This study considers the time series behavior of the U.S. real interest rate from 1961 to 1986. We provide a statistical characterization of the series using the methodology of Hamilton (1989), by allowing three possible regimes affecting both the mean and variance of the series. The results...

We extend the random level shift (RLS) model of Lu and Perron (2010) to the volatility of asset prices, which consists of a short memory process and a random level shift component. Motivated by empirical features, (a) we specify a time-varying probability of shifts as a function of large...

This paper studies issues related to the estimation of a structural change in the persistence of a univariate time series. The break is such that the process has a unit root [i.e., is I(1)] in the pre-break regime but reverts to a stationary [i.e., I(0)] process in the post-break regime or vice...

Empirical ?ndings related to the time series properties of stock returns volatility indicate autocorrelations that decay slowly at long lags. In light of this, several long-memory models have been proposed. However, the possibility of level shifts has been advanced as a possible explanation for...

This paper considers various asymptotic approximations to the finite sample distribution of the estimate of the break date in a simple one-break model for a linear trend function that exhibits a change in slope, with or without a concurrent change in intercept. The noise component is either...

This paper considers the problem of testing for structural changes in the trend function of a univariate time series without any prior knowledge as to whether the noise component is stationary or contains an autoregressive unit root. We propose a new approach that builds on the work of Perron...