A panel data set covering 145 countries between 1960 and 2010 has been investigated closely by using models of parameter heterogeneity. The Functional Coefficient Model (FCM) introduced by Cai, Fan and Yao (2000) allows estimated parameters of growth determinants to vary as functions of one or...

This paper addresses the selection of smoothing parameters for estimating the average treatment effect on the treated using matching methods. Because precise estimation of the expected counterfactual is particularly important in regions containing the mass of the treated units, we define and...

Many recent papers have pointed to ambiguous trade effects of developing regional trade agreements, calling for a reassessment of their economic merits. We focus on six such agreements currently in force in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, estimating their impacts on trade flows and...

The most common form of data for socio-economic studies comes from survey sampling. Often the designs of such surveys are complex and use stratification as a method for selecting sample units. A parametric regression model is widely employed for the analysis of such survey data. However the use...

In energy and environment field models are constructed, in general, based on well-defined physical phenomena and properties. Calibration and uncertainty analysis hold a particular interest because models represent a simplification of reality and, therefore, it is necessary to quantify to what...

Data smoothing or regression kernels based on locational entropy embody the principle that observations towards the extremes of the chosen data window should provide less information than those at the midpoint. Weight patterns can be flexible, depending on the choice of prior information density.