In this paper we propose several goodness-of-fit tests based on robust measures of skewness and tail weight. They can be seen as generalisations of the Jarque-Bera test (Bera and Jarque, 1981) based on the classical skewness and kurtosis, and as an alternative to the approach of Moors et al....

Deepest regression (DR) is a method for linear regression introduced by P. J. Rousseeuw and M. Hubert (1999, J. Amer. Statis. Assoc.94, 388-402). The DR method is defined as the fit with largest regression depth relative to the data. In this paper we show that DR is a robust method, with...

Using Logistic Normal regressions, we model the price-setting behaviour for a large sample of Belgian consumer prices over the January 1989 - January 2001 period. Our results indicate that time-dependent features are very important, particularly an infinite mixture of Calvo pricing rules and...

This paper examines the degree of price rigidity in Belgian consumer prices, using a large database. As to the observed degree of rigidity, the results reveal a substantial amount of heterogeneity, not only across but also within product categories. While prices turn out to be perfectly flexible...

This paper reports the results of an ad hoc survey on price-setting behaviour conducted in February 2004 among 2,000 Belgian firms. The reported results clearly deviate from a situation of perfect competition and show that firms have some market power. Pricing-to-market is applied by a majority...

We find strong econometric support for a break in the relationship between perceived and HICP inflation in the euro area, triggered by the introduction of euro notes and coins in January 2002. The break is fairly homogeneous across individuals with different socio-economic characteristics. We...