Feedforward neural networks, projection pursuit regression, and more generally, estimation via ridge functions have been proposed as an approach to bypass the curse of dimensionality and are now becoming widely applied to approximation or prediction in applied sciences. To address problems...

This paper proposes model selection criteria (MSC) for unconditional moment models using generalized empirical likelihood (GEL) statistics. The use of GEL-statistics in lieu of J-statistics (in the spirit of Andrews, 1999, Econometrica 67, 543-564; and Andrews and Lu, 2001, Journal of Econometrics...

More and more, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are accelerating computing applications. The absolute performance achieved by these configurable machines has been impressive-often one to two orders of magnitude greater than processor-based alternatives. Configurable computing is one of the...

In the framework of continuous-time, Itô processes models for financial markets, we study the problem of maximizing the probability of an agent's wealth at time T being no less than the value C of a contingent claim with expiration time T. The solution to the problem has been known in the...

This thesis consists of three empirical essays on topics in industrial organization. Chapter 1 introduces the three essays and describes their main results. In chapter 2, I measure the effects of advertising on households' choices among competing brands of differentiated products when households...

The Northridge earthquake will long be remembered for the unprecedented losses incurred as a result of a moderate-size event in a suburban area of Los Angeles. Current documented costs indicate that this event is the costliest disaster in U.S. history. Although it is difficult to estimate the...

This paper addresses the issue of the steady and unsteady forces which may be imparted to a pump impeller by the through flow. The historical trend to increase the power density and speed of turbomachines has inevitably led to an increase in the number of fluid/structure interaction problems...