Within the framework of transitive sufficient processes we investigate identifiability properties of unknown parameters. In particular we consider unbiased parameter estimators, which are shown to be closely connected to time reversal and to reverse martingales. One of the main results is that,...

Walter Korpi argues in a previous issue of Challenge (March/April 2000) that Swedish economists’ claim that Sweden’s growth performance has been inferior to that of other industrialized countries is at odds with the facts. Since Sweden has not grown slowly relative to other countries, there...

This paper contains a Lagrange multiplier test of the hypothesis that the covariance matrix of a multivariate time series model is constant over time. It is further assumed that under the alternative, the error variances are time-varying whereas the correlation remain constant over time. Under...

In this study we report an attempt to measure the value adult Swedes impute to an increased survival probability at high ages. A rating scale between the worst possible quality of life (=1) and the best possible quality of life (=10) is used to indicate the quality of life a person expects to...

This paper analyses the effects of non-tariff barriers, in terms of both variable and fixed export costs, on trade structure. The relationship between fixed and variable trade costs determines whether international trade emerges. If trade emerges, only variable, but not fixed export costs,...

This paper examines retail grocery price levels with a very large (unbalanced) panel of stores that operate in well-defined local markets. We explain price variation across grocery retailers by the concentration of wholesalers and retailers, and the market share of hypermarkets (and control for...

In line with the widely applied principle of just deserts, we assume that the severity of the penalty on a contract offender increases in the harm on the other. When this principle holds, the influence of the efficiency of the agreement on the incentives to abide by it crucially depends on...

This paper investigates the properties of the Damodaran (Journal of Finance, 1993) estimator of price adjustment. It is concluded that strong bias and low precision of the Damodaran estimator renders it useless for empirical work, even when the available sample size is very large. As an...

This paper presents empirical evidence of the international integration of Swedish economic historians. Contrary to the claims of a recent national evaluation of the discipline, the Swedish shares of international publications and conference presentations are robustly below available...

I denna rapport analyseras sambandet mellan priser, marknadsandelar och terapeutisk innovationshöjd för ett antal läkemedel (NCE preparat) introducerade på den svenska marknaden mellan 1987 och 2000. Det finns ett positivt samband mellan innovationshöjd och prispremier vid tidpunkten för...