Abstract This paper develops finite mixture models with fixed effects for two families of distributions for which the incidental parameter problem has a solution. Analytical results are provided for mixtures of Normals and mixtures of Poisson. We provide algorithms based on the...

This article explores the copula approach for econometric modeling of joint parametric distributions. Although theoretical foundations of copulas are complex, this paper demonstrates that practical implementation and estimation are relatively straightforward. An attractive feature of...

This paper presents a new multivariate copula-based modeling approach for analyzing cost-offsets between drug and nondrug expenditures. Estimates are based on panel data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) with quarterly measures of medical expenditures. The approach allows for...

With the expansion of Medicare, increasing attention has been paid to the behavior of elderly persons in choosing health insurance. This article investigates how the elderly use plan attributes to screen their Medicare health plans to simplify a complicated choice situation. The proposed model...