The dissertation consists of three essays. The main focus is set on semiparametric regression modeling, which embodies the strength of parametric and nonparametric regression models in terms of flexibility, dimensionality and interpretability. The first essay is “Some Recent Advances in...

Economists use partial and general equilibrium trade simulation models toestimate the impact of changes in domestic policies and international trade rules.During the WTO Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations economists haveproduced many different estimates of the gains that would result...

The relationship between executive pay and corporate financial performance continues to attract wide academic, media and policy attention. The very high salaries enjoyed by senior executives in corporations in the US are often contrasted with the relatively low pay received by executives in...

The relationship between executive pay and corporate financial performance con-tinues to attract wide academic, media and policy attention. The very high salariesenjoyed by senior executives in corporations primarily in the North American coun-tries are often contrasted with the relatively low...

In many countries the demand for health care services is of increasing importance. Especially in the industrialized world with a changing demographic structure social insurances and politics face real challenges. Reliable predictors of those demand functions will therefore become invaluable...

A reliable prediction of unconditional welfare distributions, like income or consumption, is essential for welfare analysis, and in particular for inequality, poverty or development studies. Where observations of expenditures or income are missing, the mean prediction based on available...