The present paper considers Dickey-Fuller-type unit root tests which account for a structural break occurring at an unknown point in time. The break is modelled by an innovational outlier approach. Provided that the break date is estimated correctly, the exact invariance to a mean and a slope...

This paper investigates the time-series properties of the price of iron ore. The focus is on testing a unit-root null hypothesis against a trend-stationary alternative, with a structural break allowed under both hypotheses. We consider unit-root tests with or without structural breaks, applied...

This note shows that German real GDP follows a trend-stationary process. Both tests which have trend-stationarity as the alternative hypothesis as well as tests that have it under the null hypothesis prefer the trend-stationary model. Explicit consideration of breaks in the trend is not...

This paper provides new evidence on the nature of occupational differences in unemployment dynamics, which is relevant for the debate between the structural or hysteresis hypotheses. We develop a procedure that permits us to test for the presence of a structural break at unknown date. Our...

We show that the CUSUM-squared based test for a change in persistence by Leybourne et al. (2007) is not robust against shifts in the mean. A mean shift leads to serious size distortions. Therefore, adjusted critical values are needed when it is known that the data generating process has a mean...

Monitoring the behavior of potential output helps policymakers implement appropriate policies in response to an economic crisis. In the short-run, estimates of the output gap will guide the timing of implementation and withdrawal of stimulus measures. In the medium- to long-term, these estimates...

To assess the effects of the EMU on inflation rate dynamics of its member states, the inflation rate series for 21 European countries are investigated for structural changes. To capture changes in mean, variance, and skewness of inflation rates, a generalized logistic model is adopted and...

This contribution analyzes bull and bear markets from 1954:1-2011:2 in the US-stock index S&P 500. Thereby, a 2-State-Markov-Switching model is applied to figure out bull and bear market regimes within the latter period, whereby the estimated state probabilities are used to estimate a dummy...

We study the empirical behaviour of semi-parametric log-periodogram estimation for long memory models when the true process exhibits a change in persistence. Simulation results confirm theoretical arguments which suggest that evidence for long memory is likely to be found. A recently proposed...

Cross-country estimations of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) to empirically analyze the relationship between income and pollution have generally assumed a common structure for all countries. Since this latter feature is not supported by economic theory, this paper uses the Random...