system of equations. Changes can occur in the regression coefficients and/or the covariance matrix of the errors. We also allow arbitrary restrictions on these parameters, which permits the analysis of partial structural change models, common breaks that occur in all equations, breaks that occur in a subset of equations, and so forth. The method of estimation is quasi-maximum likelihood based on Normal errors. The limiting distributions are obtained under more general assumptions than previous studies. For testing, we propose likelihood ratio type statistics to test the null hypothesis of no structural change and to select the number of changes. Structural change tests with restrictions on the parameters can be constructed to achieve higher power when prior information is present. For computation, an algorithm for an efficient procedure is proposed to construct the estimates and test statistics. We also introduce a novel locally ordered breaks model, which allows the breaks in different equations to be related yet not occurring at the same dates.

This paper develops the statistical theory for testing and estimating multiple change points in regression models. The rate of convergence and limiting distribution for the estimated parameters are obtained. Several test statistics are proposed to determine the existence as well as the number of change points. A partial structural change model is considered. The authors study both fixed and shrinking magnitudes of shifts. In addition, the models allow for serially correlated disturbances (mixingales). An estimation strategy for which the location of the breaks need not be simultaneously determined is discussed. Instead, the authors' method successively estimates each break point.

Cette étude s'intéresse au comportement des séries du taux d'intérêt réel américain de 1961 à 1986. En utilisant la méthodologie d'Hamilton (1989), la modélisation statistique des séries se fait en postulant trois régimes possibles affectant la moyenne et la variance de celles-ci. Les résultats suggèrent que le taux d'intérêt réel ex-post est essentiellement un processus non corrélé et centré sur une moyenne qui diffère sur les périodes 1961-1973, 1973-1980 et 1980-1986. La variance du processus est aussi différente pour chacune de ces périodes, étant plus élevée dans les sous périodes 1973-1980 et 1980-1986. Les séries du taux d'inflation sont aussi analysées à la lumière de ce modèle à trois régimes et les résultats traduisent encore un comportement intéressant de celles-ci, avec des changements dans la moyenne et la variance. Différents tests de spécification sont utilisés et des séries, à la fois du taux d'intérêt réel ex-ante et de l'inflation anticipée, sont construites. Enfin, il est montré comment ces résultats peuvent expliquer certaines conclusion récentes de la littérature.

Many unit root tests have distorted sizes when the root of the error process is close to the unit circle. This paper analyses the properties of the Phillips-Perron tests and some of their variants in the problematic parameter space. We use local asymptotic analyses to explain why the Phillips-Perron tests suffer from severe size distortions regardless of the choice of the spectral density estimator but that the modified statistics show dramatic improvements in size when used in conjunction with a particular formulation an autoregressive spectral density estimator. We explain why kernel based spectral density estimators aggravate the size problem in the Phillips-Perron tests and yield no size improvement to the modified statistics. The local asymptotic power of the modified statistics are also evaluated. These modified statistics are recommended as being useful in empirical work since they are free of the size problems which have plagued many unit root tests, and they retain respectable power.

It is widely known that when there are errors with a moving-average root close to −1, a high order augmented autoregression is necessary for unit root tests to have good size, but that information criteria such as the AIC and the BIC tend to select a truncation lag (k) that is very small. We consider a class of Modified Information Criteria (MIC) with a penalty factor that is sample dependent. It takes into account the fact that the bias in the sum of the autoregressive coefficients is highly dependent on k and adapts to the type of deterministic components present. We use a local asymptotic framework in which the moving-average root is local to −1 to document how the MIC performs better in selecting appropriate values of k. In Monte-Carlo experiments, the MIC is found to yield huge size improvements to the DFGLS and the feasible point optimal PT test developed in Elliott, Rothenberg, and Stock (1996). We also extend the M tests developed in Perron and Ng (1996) to allow for GLS detrending of the data. The MIC along with GLS detrended data yield a set of tests with desirable size and power properties.

Abstract We propose methods to estimate and make inferences on conditional quantile processes for models with both nonparametric and (locally or globally) linear components. We derive their asymptotic properties, optimal bandwidths, and uniform confidence bands over quantiles allowing for robust bias correction. Our framework covers the sharp regression discontinuity design, which is used to study the effects of unemployment insurance benefits extensions, focusing on heterogeneity over quantiles and covariates. We show economically strong effects in the tails of the outcome distribution. They reduce the within-group inequality, but can be viewed as enhancing between-group inequality, although they help to bridge the gender gap.