This paper provides a novel mechanism for identifying and estimating latent group structures in panel data using penalized regression techniques. We focus on linear models where the slope parameters are heterogeneous across groups but homogenous within a group and the group membership is unknown. Two approaches are considered — penalized least squares (PLS) for models without endogenous regress...

This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. This paper proposes a new way of computing a coincident indic...

Charitable giving data from a new Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) philanthropy module are introduced. Relative distribution methods are used to compare the data to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) charitable deductions. Results indicate the new data are high quality. JEL Classification: C80, D64, H40.

In this paper we study the importance of possible non-random attrition on variations in psychiatric morbidity using data from the first eight waves of the British Household Panel Study. To study attrition we use the model of Hausman and Wise (1979) which applies to continuous longitudinal data with nonignorable or informative dropout. The model combines a multivariate linear model for the under...

Economies of Scale in European Manufacturing Revisited* We test for internal and external economies of scale in European manufacturing, employing a more disaggregated data set than has been used in earlier analyses. We aim to separate externalities from common business cycle effects. Fifteen European manufacturing industries in France, Germany, Italy and the UK are analysed. We focus on economi...

We develop a two-country, dynamic general equilibrium model that links cross-country differences in net foreign asset and consumption dynamics to differences in discount factors and steady-state levels of productivity. We compare the results of the model to those of VARs for the G3 economies. We identify country-specific productivity shocks by assuming that productivity does not respond contemp...

This paper introduces model specifications that can be used to explain response incentive effects that might occur with discrete response contingent valuation data when follow-up responses are collected. The models allowfor possible random response shocks, structural ships in willingness to pay betweenpayment questionsand heteroskedasticity between and within responses. Three well-known conting...

Panel data from the United Kingdom are used to estimate a wage curve that allows simultaneously for time, individual, and spatial effects and which thus finesses the problem of grouped data bias. Once allowance is made for the multilevel and crossclassified nature of the data, estimates of the unemployment elasticity of the wage are seen to be volatile and imprecise. JEL Classification: J30

This paper investigates the impact of the introduction of new restrictive permanent contracts on the perceived job security of workers in Spain. The perceived job security is strongly influenced by the characteristics of individuals and their distribution within groups. Comparing heterogeneous groups could make the traditional DID estimator biased. To address this issue I combined the propensit...