For estimating the parameters of models for financial market data, the use of robust techniques is of particular interest. Conditional forecasts, based on the capital asset pricing model, and a factor model are considered. It is proposed to consider least median of squares estimators as one...

The rising trends both in drug addiction and crime rates are of major public concern in Germany. Surprisingly, the economic theory of crime seems to ignore the drugs-crime nexus, whereas the criminological literature considers illicit drug use a main reason of criminal activities. This paper...

The rising trends both in drug addiction and crime rates are of major public concern in Germany. Surprisingly, the economic theory of crime seems to ignore the drugs-crime nexus, whereas the criminological literature considers illicit drug use a main reason of criminal activities. This paper...

According to the latest Basel framework of Banking Supervision, financial institutions should internally assign their borrowers into a number of homogeneous groups. Each group is assigned a probability of default which distinguishes it from other groups. This study aims at determining the...

This paper attempts to evaluate the impact of current and future immigration flows on major macroeconomic variables of the West German economy. The analysis is based on a macroeconometric disequilibrium model for the West German economy. This model is extended until 1995 and used for several...

The assessment of models of financial market behavior requires evaluation tools. When complexity hinders a direct estimation approach, e.g., for agent basedmicrosimulationmodels or complex multifractal models, simulation based estimators might provide an alternative. In order to apply such...

Frontmatter -- Inhalt des 232. Bandes -- Inhalt / Contents -- Guest Editorial -- Abhandlungen/Original Papers -- HIV, Risky Behavior and Ethno-linguistic Heterogeneity / Tequame, Miron -- Social Learning Theory, Cigarette Taxes and Adolescent Smoking Behavior / Ali, Mir M. -- Economic Trends and...

This special issue of the Journal of Economics and Statistics is devoted to the use of agent-based models for economic policy advice. It presents a collection of research papers in different fields of applications. Special emphasis is laid on discussing the potential and possible limitations of...