This paper examines monetary policy in Rudebusch and Svensson's (1999) two equation macroeconomic model when the policymaker recognizes that the model is an approximation and is uncertain about the quality of that approximation. It is argued that the minimax approach of robust control provides a...

Economists typically check the robustness of their results by comparing them across plausible ranges of parameter values and model structures. A preferable approach to robustness--for the purposes of policymaking and evaluation--is to design policy that takes these ranges into account. We modify...

In this paper we discuss the properties of confidence intervals for regression parameters based on robust standard errors. We discuss the motivation for a modification suggested by Bell and McCaffrey (2002) to improve the finite sample properties of the confidence intervals based on the...

The government often provides relief against large risks, such as disasters. A simple, general rationale for this role of government is considered here that applies even when private contracting to share risks is not subject to market imperfections. Specifically, the optimal private sharing of...

This paper describes the results of a Monte Carlo study of certain aspects of robust regression confidence region estimation for linear models with one, five, and seven parameters. One-step sine estimators (c = l.42) were used with design matrices consisting of short-tailed, Gaussian, and...

What are the statistical and computational problems associated with robust nonlinear regression? This paper presents a number of possible approaches to these problems and develops a particular algorithm based on the work of Powell and Dennis

Four estimators of econometric models are compared for predictive accuracy. Two estimators assume that the parameters of the equations are subject to variation over time. The first of these, the adaptive regression technique (ADR), assumes that the intercept varies overtime, while the other, a...