This paper proposes a simple consistent nonparametric test of conditional symmetry based on the principle of … characteristic functions. The test statistic is shown to be asymptotically normal under the null hypothesis of conditional symmetry …, propose a bootstrap version of the test, and conduct a small Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the finitesample performance …

The score on a reading literacy test of 15 years old Italian students is here analyzed. The data depict a fracture in … test for structural break, computed in different sub-samples and at various quantiles, one can pin down the determinants of …

realistic parameter values. Furthermore, the power of the test can be rather low even with a sample size of T=50. …

tough test and mitigates the negative impact of failing a soft test. As a result, profits are convex in toughness: the firm … selects either the toughest or softest test available. The toughest test is optimal when consumers start with an unfavorable … prior and receive sufficiently uninformative private signals (an “innovative” product); the softest test is optimal when …