We deal with the important question of estimating the long-run variance of a stationary sequence. We derive the asymptotic properties of a generalized Newey-West type of estimator in the case of a linear I(d) process. The results show that the bias and asymptotic distribution of the generalized...

We extend the classical local Whittle estimation procedure to fractionally integrated I(d) processes, where d-3/2, thus covering stationary and non-stationary regions. Asymptotic properties of the bias of the estimator are investigated. It is shown that in a wider region than previously...

This paper deals with estimation and hypothesis testing in stationary and nonstationary models with a linear trend. Using semiparametric estimators, we obtain asymptotic confidence intervals for mean, trend, and memory parameters. The confidence intervals are applicable for a wide class of...

We propose a class of statistics where the direction of one of the alternatives is incorporated. We modify a class of multivariate tests with elliptical confidence regions, not necessarily arising from normal-based distribution theory. The resulting statistics are easy to compute, they do not...

By using university administrative and survey data on Italian graduates, we analyse the transmission of liberal professions from fathers to children. We assess the effect of nepotism and family networking, separately from other transmission channels, on the probability of choosing a degree that...

In this paper, we consider a specification testing problem in nonlinear time series models with nonstationary regressors and propose using a nonparametric kernel-based test statistic. The nullasymptotics for the proposed nonparametric test statistic have been well developed in the existing...

Using an experimental design, we investigate the reasons behind the gendered division of housework within couples. In particular, we assess whether the fact that women do more housework may beexplained by differences in preferences deriving from differences in gender identity between men and...

This paper presents a comprehensive assessment of fiscal austerity, with special emphasis on its distributional consequences, which are surprisingly ignored in the existing literature. Using amedium scale DSGE model we find that both the aggregate and distributional consequences of fiscal...

Employment volatility is larger for young and old workers than for prime aged. At the same time, in economies with high tax rates, the share of total hours supplied by the young/old workers is smaller. These two observations imply a negative correlation between government size (measured by the...

This paper addresses questions of the following nature: under what conditions does a welfare-improving reform of the existing piecewise linear income tax schedule necessitate a change in a particular agent type's marginal tax rate? Our analysis therefore addresses the sorts of questions...