This paper analyzes the impact of load factor, facility and generator types on the productivity of Korean electric power plants. In order to capture important differences in the effect of load policy on power output, we use a semiparametric smooth coefficient (SPSC) model that allows us to model...

This paper applies semiparametric regression models to shed light on the relationship between body weight and labor market outcomes in Germany. We find conclusive evidence that these relationships are poorly described by linear or quadratic OLS specifications, which have been the main approaches...

This paper applies semiparametric regression models to shed light on the relation-ship between body weight and labor market outcomes in Germany. We find conclusive evidence that these relationships are poorly described by linear or quadratic OLS specifications, which have been the main...

We consider time series models in which the conditional mean of the response variable given the past depends on latent covariates. We assume that the covariates can be estimated consistently and use an iterative nonparametric kernel smoothing procedure for estimating the conditional mean...

The Newey and West (1987) estimator has become the standard way to estimate a heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation consistent (HAC) covariance matrix, but it does not immediately apply to time series with missing observations. We demonstrate that the intuitive approach to estimate the true...

This paper studies the nonparametric identification and estimation of voters' preferences when voters are ideological. We establish that voter preference distributions and other parameters of interest can be identified from aggregate electoral data. We also show that these objects can be...

In a recent paper Johnson and Kuosmanen (2011) propose a new, semi-parametric, general cost-frontier model, the stochastic nonparametric envelopment of data (StoNED). The model is semi-parametric in the sense that the cost function is estimated nonparametrically, while the functional form of the...

This paper improves methods developed by Burgstahler and Dichev (1997) and Bollen and Pool (2009) to test for earnings management by identifying discontinuities in distributions of scaled earnings or earnings forecast errors. While existing methods use preselected bandwidths for kernel density...

In this paper, we investigate semiparametric threshold regression models with endogenous threshold variables based on a nonparametric control function approach. Using a series approximation we propose a two-step estimation method for the threshold parameter. For the regression coefficients, we...

We propose a nonparametric estimator of the Lorenz curve that satisfies its theoretical properties, including monotonicity and convexity. We adopt a transformation approach that transforms a constrained estimation problem into an unconstrained one, which is estimated nonparametrically. We...