We consider inference in models defined by approximate moment conditions. We show that near-optimal confidence intervals (CIs) can be formed by taking a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator, and adding and subtracting the standard error times a critical value that takes into account the...

Portfolio sorting is ubiquitous in the empirical finance literature, where it has been widely used to identify pricing anomalies in different asset classes. Despite the popularity of portfolio sorting, little attention has been paid to the statistical properties of the procedure or to the...

Pair-copula constructions are flexible models for the dependence in a random vector that have attracted a lot of interest in recent years. In this paper, we use generalized additive models to extend pair-copula constructions to allow for effects of covariates on the dependence parameters. We let...

We introduce a statistical test for comparing the predictive accuracy of competing copula specifications in multivariate density forecasts, based on the Kullback-Leibler Information Criterion (KLIC). The test is valid under general conditions: in particular it allows for parameter estimation...

In this paper, we develop a general method of testing for independence when unobservable generalized errors are involved. Our method can be applied to testing for serial independence of generalized errors, and testing for independence between the generalized errors and observable covariates. The...

This paper develops a specification test for functional form for models identified by moment restrictions, including IV and GMM settings. The general framework is one where the moment restrictions are specified as functions of data, a finite-dimensional parameter vector, and a nonparametric real...

We propose a new method of testing stochastic dominance which improves on existing tests based on bootstrap or sub-sampling. Our test requires estimation of the contact sets between the marginal distributions. Our tests have asymptotic sizes that are exactly equal to the nominal level uniformly...

A test for serial independence is proposed which is related to the BDS test but focuses on tail event probabilities rather than probabilities near the center of the distribution. The motivation behind this approach is to obtain a test more suitable for detecting structure in the tails, such as...

Nonrandom sampling schemes are often used in program evaluation settings to improve the quality of inference. This paper considers what we call treatment-based sampling, a type of standard stratified sampling where part of the strata are based on treatment status. This paper establishes...

We consider a particular concept of accuracy of predictions, and we develop a class of non-parametric, spectral density tests capable of deciding whether a given random variable can predict a time series. Under standard assumptions, we show that those tests are consistent, robust and admissible....