In this paper we develop flexible techniques for measuring the speed of output convergence between countries when such convergence may be of an unknown non-linear form. We then calculate these convergence speeds for various countries, in terms of half-lives, from two time-series data-sets. These...

This paper duscusses tha author's wok on measuring and modelling the New Zealand underground economy, 1968-1994. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between this activity and taxation policy. An optimal level for the effective tax rate is reported, in terms of maximizing the impact...

We use survival models to analyze the duration of the spells associated with the interest rate used by the Bank of Canada as its monetary policy instrument. Both non-parametric and parametric models are estimated, allowing for right-censoring of the data, and time-varying covariates. We find...

The empirical likelihood ratio (ELR) test for the problem of testing for normality is derived in this paper. The sampling properties of the ELR test and four other commonly used tests are provided and analyzed using the Monte Carlo simulation technique. The power comparisons against a wide range...

This study investigates the degree of size-distortion of the RESET, FRESETL and FRESETS tests, and their ability to reject falsely specified models in terms of an omitted variable, in the presence of autocorrelation. Specifically, in the presence of AR(1) and MA(1) processes, respectively. We...

This paper considers the "learning curve" relationship between the aggregate tax rate and the relative size of the hidden economy in New Zealand. Some simple non-linear models are estimated so that the effects of changes in the effective tax rate on the underground economy can be simulated. We...

In this paper I support using econometric techniques to measure the size of the hidden (underground) economy, because such information is important for the construction of certain economic models, and for empirical policy analysis. Generally, detailed information on the output of the hidden...

We use nonparametric regression analysis to investigate the relationship between the effective tax rate and the relative size of the underground economy, using New Zealand data. The theoretical underpinnings of such a relationship are established by extending some of the predictions of the...

This paper develops and estimates a structural, latent variable, model for the hidden economy in New Zealand, and a separate currency-demand model. The estimated latent variable model is used to generate an historical time-series index of hidden economic activity, which is calibrated via the...

Various authors have proposed using the jackknife technique to approximate a standard error for the Gini coefficient. It has also been shown that the Gini measure can be obtained simply from an artificial OLS regression based on the data and their ranks. Accordingly, we show that obtaining an...