Knowledge that Transforms

[It is now popular to construct economic models in differential equation form. Perhaps the most serious econometric problem faced when dealing with a differential equation system is the practical difficulty of finding consistent estimates of the important structural parameters. In this paper a simple three-equation Phillips model is considered and consistent estimates of the structural parameters are provided by the minimum-distance procedure. The small-sample distributions of these estimates are investigated by the Monte Carlo method; and the results are then compared with those of the three-stage least-squares estimates found by making a discrete approximation to the system of differential equations.]

The technique of partial aggregation is explored as a means of preserving the confidentiality of data while enabling research scholars to utilize the information for analytic purposes. For this purpose, two criteria are developed for evaluating the analytic consequences of partial aggregation: One measure indicates the degree of divergence or non-conformity between estimates produced by unaggregated data and partially aggregated data; and the other measure pertains to efficiency loss and expresses the fraction of the useful information in the unaggregated data which remains after the data have been grouped or partially aggregated. These measures are then applied in an experimental test using data from the Call Reports and the Income and Dividend Statements of nearly 5400 member banks of the Federal Reserve System. This experiment consists of evaluating the effect on twenty different regression models of three different levels of aggregation and seven different rules for arraying the data prior to aggregation.