Often, economic policies are directed toward outcomes that are measured as counts. Examples of economic variables that use a basic counting scale are number of children as an indicator of fertility, number of doctor visits as an indicator of health care demand, and number of days absent from...

This paper is concerned with the problems of posterior simulation and model choice for Poisson panel data models with multiple random effects. Efficient algorithms based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods for sampling the posterior distribution are developed. A new parameterization of the...

The systematic risk of IPO's in the thinly traded Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) are estimated using Empirical Bayes Estimators (EBE). The sectors that the firms belong to, provide the priors. Comparisons are made with OLS estimators across different estimation and forecasting periods. Two...

In this paper we develop a regime switching model which can generate long memory (fractional integration) in each of the regime states. This property is relevant in a number of cases. For instance, the deregulated market for electricity power in the Nordic countries is characterized by...

We analyzed the distribution of the eigenvalues of the empirical cross correlation matrix constructed from the data of Chinese stock market and the distribution of the components of some eigenvectors corresponding to certain eigenvalues. Compared with the analytical random matrix theory results,...

We re-evaluate the evidence on the association between pension information and firm valuation by considering alternate theoretical constructs that can be captured in pension information. Economically, pension plans, especially defined benefit plans, but also defined contribution plans, are more...

We test whether a non-binding price ceiling may serve as a focal point for tacit collusion, using data from the credit card market during the 1980s. In our sample, most credit card issuers face a state-level interest rate ceiling, and well over half match their ceiling. We develop an empirical...

We propose a new class of specification tests for Autoregressive Conditional Duration (ACD) models. Both linear and nonlinear ACD models are covered, and standardized innovations can have time-varying conditional dispersion and higher order conditional moments of unknown form. No specific...

Optimality conditions are derived for problems of minimizing a generalized measure of deviation of a random variable, with special attention to situations where the random variable could be the rate of return from a portfolio of financial instruments. Generalized measures of deviation go beyond...

We compare forecasts of recessions using four different specifications of the probit model: a time invariant conditionally independent version; a business cycle specific conditionally independent model; a time invariant probit with autocorrelated errors; and a business cycle specific probit with...