Nonparametric unit-root tests are a useful addendum to the tool-box of time-series analysis. They tend to trade off power for enhanced robustness features. We consider combinations of the RURS (seasonal range unit roots) test statistic and a variant of the level-crossings count. This combination...

Fund-of-funds (FoF) managers face the task of selecting a (relatively) small number of hedge funds from a large universe of candidate funds. We analyse whether such a selection can be successfully achieved by looking at the track records of the available funds alone, using advanced statistical...

This paper proposes a simple and improved nonparametric unit-root test. An asymptotic distribution of the proposed test is established. Finite sample comparisons with an existing nonparametric test are discussed. Some issues about possible extensions are outlined

We propose novel misspecification tests of semiparametric and fully parametric univariate diffusion models based on the estimators developed in Kristensen (Journal of Econometrics, 2010). We first demonstrate that given a preliminary estimator of either the drift or the diffusion term in a...

A novel estimation method for two classes of semiparametric scalar diffusion models is proposed: In the first class, the diffusion term is parameterised and the drift is left unspecified, while in the second class only the drift term is specified. Under the assumption of stationarity, the...

This paper studies the local robustness of estimators and tests for the conditional location and scale parameters in a strictly stationary time series model. We first derive optimal bounded-influence estimators for such settings under a conditionally Gaussian reference model. Based on these...

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...

In this paper, we study the asymptotic behavior of the sequential empirical process and the sequential empirical copula process, both constructed from residuals of multivariate stochastic volatility models. Applications for the detection of structural changes and specification tests of the...