We test for a change in the volatility of 214 US macroeconomic time series over the period 1959-1999. We find that about 80% of these series have experienced a break in unconditional volatility during this period. Even though more than half of the series experienced a break in conditional mean,...

Recent literature has uncovered asymmetries in the response of real output to monetary policy variables. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether such asymmetries relate to different responses to monetary policy or to the business cycle. This paper uses nonlinear models to examine the issues in...

We examine the size properties of tests for causality in variance in the presence of structural breaks in volatility. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that these tests suffer from severe size distortions when such breaks are not taken into account. Pre-testing the series for...

We test for a change in the volatility of 215 US macroeconomic time series over the period 1960-1996. We find that about 90% of these series have experienced a break in volatility during this period. This result is robust to controlling for instability in the mean and business cycle...

This paper analyses monthly values of the short-term interest rate for the US, the UK and Germany since the early 1980s in the context of possible nonlinearities and changes over time in the interest rate response to the output gap, inflation, past interest rate changes and external variables...

This paper uses logistic regression to construct a one-quarter ahead prediction model for classical business cycle regimes in the UK. The binary dependent variable is obtained by applying simple mechanical rules to date turning points in quarterly real GDP data from 1963 to 1999. Using a range...

Volatility breaks are tested and documented for 19 important monthly macroeconomic time series across the G7 countries. Across all conditional mean specifications considered, including both linear and nonlinear models with and without a structural break, volatility breaks are found to be...

This paper examines the roles of domestic and international variables in predicting classical business cycle regimes in Germany, France, Italy and the UK over the period 1970 to 2001. A range of real and financial variables are used as leading indicators in domestic models, with these variables...