We study the mechanism of inequality due to educational lock-in effects. Recent research on inequality such as Brock and Durlauf (2000a, b) and Durlauf (1999a, b, 2000) has emphasized the fact that the composition and behavior of groups to which a person belongs play an important role for...

We present a multivariate generalization of the simple markov-switching model. We allow for the introduction of several latent processes that have a simple parametric distribution. The matrix-variate bernoulli distribution yields a flexible yet parsimonious pattern of dependence between the...

Non-linear modeling approaches, including Smooth Transition Autoregressive (STAR) models, have attracted a great deal of attention over the last two decades. The empirical application of these models, however, is not always a straightforward task. In particular, parameter estimation and...

The assessment of models of financial market behaviour requires evaluation tools. When complexity hinders a direct estimation approach, e.g., for agent based microsimulation models or multifractal models, simulation based estimators might provide an alternative. In order to apply such...

This paper uses an unobserved component model to examine the relative importance of the structural and the persistence approach to unemployment. We derive the NAIRU from a standard imperfect competition model. The price- and wage-setting schedules include a measure for unemployment persistence....

This paper highlights the analysis of the term structure of interest rate within a full DSGE model. Our goal consists in setting up a full model including the feed-back from the economy to the term structure and vice-versa. Contrary to existing models of the term structure (TS, henceforth) (for...

This paper studies the behaviour of firm entry and exit in response to macroeconomic shocks. We formulate a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with an endogenous number of producers. From the calibrated model, we derive a minimum set of robust sign restrictions to identify four kinds...

The aim of this paper is to propose a numerical method to price the Chicago Board of Trade Treasury-bond futures. This contract is one of the most traded in the world, largely because of its ability to hedge long term interest rate risk. The difficulty to price it arises from its multiple...

One aim of Viability Theory is to regulate evolutions under uncertainty in order not only to reach a target in finite time, but also to fulfill constraints (known as viability) until this time. Within the framework of finance, in the case of replicating portfolios, the target is defined by the...

This paper investigates whether insiders use private information in their decision to exercise executive stock options. Consistent with existing research, exercises overall do not yield subsequent abnormal returns. Categorising exercises by the proportion of stock sold at exercise yields a...