This paper investigates the process determining mutual funds' conditional probability of closure, i.e. their hazard function. Using a nonparametric approach to estimate the effects of a fund's age on its hazard rate, we find a distinctly nonlinear, inverse U-shaped pattern in the relationship....

This paper derives the moments for a range of Markov switching models. We characterise in detail the patterns of volatility, skewness and kurtosis that these models can produce as a function of the transition probability and parameters of the underlying state densities entering the switching...