This paper analyses data from a large-scale field experiment where unemployed workers were randomly assigned to an additional caseworker meeting with the purpose to impose a broader job search strategy. We find that the meeting significantly increases job finding and is cost effective. However,...

State space models with nonstationary processes and fixed regression effects require a state vector with diffuse initial conditions. Different likelihood functions can be adopted for the estimation of parameters in time series models with diffuse initial conditions. In this paper we consider...

Convergence in gross domestic product series of five European countriesis empirically identified using multivariate time series models that arebased on unobserved components with dynamic converging properties.We define convergence in terms of a decrease in dispersion over timeand model this...

We value rating-triggered step-up bonds with three methods: (i) the Jarrow, Lando andTurnbull (1997, JLT) framework, (ii) a similar framework using historical probabilities and(iii) as plain vanilla bonds. We find that the market seems to value single step-up bondsaccording to the JLT model,...

This paper investigates business cycle relations among different economies in theEuro area. Cyclical dynamics are explicitly modelled as part of a time series model. Weintroduce mechanisms that allow for increasing or diminishing phase shifts and for time-varyingassociation patterns in different...

This paper proposes a new model-based method to obtain a coincident indicator for the business cycle. A dynamic factor model with trend components and a common cycle component is considered which can be estimated using standard maximum likelihood methods. The multivariate unobserved components...

In this paper we present a new three-step approach to the estimation of Generalized Orthogonal GARCH (GO-GARCH) models, as proposed by van der Weide (2002). The approach only requires (non-linear) least-squares methods in combination with univariate GARCH estimation, and as such is...

The strong consistency and asymptotic normality of the maximum likelihood estimator in observation-driven models usually requires the study of the model both as a filter for the time-varying parameter and as a data generating process (DGP) for observed data. The probabilistic properties of the...

In this paper we consider the Fractional Vector Error Correction model proposed in Avarucci (2007), which is characterized by a richer lag structure than models proposed in Granger (1986) and Johansen (2008, 2009). We discuss the identification issues of the model of Avarucci (2007), following...

We study the strong consistency and asymptotic normality of the maximum likelihood estimator for a class of time series models driven by the score function of the predictive likelihood. This class of nonlinear dynamic models includes both new and existing observation driven time series models....