We analyze the impact of nonstationary volatility on the break fraction estimator and associated trend break unit root tests of Harris, Harvey, Leybourne, and Taylor (2009) (HHLT). We show that although HHLT’s break fraction estimator retains the same large-sample properties as demonstrated by...

We consider the issue of testing a time series for a unit root in the possible presence of a break in a linear deterministic trend at an unknown point in the series. We propose a new break fraction estimator which, where a break in trend occurs, is consistent for the true break fraction at rate...</italic>

In this paper we focus on two major issues that surround testing for a unit root in practice, namely, (i) uncertainty as to whether or not a linear deterministic trend is present in the data and (ii) uncertainty as to whether the initial condition of the process is (asymptotically) negligible or...