We estimate a semiparametric single-risk discrete-time duration model to assess the effect of vocational training on the duration of unemployment spells. The data basis used in this study is the German Socio-Economic- Panel (GSOEP) for West Germany for the period from 1986 to 1994. To take into...

Based on administrative data from the federal employment office in Germany, we apply matching techniques to estimate the stepping-stone function of temporary agency work for the unemployed, i.e. its short-run and long-run effects on their future employment prospects. Our results show that...

This paper revisits the question if the user cost of capital plays an important role for investment decisions using Bayesian estimation techniques. These methods offer advantages over classical econometric tools in this area: The most important are that prior distributions offer a convincing way...

In contrast to a posterior analysis given a particular sampling model, posterior model probabilities in the context of model uncertainty are typically rather sensitive to the specification of the prior. In particular, "diffuse'' priors on model-specific parameters can lead to quite unexpected...

I use numerical methods to test for the presence of one-time structural breaks in the conditional variance of nominal interest rate spreads in four European countries over a period of eleven years (Jan 1988 to Dec 1998). I start with an intuitive approach consisting of a sequence of breakpoint...

Monetary policy has been usually analyzed in the context of small macroeconomic models where central banks are allowed to exploit a limited amount of information. Under these frameworks, researchers typically derive the optimality of aggressive monetary rules, contrasting with the observed...

A welfare analysis of a risky policy is impossible within a linear or linearized model and its certainty equivalence property. The presented algorithms are designed as a toolbox for a general model class. The computational challenges are considerable and I concentrate on the numerics and...

This paper deals with the issue of modeling daily catches of fishing boats in the Grand Bank fishing grounds. We have data on catches per species for a number of vessels collected by the European Union in the context of the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization. Many variables can be thought to...

An exciting development in modeling has been the ability to estimate reliable individual-level parameters for choice models. Individual partworths derived from these parameters have been very useful in segmentation, identifying extreme individuals, and in creating appropriate choice simulators....

This paper is concerned with statistical inference in multinomial probit, multinomial-$t$ and multinomial logit models. New Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms for fitting these models are introduced and compared with existing MCMC methods. The question of parameter identification in the...