This paper analyzes the complexity of the "contraction fixed point problem": compute an epsilon-approximation to the fixed point "V"*Gamma("V"*) of a contraction mapping Gamma that maps a Banach space "B-sub-d" of continuous functions of "d" variables into itself. We focus on "quasi linear...

This paper provides an empirical analysis of how the U.S. Social Security and Medicare system affects the labor supply of older males in the presence of incomplete markets. The authors estimate a dynamic programming model of the joint labor supply and Social Security acceptance decision. The...

This paper introduces random versions of successive approximations and multigrid algorithms for computing approximate solutions to a class of finite and infinite horizon Markovian decision problems. The author proves that these algorithms succeed in breaking the 'curse of dimensionality' for a...

This paper formulates a simple, regenerative, optimal-stopping model of bus-eng ine replacement to describe the behavior of Harold Zurcher, superinte ndent of maintenance at the Madison (Wisconsin) Metropolitan Bus Comp any. Admittedly, few people are likely to take particular interest in Harold...

Local to unity limit theory is used in applications to construct confidence intervals (CIs) for autoregressive roots through inversion of a unit root test (Stock (1991)). Such CIs are asymptotically valid when the true model has an autoregressive root that is local to unity (ρ = 1 + c/n), but...

We propose a functional estimation procedure for homogeneous stochastic differential equations based on a discrete sample of observations and with minimal requirements on the data generating process. We show how to identify the drift and diffusion function in situations where one or the other...

Some new tools for analyzing spurious regressions are presented. The theory utilizes the general representation of a stochastic process in terms of an orthonormal system and provides an extension of the Weierstrass theorem to include the approximation of continuous functions and stochastic...

This paper develops a regression limit theory for nonstationary panel data with large numbers of cross section and time series observations. The limit theory allows for both sequential limits and joins limits, and the relationship between these multidimensional limits is explored. The panel...