Classical regression analysis uses partial coefficients to measure the influences of some variables (regressors) on another variable (regressand). However, a descriptive point of view shows that these coefficients are very bad measures of influence. Their interpretation as an average change of...

Explained variance (R^2) is a familiar summary of the fit of a linear regression and has been generalized in various ways to multilevel (hierarchical) models. The multilevel models we consider in this paper are characterized by hierarchical data structures in which individuals are grouped into...

The least-absolute-deviations (LAD) estimator for a median- regression model does not satisfy the standard conditions for obtaining asymptotic refinements through use of the bootstrap because the LAD objective function is not smooth. This paper overcomes this problem by smoothing the objective...

In this paper we consider the problem of interpreting the signs of the estimated coefficients in multivariate time series regressions where the regressors are correlated. Using a continuous time model, we argue that focusing on the signs of individual coefficients in such regressions could be...

This paper is a substantially revised version of our earlier working paper, "Truth and Robustness in Cross-country Growth Regressions." The most important revisions concern the handling of missing observations in the cross-country data set. In the earlier paper, these had been handled through...

The work of Levine and Renelt (1992) and Sala-i-Martin (1997a, b) which attempted to test the robustness of various determinants of growth rates of per capita GDP among countries using two variants of Edward Leamer's extreme-bounds analysis is reexamined. In a realistic Monte Carlo experiment in...

This working paper aims to stress the role of the institutional capital and its components, as primary factors, in economic results at the national level, using adequate measurement indicators and econometric models. For this purpose, we analysed the following aspects: the definition of...

This working paper aims to stress the role of the institutional capital and its components, as primary factors, in economic results at the national level, using adequate measurement indicators and econometric models. For this purpose, we analysed the following aspects: the definition of...

This paper introduces a new R package, LRMoE, a statistical software tailor-made for actuarial applications which allows actuarial researchers and practitioners to model and analyze insurance loss frequencies and severities using the Logit-weighted Reduced Mixture-of-Experts (LRMoE) model. LRMoE...