We propose testing for business cycle asymmetries in Markov-switching autoregressive (MS-AR) models. We derive the parametric restrictions on MS-AR models that rule out types of asymmetries such as deepness, steepness, and sharpness, and set out a testing procedure based on Wald statistics which...

Periodic models for seasonal data allow the parameters of the model to vary across the different seasons. This paper uses the components of UK consumption to see whether the periodic autoregressive (PAR) model yields more accurate forecasts than non-periodic models, such as the airline model of...

This paper reports on the Austrian research project “Renewable energy in Austria: Modeling possible development trends until 2020”. The project investigated possible economic and ecological effects of a substantially increased use of renewable energy sources in Austria. Together with...

This paper investigates whether coal- or biomass-fired Integrated Gasification Combined-Cycle (IGCC) power plants can serve as an economically viable future technology for providing clean electricity and heat in Germany. In the context of CO2 emission reduction in power generation, energy...