A general model specification test of a parametric model against a nonparametric or semiparametric alternative is studied. The test statistic employs a fixed kernel, not varying by a bandwidth. This test is proved to be consistent, the asymptotic distribution is derived and shown to be...

A thorough understanding of the joint default behavior of credit-risky securities is essential for credit risk measurement as well as the valuation of multi-name credit derivatives and Collateralized Debt Obligations. In this paper we study a simple and tractable intensity-based model for...

In a complete financial market every contingent claim can be hedged perfectly. In an incomplete market it is possible to stay on the safe side by superhedging. But such strategies may require a large amount of initial capital. Here we study the question what an investor can do who is unwilling...

In this note the unobserved component approach underlying the software package SEATS is compared with the Beveridge-Nelson type of decomposition for seasonal time series. The main strength of the SEATS approach lies in the appealing model formulation and the careful specification and adjustment...