We propose a new estimation method for models defined by conditional moment restrictions,that minimizes a distance criterion based on kernel smoothing. Whether the bandwidth parameter is fixed or decreases to zero with the sample size, our approach defines a whole class of estimators. We develop...

Prices of currency options commonly differ from the Black-Scholes formula along two dimensions: implied volatilities vary by strike price (volatility smiles) and maturity (implied volatility of at­the­money options increases, on average, with maturity). We account for both using Gram­Charlier...

This working paper aims at improving the comparability of forecast quality measures of insolvency prediction studies. For this purpose, in a first step commonly used accuracy measures for categorial, ordinal and cardinal insolvency predictions are presented. It will be argued, that ordinal...

We document a surprising pattern in market prices of S&P 500 index options. When implied volatilities are graphed against a standard measure of moneyness, the implied volatility smirk does not flatten out as maturity increases up to the observable horizon of two years. This behavior contrasts...

This paper demonstrates the impact of the observed financial market persistence or long term memory on European option valuation by simple simulation. Many empirical researchers have observed the non-Fickian degrees of persistence or long memory in the financial markets different from the...

If pricing kernels are assumed non-negative then the inverse problem of finding the pricing kernel is well-posed. The constrained least squares method provides a consistent estimate of the pricing kernel. When the data are limited, a new method is suggested: relaxed maximization of the relative...

This paper compares generalized method of moments (GMM) and simulated maximum likelihood (SML) approaches to the estimation of the panel probit model. Both techniques circumvent multiple integration of joint density functions without the need to restrict the error term variance- covariance...

In this paper we present a consistent specification test of a parametric regression function against a general nonparametric alternative. The proposed test is based on wavelet estimation and it is shown to have similar rates of convergence to the more commonly used kernel based tests. Monte...

The paper deals with the detection and measurement of the level of persistence on aggregate private consumption in Portugal, USA, European Union and EuroZone as well as on some categories of aggregate consumption in Portugal. By the use of a non-parametric methodology applied to monthly data...