RESEARCH

    Reviewed Papers:

  • Bootstrap testing for the null of no cointegration in a threshold vector error correction model, Journal of Econometrics, Volume 134, Issue 1, September 2006, Pages 129-150. 
     
    Abstract: We develop a test for the linear no cointegration null hypothesis in a threshold vector error correction model. We adopt a sup-Wald type test and derive its null asymptotic distribution. A residual-based bootstrap is proposed, and the first-order consistency of the bootstrap is established. A set of Monte Carlo simulations shows that the bootstrap corrects size distortion of asymptotic distribution in finite samples, and that its power against the threshold cointegration alternative is significantly greater than that of conventional cointegration tests. Our method is illustrated with used car price indexes. 

  • A smoothed least squares estimator for threshold regression models, with Oliver Linton, Journal of Econometrics, Vol 141, Issue 2, December 2007, Pages 704-735: Collection of Simulations

    We propose a smoothed least squares estimator of the parameters of a threshold regression model. Our model generalizes that considered in Hansen (2000) to allow the thresholding to depend on a linear index of observed regressors, thus allowing discrete variables to enter. We also do not assume that the threshold effect is vanishingly small. Our estimator is shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal thus facilitating standard inference techniques based on estimated standard errors or standard bootstrap for the slope and threshold parameters. We compare our confidence intervals with those of Hansen (2000) in a simulation study and show that our methods outperform his for large values of the threshold. 
     

  • Semiparametric estimation of a binary response model with a change-point due to a covariate threshold, Journal of Econometrics (2008), 144, 492-499, with Sokbae Lee.

    This paper is concerned with semiparametric estimation of a threshold binary response model. The estimation method considered in the paper is semiparametric since the parameters for a regression function are finite-dimensional, while allowing for heteroskedasticity of unknown form. In particular, the paper considers Manski (1975, 1985)¨s maximum score estimator. The model in this paper is irregular because of a change-point due to an unknown threshold in a covariate. This irregularity coupled with the discontinuity of the objective function of the maximum score estimator complicates the analysis of the asymptotic behavior of the estimator. Sufficient conditions for the identification of parameters are given and the consistency of the estimator is obtained. It is shown that the estimator of the threshold parameter is n-consistent and the estimator of the remaining regression parameters is cube root n-consistent. Furthermore, we obtain the asymptotic distribution of the estimators. It turns out that a suitably normalized estimator of the regression parameters converges weakly to the distribution to which it would converge weakly if the true threshold value were known and likewise for the threshold estimator.
     

  • Unit root test in a threshold autoregression: Asymptotic theory and residual-based bootstrap, Econometric Theory (2008), 24, 1699-1716.

    This paper develops a test of the unit root null hypothesis against a stationary threshold process.
    This testing problem is nonstandard and complicated because a parameter is unidentified and the process is nonstationary under the null hypothesis. We derive an asymptotic distribution for the test, which is not pivotal without simplifying assumptions. A residual-based block bootstrap is proposed to calculate the asymptotic p-values. The asymptotic validity of the bootstrap is established and a set of Monte Carlo simulations demonstrates its .nite sample performance. In particular, the test exhibits considerable power gains over the ADF test that neglects threshold effects.

 

  • Estimation of Nonlinear Error Correction Models, Econometric Theory (2011),  volume 27, issue 02, pp. 201-234. updated from the previous version titled as "Estimation of Threshold Cointegration."

    This paper explores the asymptotic properties of the least squares estimators of nonlinear vector error correction models (VECM) that exhibits regime-specific short-run dynamics. The model is irregular due to the presence of cointegration. We make the following contributions. First, we establish the consistency of the estimator of the cointegrating vector allowing for both smooth and discontinuous transition. Second, we derive the convergence rate of the cointegrating vector estimate in the discontinuous threshold VECM. The rate is nonstandard and extremely fast, which is n^{3/2}. Third, we obtain the asymptotic distributions for the smoothed least squares estimators of all the model parameters in the threshold VECM. Those of the cointegrating vector and the threshold parameter is a functional of a vector Brownian motion and independent of those of the slope parameters, which are Normal. It is also shown that the smoothed estimator of the threshold is asymptotically normal as if the true cointegrating vector were known, if we plug in the unsmoothed estimator of the cointegrating vector. 
     
  • Testing for Non-Nested Conditional Moment Restrictions using Unconditional Empirical Likelihood, Journal of Econometrics, forthcoming, 2010, with Yoon-Jae Whang and Taisuke Otsu.

    We propose non-nested hypotheses tests for conditional moment restriction models based on the method of generalized empirical likelihood (GEL). By utilizing the implied GEL probabilities from a sequence of unconditional moment restrictions that contains equivalent information of the conditional moment restrictions, we construct Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Cram\'{e}r-von Mises type\ moment encompassing tests. Advantages of our tests over Otsu and Whang's (2007) tests are: (i) they are free from smoothing parameters, (ii) they can be applied to weakly dependent data, and (iii) they allow non-smooth moment functions. We derive the null distributions, validity of a bootstrap procedure, and local and global power properties of our tests. The simulation results show that our tests have reasonable size and power performance in finite samples.

     

  • Testing for threshold effects in regression models, Journal of the American Statistical Association (Theory and Methods) (2011), 106, 220-231 with Sokbae Lee and Youngki Shin.  Working paper version

    In this article, we develop a general method for testing threshold effects in regression models, using sup-likelihood-ratio (LR)-type statistics. Although the sup-LR-type test statistic has been considered in the literature, our method for establishing the asymptotic null distribution is new and nonstandard. The standard approach in the literature for obtaining the asymptotic null distribution requires that there exist a certain quadratic approximation to the objective function. We provide an alternative, novel method that can be used to establish the asymptotic null distribution, even when the usual quadratic approximation is intractable. We illustrate the usefulness of our approach in the examples of the maximum score estimation, maximum likelihood estimation, quantile regression, and maximum rank correlation estimation. We also establish consistency and local power properties of the test. We provide some simulation results and also an empirical application to tipping in racial segregation. This article has supplementary materials online.

     


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