Parameter uncertainty has been a recurrent subject treated in the financial literature. The normative portfolio selection approach considers two main kinds of decision rules: expected expected utility maximization and mean-variance criterion. Assuming that the mean-variance criterion is a good...

In this paper, we show how to estimate the parameters of stochastic volatility models using Bayesian estimation and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations through the approximation of the a-posteriori distribution of parameters. Simulated independent draws are made possible by using...

In this article we deal with the identification problem within the Dynamic Linear Models family and show that using Bayesian estimation procedures we can deal better with these problems in comparison with the traditional Maximum Likelihood estimation approach. Using a Bayesian approach supported...

This article builds on the mean-variance criterion and the connection with expected utility maximization to define optimal portfolios. In addition, it extends the results by considering the use of step utility functions, which are non-continuous and able to capture possible preferences...

Stochastic volatility models are very flexible models able to characterize financial volatility evolution. This article explores computational capabilities based on Graphical Processing Units to simulate many Monte Carlo Markov chains in estimating stochastic volatility model parameters through...

Stochastic volatility models are very flexible models able to characterize financial volatility evolution. This article explores computational capabilities based on Graphical Processing Units to simulate many Monte Carlo Markov chains in estimating stochastic volatility model parameters through...

Using OLS and quantile regression methods and rich cross-section data sets for western and eastern Germany, this paper demonstrates that the impact of works council presence on labor productivity varies between manufacturing and services, between plants that are or are not covered by collective...

We know from experience that weak economic growth increases the unemployment rate. In 1962 Okun proposed to measure potential output in terms of unemployment gap. From this relation a direct link between increase in unemployment and output growth was deduced, known as the Okun Law. This Law is...

Evidence of instability of the wealth effect in the USA is presented through the estimation of a Markov switching model of the long-run aggregate consumption function. The dating of the regimes appears to bear relation to movements in asset prices. A model-based explanation of the findings is...