Generated crop insurance rates depend critically on the distributional assumptions of the underlying crop yield loss model. Using farm level corn yield data from 1972-2008, we revisit the problem of examining in-sample goodness-of-fit measures across a set of flexible parametric,...

A large consensus now seems to take for granted that the distributions of empirical returns of financial time series are regularly varying, with a tail exponent b close to 3. We develop a battery of new non-parametric and parametric tests to characterize the distributions of empirical returns of...

Survival times for the Acacia mangium plantation in the Segaliud Lokan Project, Sabah, East Malaysia were analysed based on 20 permanent sample plots (PSPs) established in 1988 as a spacing experiment. The PSPs were established following a complete randomized block design with five levels of...

This paper implements the Asymmetric Autoregressive Conditional Duration (AACD) model of Bauwens and Giot (2003) to analyze irregularly spaced transaction data of trade direction, namely buy versus sell orders. We examine the influence of lagged transaction duration, lagged volume and lagged...

We develop a simple test for deviations from power law tails, which is based on the asymptotic properties of the empirical distribution function. We use this test to answer the question whether great natural disasters, financial crashes or electricity price spikes should be classified as dragon...

We derive the aggregate normalized CES production function from idea-based microfoundations where firms are allowed to choose their capital- and labor-augmenting technology optimally from a menu of available technologies. This menu is in turn augmented through factor-specific R&D. The considered...

A Nitrate-N Leaching Index (NLI) is calculated and the results indicate that nitrogen loss in the study area occurs through both leaching and surface runoff. A non-linear regression model of trapping efficiency was combined with a first order decay model to examine the impact of soil...

The cohort under study comprises A-bomb survivors residing in Hiroshima Prefecture since 1968. After this year, thousands of survivors were newly recognized every year. The aim of this study is to determine whether the survival experience of the late entrants to the cohort is significantly...

This paper presents a Monte Carlo procedure intended for the assessment of the metal-oxide (MO) surge arresters risk of failure in onshore wind farms. It focuses on the energy withstand (absorption) capability of the MO surge arresters in relation to lightning surges and in terms of their risk...