Anytime an individual makes a cash payment, s/he needs to think about theamount to be paid, the coins and notes which are available, and the amount ofchange. For central banks and retail stores, for example, it is of interest to un-derstand how this individual choice process works. The...

It is conceivable that the "whether to buy" and "how much tobuy" decisions in the purchasing process of households areinfluenced by the inventory process. In this paper we thereforeput forward a model for consumption, where we rely on establishedeconomic theory. We incorporate this model in a...

We propose a consistent utility-based framework to jointly explain a household's decisions on purchase incidence, brand choice and purchase quantity. The approach differs from other approaches, currently available in the literature, as it is able to take into account consumption dynamics. In the...

We propose a new and simple methodology to estimate the loss function associated with experts' forecasts. Under the assumption of conditional normality of the data and the forecast distribution, the asymmetry parameter of the lin-lin and linex loss function can easily be estimated using a linear...

Experts can rely on statistical model forecasts when creating their own forecasts. Usually it is not known what experts actually do. In this paper we focus on three questions, which we try to answer given the availability of expert forecasts and model forecasts. First, is the expert forecast...

We propose a novel statistic to test the rank of a matrix. The rank statistic overcomes deficiencies of existing rank statistics, like: a Kronecker covariance matrix for the canonical correlation rank statistic of Anderson [Annals of Mathematical Statistics (1951), 22, 327–351] sensitivity to...

We propose a novel Bayesian test under a (noninformative) Jeffreys'priorspecification. We check whether the fixed scalar value of the so-calledBayesian Score Statistic (BSS) under the null hypothesis is aplausiblerealization from its known and standardized distribution under thealternative....

This discussion paper resulted in an article in the <I>Journal of Business & Economic Statistics</I> (2003). Volume 21, pages 547-563.<P> Stylized facts show that the average growth rates of US per capitaconsumption and income differ in recession and expansion periods.Since a linear combination of such...</p></i>

This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the heterogeneity of recessions in monthly U.S. coincident and leading indicator variables. Univariate Markov switching models indicate that it is appropriate to allow for two distinct recession regimes, corresponding with ‘mild’ and ‘severe’...

This paper examines which macroeconomic and financial variables are most informative for the federal funds target rate decisions made by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) from a forecasting perspective. The analysis is conducted for the FOMC decision during the period January 1990 - June...