We suggest improved tests for cointegration rank in the vector autoregressive (VAR) model and develop asymptotic distribution theory and local power results. The tests are (quasi-)likelihood ratio tests based on a Gaussian likelihood, but of course the asymptotic results apply more generally....

For decades, the academic literature has focused on three survey measures of expected inflation: the Livingston Survey, the Survey of Professional Forecasters, and the Michigan Survey. While these measures have been useful in developing models of forecasting inflation, the data are low frequency...

The present article deals with the theme of efficiency in healthcare and especially technical efficiency in psyaciatric hospital care. We used the method of data envelopment analysis (DEA), which finds increasing application in many spheres of public life, including healthcare. We subdivided the...

Tests for causality and rationality in the coffee futures market were carried out using data from the New York Market. Tests of causality indicated that futures prices strongly influence variations in spot price eight weeks or more to maturity. However, beginning seven weeks to maturity there...

One of the most important instruments of economic policy of the opened countries is the exchange rate. It is considered both a mean of monetary regulation and a tool of outside competitiveness. Morocco plans to adopt the floating exchange rate regime, in the end of 2009. Indeed, the question...

Market inefficiency has influence on resource allocation, as price signals tend systematically understate or overstate the effects of information transmitted to the trading parties in the market. In this paper a number of statistical tests employed to assess the weak-form efficiency of Khartoum...

A review is given of parametric estimation methods for discretely sampled multivariate diffusion processes. The main focus is on estimating functions and asymptotic results. Maximum likelihood estimation is briefly considered, but the emphasis is on computationally less demanding martingale...

A general theory of efficient estimation for ergodic diffusions sampled at high fre- quency is presented. High frequency sampling is now possible in many applications, in particular in finance. The theory is formulated in term of approximate martingale estimating functions and covers a large...