This paper argues in favour of a closer link between decision and forecast evaluation problems. Although the idea of using decision theory for forecast evaluation appears early in the dynamic stochastic programming literature, and has continued to be used in meteorological forecasts, it is...

The authors demonstrate the conditions under which the bivariate probit model can be considered a special case of the more general multinomial probit model. Since the attendant parameter restrictions produce a singular covariance matrix, the subsequent problems of testing on the boundary of the...

Expenditure on environmentally sensitive goods and services has been analysed for the member states of the EEC, using the EUROSTAT Family Budgets data based on surveys carried out in 1988. Some data are also available from Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The groups with low...

The authors develop a test of infinite degree stochastic dominance based on the use of the empirical moment generating function. Two applications are considered. One uses the income data of Anderson (Econometrica, 1996) and derives results consistent with his. In the other application, the...

This paper addresses the effects of multimarket contact on firms’ ability to collude. Real world imperfections tend to makes firms’ objective function strictly concave and market supergames ‘interdependent’: firms’ payoffs in each market depend on how they are doing in others. Then,...

This paper compares the effects of weather shocks on agricultural production in Britain, France and Germany during the late nineteenth century. Using semi- parametric models to estimate the non-linear agro-weather relationship, we find that weather shocks explain between one and two-thirds of...

The paper models the evolution of regional asymmetries, and the associated intra-distribution mobility, as the outcome of adoption decisions taken by firms at different locations. The following equilibria are characterised: Persistent asymmetry where nobody adopts, Leapfrogging where low-quality...

This paper examines the extent to which the conclusions of cross-country studies of private savings are robust to allowing for the possible heterogeneity of savings behaviour across countries and for the inclusion of dynamics. It reviews the econometric implications of neglected slope...

Monetary authorities often seem reluctant to discuss the conduct of monetary policy. There is a concern that greater openness in monetary policy-making may lead to volatility in financial markets, and specifically in interest rates. To date there is very little direct empirical evidence; however,...

This paper constructs nominal and real multilateral effective exchange rates ffor Japan during the period 1879-1938. Existing studies of Japanese quantitative economic history have tended to use the dollar-yen bilateral exchange rate. A comparison of different indices suggests that the new data...