Empirical models for dyadic interactions between n agents often feature agent-specific parameters. Fixed-effect estimators of such models generally have bias of order n−1, which is nonnegligible relative to their standard error. Therefore, confidence sets based on the asymptotic distribution have incorrect coverage. This paper looks at models with multiplicative unobservables and fixed effects. We derive moment conditions that are free of fixed effects and use them to set up estimators that are n-consistent, asymptotically normally distributed, and asymptotically unbiased. We provide Monte Carlo evidence for a range of models. We estimate a gravity equation as an empirical illustration.

Maximum-likelihood estimation of nonlinear models with fixed effects is subject to the incidental-parameter problem. This typically implies that point estimates suffer from large bias and confidence intervals have poor coverage. This article presents a jackknife method to reduce this bias and to obtain confidence intervals that are correctly centred under rectangular-array asymptotics. The method is explicitly designed to handle dynamics in the data, and yields estimators that are straightforward to implement and can be readily applied to a range of models and estimands. We provide distribution theory for estimators of model parameters and average effects, present validity tests for the jackknife, and consider extensions to higher-order bias correction and to two-step estimation problems. An empirical illustration relating to female labour-force participation is also provided.

The maximum‐likelihood estimator of nonlinear panel data models with fixed effects is asymptotically biased under rectangular‐array asymptotics. The literature has devoted substantial effort to devising methods that correct for this bias as a means to salvage standard inferential procedures. The chief purpose of this paper is to show that the (recursive, parametric) bootstrap replicates the asymptotic distribution of the (uncorrected) maximum‐likelihood estimator and of the likelihood‐ratio statistic. This justifies the use of confidence sets and decision rules for hypothesis testing constructed via conventional bootstrap methods. No modification for the presence of bias needs to be made.

This paper considers inference on fixed effects in a linear regression model estimated from network data. An important special case of our setup is the two‐way regression model. This is a workhorse technique in the analysis of matched data sets, such as employer–employee or student–teacher panel data. We formalize how the structure of the network affects the accuracy with which the fixed effects can be estimated. This allows us to derive sufficient conditions on the network for consistent estimation and asymptotically valid inference to be possible. Estimation of moments is also considered. We allow for general networks and our setup covers both the dense and the sparse case. We provide numerical results for the estimation of teacher value‐added models and regressions with occupational dummies.