The objective of this study is to compare alternative computerized model-selection strategies in the context of the vector autoregressive (VAR) modeling framework. The focus is on a comparison of subset modeling strategies with the general-to-specific reduction approach automated by PcGets....

Because the parameters of vector autoregressive processes are often difficult to interpret directly, econometricians use quantities derived from the parameters to disentangle the relationships between the variables. Bootstrap methods are often used for inference on the derived quantities....

In this paper we introduce a bootstrap procedure to test parameter restrictions in vector autoregressive models which is robust in cases of conditionally heteroskedastic error terms. The adopted wild bootstrap method does not require any parametric specification of the volatility process and...

In 2001, the Fed has lowered interest rates in a series of cuts, starting from 6.5 % at the end of 2000 to 2.0 % by early November. This paper asks, whether the Federal Reserve Bank has been surprising the markets, taking as given the conventional view about the effect of monetary policy shocks....