On Identifying Structural VAR Models via ARCH Effects

Abstract: We consider the local identification of parameters in structural VAR models with ARCH type errors. By establishing a mapping between the structural and reduced-form models, we provide a set of sufficient conditions for the joint identification of all parameters. Under these conditions, as the structural parameters are identified, various restrictions on the parameters can be tested in a standard manner. For example, the significance test for the ARCH effect in the usual GARCH formulation for a structural shock does not suffer the complications caused by a lack of identification encountered in univariate GARCH models.