Macroeconomic researchers use a variety of estimators to parameterise their models empirically. One such is FIML; another is a form of indirect inference we term "informal" under which data features are "targeted" by the model -i.e. parameters are chosen so that model-simulated features...

A common practice in estimating parameters in DSGE models is to Önd a set that when simulated gets close to an average of certain data moments; the modelís simulated performance for other moments is then compared to the data for these as an informal test of the model. We call this procedure...

Indirect inference testing can be carried out with a variety of auxiliary models. Asymptotically these different models make no difference. However, the small sample properties can differ. We explore small sample power and estimation bias both with different variable combinations and descriptive...

With Monte Carlo experiments on models in widespread use we examine the performance of indirect inference (II) tests of DSGE models in small samples. We compare these tests with ones based on direct inference (using the Likelihood Ratio, LR). We find that both tests have power so that a...

Indirect Inference has been found to have much greater power than the Likelihood Ratio in small samples for testing DSGE models. We look at asymptotic and large sample properties of these tests to understand why this might be the case. We find that the power of the LR test is undermined when...

Using Monte Carlo experiments, we examine the performance of indirect inference tests of DSGE models in small samples, using various models in widespread use. We compare these with tests based on direct inference (using the Likelihood Ratio). We find that both tests have power so that a...

Using Monte Carlo experiments, we examine the performance of Indirect Inference tests of DSGE models, usually versions of the Smets-Wouters New Keynesian model of the US postwar period. We compare these with tests based on direct inference (using the Likelihood Ratio), and on the Del...

We extend the method of indirect inference testing to data that is not filtered and so may be non-stationary. We apply the method to an open economy real business cycle model on UK data. We review the method using a Monte Carlo experiment and find that it performs accurately and has good power....

This paper addresses the growing gulf between traditional macroeconometrics and the increasingly dominant preference among macroeconomists to use DSGE models and to estimate them using Bayesian estimation with strong priors but not to test them as they are likely to fail conventional statistical...