The median value of realized changes for surveyed firms expecting "no change" is zero. I suggest to modify the Carlson-Parkin procedure using this conditional absolute null (CAN) regularity. The adjustment solves the zero response problem and improves the variance estimates.

This paper investigates the claim made by Kehoe and Prescott (2002) that Switzerland and New Zealand experienced 'great depressions' in the last two decades. We question the appropriateness of the measure used by Kehoe and Prescott (GDP per working-age person) and propose a more accurate measure...