Testing for unit roots in short-term interest rates plays a key role in the empirical modelling of these series. It is widely assumed that the volatility of interest rates follows some time-varying function which is dependent of the level of the series. This may cause distortions in the...

This paper investigates the finite sample distribution of the least squares estimator of the autoregressive parameter in a first-order autoregressive model. Uniform asymptotic expansion for the distribution applicable to both stationary and nonstationary cases is obtained. Accuracy of...

The Carbon Kuznets hypothesis conjectures an inverse U{shape relation between GDP and carbon dioxide emissions. We investigate a number of empirical problems with this hypothesis by way of both econometric analysis and CGE modelling. The econometric analysis takes into account the possibility of...

We investigate confidence intervals and inference for the instrumental variables model with weak instruments. Wald-based confidence intervals perform poorly in that the probability they reject the null is far greater than their nominal size. In the worst case, Wald-based confidence intervals...

We propose a general procedure for testing that a regression function has a prescribed parametric form. We allow for multivariate regressors, non-normal errors and heteroscedasticity of unknown form. The test relies upon a nonparametric linear estimation method, such as a sieves expansion or the...

I use numerical methods to test for the presence of one-time structural breaks in the conditional variance of nominal interest rate spreads in four European countries over a period of eleven years (Jan 1988 to Dec 1998). I start with an intuitive approach consisting of a sequence of breakpoint...

This paper uses long-run real price and dividends series to investigate for the German stock market the questions asked of the U.S. market by Shiller (1989). It tries to determine in what periods and to what degree the Germanstock market has also possessed "excess volatility" over the past...

In this paper, we focus on and examine the empirical evidence of non- linearity in aggregate Canadian unemployment. Contrary to the conclusion reached in Murray et al. (1993), and using a corrected for bias simple non-parametric test (SNT), we reject the null hypothesis of a linear structure for...

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the validity of some behavioral conjectures as alternative explanations of bank risk-taking behavior. We especially focus on the different valuation of gains and losses relative to a reference point, and the changing attitude toward risk conditional on...

This paper investigates the joint hypothesis of market efficiency and unbiasedness of futures prices for the copper futures contract traded on the London Metal Exchange. This contract is of particular importance given the usage and properties of the underlying commodity and its highest share of...