We study the role of information sources on innovation in a two stage sequential probit model that can be used to analyze survey data in which questions are asked sequentially. Firms can fall into three catagories: (i) they do not innovation; (ii) they introduce a radical innovation on their...

Qualitative behaviours of small firms are explored to forecast criticalities in the Italian credit market. We build up an evaluation process to integrate quantitative rating practices. Research method: Relevant qualitative factors to estimate the credit risk are empirically investigated by...

Traditionally, econometric research on social interaction effects has used fairly large social groups (schools, Census tracts, etc.). However, new data which describes the behavior of much smaller peer groups is becoming available. This paper analyzes the behavior of "small neighborhoods" in the...

Neyman and Scott define the incidental-parameter problem. In panel data with $T$ observations per individual, the estimator of the common parameter is usually constistent with O(1/T). This paper shows that the integrated likelihood estimator becomes consistent with O(1/T^2) if an...

I estimate, using real-time data, a forward-looking monetary policy reaction function that is dynamic and that also accounts for the fact that there are substantial restrictions in the period-to-period changes of the Fed's policy instrument. I find a substantial contrast between the periods...

In Japan, demands for Broadband Internet Access and Internet Telephony have increased dramatically in recent years. According to official sources, as of September 2005, there were 21.4 million users of Broadband Internet Access and 9.76 million IP telephones in use. In this study, we employ a...

This paper uses an unobserved component model to examine the relative importance of the structural and the persistence approach to unemployment. We derive the NAIRU from a standard imperfect competition model. The price- and wage-setting schedules include a measure for unemployment persistence....

The asymptotic distribution of the QML estimator for GARCH processes, with coefficients possibly equal to zero, is established. This distribution is the projection of a normal vector distribution onto a convex cone. The results are derived under mild conditions which, for important subclasses,...

The termstructure of interest rates is an instrument that gives us the necessary information for valueing deterministic financial cash flows, measuring the economic market expectations and testing the effectiveness of monetary policy decissions. However, it is not directly observable and needs...

This paper concentrates on evaluating current econometric practices for estimating parameters of the Phillips curve (price stickiness, back-looking component, etc). Standard practices do not recognize the key role that monetary policy may have on shaping the results obtained