Business cycle asymmetry is examined using annual observations on GDP for 22 economies over the period 1870 to 1994. The present paper extends recent research in a number of ways. First, a non-parametric testing procedure is adopted which is robust to outliers. Second, alternative methods of...

The debate concerning the mean reverting nature of the consumption-income ratio is revisited. The existing literature is extended by allowing for the as yet unconsidered possibility of asymmetric mean reversion in a collection of OECD economies. Using specifically derived finite-sample critical...