The estimation of models involving discrete mixtures is a common practice in econometrics, for example to account for unobserved heterogeneity. However, the literature is relatively uninformative about the measurement of the precision of the parameters. This note provides an analytical...

This paper introduces an upgraded version of MSVARlib, a Gauss and Ox- Gauss compliant library, focusing on Multivariate Markov Switching Regressions in their most general specification. This new set of procedures allows to estimate, through classical optimization methods, models belonging to...

Compared to its central role in policy discussions in the United States and most other developed countries, the reliability of the measurement of the output gap has attracted relatively little academic study. Furthermore, both the academic literature and the debate among practitioners have...