A robust feature of the corporate growth process is the Laplace, or symmetric exponential, distribution of firm growth rates. In this paper, we sketch out a class of simple theoretical models capable of explaining this empirical regularity. We do not attempt to generalize on where growth...

We examine the statistical performance of inequality indices in the presence of extreme values in the data and show that these indices are very sensitive to the properties of the income distribution. Estimation and inference can be dramatically affected, especially when the tail of the income...

Under quite general conditions we establish a central limit theorem for second order degenerate U-statistics of absolutely regular processes. The new central limit theorem is then used to establish the validity of an asymptotic test for the parametric functional form of a general regression...

The paper focuses on the replication of digital options under an incomplete model. Digital options are regularly applied in the hedging and static decomposition of many path-dependent options. The author examines the performance of static and dynamic replication. He considers the case of a...

Simulation-based estimation methods have become more wideky used in recent years. We propose a set of tests for structural Change in model estimates via Simulated Method of Moments (see Duffie and Singleton (1993)). These tests extend the recent work of Andrews (1993) and Sowell (1996a, b) which...

This study reconsiders the role of jumps for volatility forecasting by showing that jumps have a positive and mostly significant impact on future volatility. This result becomes apparent once volatility is correctly separated into its continuous and discontinuous component. To this purpose, we...

Monotonicity of the likelihood ratio for conditioned densities is a common technical assumption in economic models. But we have found no empirical tests for its plausibility. This paper develops such a test based on the theory of order-restricted inference, which is robust with respect to the...

Futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange are the most liquid instruments for trading crude oil, which is the world’s most actively traded physical commodity. Under normal market conditions, traders can easily find counterparties for their trades, resulting in an efficient market...

Problem Statement The framework of this study is consisted of the countries of zone CFA and in fact the two central banks (BCEAO and BEAC) in charge of the monetary policy implementation. There was a great resurgence of interest these last years on the question in the way of leading the monetary...

With the notion of success in a series of trials extended to refer to a run of like outcomes, several new distributions are obtained as the result of sampling from an urn without replacement or with additional replacements. In this context, the hypergeometric, negative hypergeometric,...