Forecasters and applied econometricians are often interested in comparing the predictive accuracy of nested competing models. A leading example of nestedness is when predictive ability is equated with "out-of-sample Granger causalityʺ. In particular, it is often of interest to assess whether...

We provide analytical formulae for the asymptotic bias (ABIAS) and mean squared error (AMSE) of the IV estimator, and obtain approximations thereof based on an asymptotic scheme which essentially requires the expectation of the first stage F-statistic to converge to a finite (possibly small)...

We take as a starting point the existence of a joint distribution implied by different dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models, all of which are potentially misspecified. Our objective is to compare "true" joint distributions with ones generated by given DSGEs. This is accomplished...

This paper introduces bootstrap specification tests for diffusion processes. In the one-dimensional case, the proposed test is closest to the non parametric test introduced by Ait-Sahalia (1996), in the sense that both procedures determine whether the drift and variance components of a...

In the conduct of empirical macroeconomic research, unit root, cointegration, common cycle, and related test statistics are often constructed using logged data, even though there is often no clear reason, at least from an empirical perspective, why logs should be used rather than levels....

Various inflation forecasting models are compared using a simulated out-of-sample forecasting framework. We focus on the question of whether monetary aggregates are useful for forecasting inflation, but unlike previous work we examine a wide range of forecast horizons and allow for estimated as...

In this paper we examine the extent to which fluctuations in a number of macroeconomic variables impact on the volume of federal litigation cases. In particular, the impact of aggregate U.S. GDP, consumption, inflation, unemployment, and interest rates on the volume of antitrust, bankruptcy,...

In recent years it has become apparent that many of the classical testing procedures used to select amongst alternative economic theories and economic models are not realistic. In particular, researchers have become more aware of the fact that parameter estimation error and data dependence play...

This Chapter discusses estimation, specification testing, and model selection of predictive density models. In particular, predictive density estimation is briefly discussed. And a variety of different specifications and model evaluation tests due to various authors including Christoffersen and...

This paper analyzes the conditions under which consistent estimation can be achieved in instrumental Variables (IV) regression when the available instruments are weak, in the local-to-zero sense of Staiger and Stock (1997) and using the many-instrument framework of Morimune (1983) and Bekker...