It is common practice to estimate the volatility-growth link by specifying a standard growth equation such that the variance of the error term appears as an explanatory variable in this growth equation. The variance in turn is modelled by a second equation. Hardly any of existing applications of...

The economics and statistics literature using computer simulation based methods has grown enormously over the past decades. Maximum Simulated Likelihood is a statistical tool useful for incorporating individual differences (called heterogeneity in the econometrics literature) and variations into...

Empirical studies analyzing the determinants of U.S. presidential popularity have delivered quite inconclusive results concerning the role of economic variables by assuming linear relationships. We employ penalized spline smoothing in the context of semi-parametric additive mixed models and...

Urban renewal areas are popular instruments in spatial planning to prevent urban decline and to induce urban renewal. 22 renewal areas were implemented in Berlin, Germany alone between 1993 and 1995, mainly to increase housing and living quality in the aftermath of the city s long division...