In this paper we propose Granger (non-)causality tests based on a VAR model allowing for time-varying coefficients. The functional form of the time-varying coefficients is a Logistic Smooth Transition Autoregressive (LSTAR) model using time as the transition variable. The model allows for...

In the paper we consider the role of seasonal intercepts in seasonal cointegration analysis. For the nonseasonal unit root, such intercepts can generate a stochastic trend with a drift common to all observations. For the seasonal unit roots, however, we show that unrestricted seasonal intercepts...

We propose a bivariate structural time series framework to decompose GDP and the unemployment rate into their trend, cyclical, and irregular components. We implement Okun's law by a generalised version of the common cycles restriction allowing for a phase shift between the two cycles and add a...