We apply recent results from the statistics literature to test for multimodality of worldwide distributions of several (unweighted and population-weighted) measures of labor productivity. Specifically, we employ Silverman (Bump) and Dip modality tests, calibrated to correct for their incorrect...

We apply extreme value analysis to US sectoral stock indices in order to assess whether tail risk measures like value-at-risk and extremal linkages were significantly altered by 9|11. We test whether semi-parametric quantile estimates of 'downside risk' and 'upward potential' have increased...

In this paper, we propose a unified approach to generating standardized-residuals-based correlation tests for checking GARCH-type models. This approach is valid in the presence of estimation uncertainty, is robust to various standardized error distributions, and is applicable to testing various...

In this paper we propose a multivariate extension of the partial adjustment model of financial ratios. To that end, we use a dynamic factor model which assumes that financial ratios measuring, essentially, the same economic-financial dimension of the firm evolve in a similar way, reflecting the...

Official estimates of school completion rates in Australia increased in the 1980s, peaked in 1992, and fell immediately thereafter before stabilizing. The official estimates were a specific focus of Australian education policy. The decline caused concern at the time. We use data from the...

The diffusion of temporary work agency (TWA) jobs has led to a harsh policy debate and ambiguous empirical evidence. Results for the USA, based on quasi-experimental evidence, suggest that a TWA assignment decreases the probability of finding a stable job, while results for Europe, based on the...

The literature on the spillover effects of trade and inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) has concentrated on technological externalities. Little effort has been directed towards identifying their efficiency externalities. This paper measures the efficiency externalities of trade and...

Most empirical evidence suggests that the Fisher effect, stating that inflation and nominal interest rates should cointegrate with a unit slope on inflation, does not hold, a finding at odds with many theoretical models. This paper argues that these results can be attributed in part to the low...

This paper illustrates the pitfalls of the conventional heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation robust (HAR) Wald test and the advantages of new HAR tests developed by Kiefer and Vogelsang in 2005 and by Phillips, Sun and Jin in 2003 and 2006. The illustrations use the 1993 Fama-French...

We propose a new nonlinear time series model of expected returns based on the dynamics of the cross-sectional rank of realized returns. We model the joint dynamics of a sharp jump in the cross-sectional rank and the asset return by analyzing (1) the marginal probability distribution of a jump in...