This dissertation presents a series of three essays that examine the functional form of the U. S. federal income tax and its implications. In the first essay we introduce the convex functional form of the income tax which we believe is superior to the standard income-proportional form. We also...

This dissertation consists of three essays on modeling and parameter estimation for covariance non-stationary processes. The first essay considers the non-linear deformation of time scale for G(lambda)-stationary processes developed by Jiang, Gray and Woodward [2006]. After the appropriate...

We estimate the elasticity of substitution using two different production functions. The usual Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES) production function and a Box-Cox production function for Japan (1890-1991), UK (1870-1991), and US (1890-1992; 1929-2000). The main results are that we find the...

This research extends the literature on the revealed preference analysis of macroeconomic aggregates in multiple ways. The relevance of recent methodological changes in data construction is our first topic, as Varian's (1982, 1983) nonparametric tests are run on U.S. consumption series built...

The role played by financial intermediaries and banks in modern economies is undeniably critical. However, explaining their importance in a theoretical general equilibrium framework presents some challenges. If firms and households have unrestricted access to complete financial markets, then at...

In this thesis, we extend Bai and Perron's (1998, Econometrica, pp. 47-78) method fordetecting multiple breaks to nonlinear models. To that end, we consider an unstable univariatenonlinear least squares (NLS) model with a limited number of parameter shifts occurring atunknown dates. In our...