This study approaches the survival ability of firms in the North region of Portugal from 1985 to 2007, allowing regional and national comparisons through the application of non-parametric and semi-parametric methods. This analysis is based on the creation of a specific entrepreneurship database,...

We examine two approaches characterized by different tail features to extract market expectations on the Mexican peso-US dollar exchange rate. Expectations are gauged by risk-neutral densities. The methods used to estimate these densities are the Volatility Function Technique (VFT) and the...

Kernel density estimation is an important technique for understanding the distributional properties of data. Some investigations have found that the estimation of a global bandwidth can be heavily affected by observations in the tail. We propose to categorize data into low- and high-density...

In this paper we analyze empirically different specifications of a sample selection model. We are interested in how the estimates vary across alternative assumptions concerning the joint conditional distribution of the sample selection equation errors, such us the specification of error...

This paper investigates the behaviour of estimators based on the Kullback-Leibler information criterion (KLIC), as an alternative to the generalized method of moments (GMM). We first study the estimators in a Monte Carlo simulation model of consumption growth with power utility. Then we compare...

In productivity analysis, the performance of production units is measured through the distance of the individual decision making units (DMU) to the technology which is defined as the frontier of the production set. Most of the existing methods, Farrell-Debreu and Shephard radial measures (input...

Indirect inference estimators (i.e., simulation-based minimum distance estimators) in a parametric model that are based on auxiliary non-parametric maximum likelihood density estimators are shown to be asymptotically normal. If the parametric model is correctly specified, it is furthermore shown...

Abadie and Imbens (2008, Econometrica) showed that classical bootstrap schemes fail to provide correct inference for K-nearest neighbour (KNN) matching estimators of average causal effects. This is an interesting result showing that bootstrap should not be applied without theoretical...

This paper investigates the information content of the Norges Bank’s key rate projections. Wavelet spectrum estimates provide the basis for estimating jump probabilities of short- and long-term interest rates on monetary policy announcement days before and after the introduction of key rate...

We develop a finite-sample procedure to test the beta-pricing representation of linear factor pricing models that is applicable even if the number of test assets is greater than the length of the time series. Our distribution-free framework leaves open the possibility of unknown forms of...