The Basel II Accord requires banks to establish rigorous statistical procedures for the estimation and validation of default and ratings transition probabilities. This raises great technical challenges when sufficient default data are not available, as is the case for low default portfolios. We develop a new model that describes the typical internal credit rating process used by banks. The mode...

In this paper, we present an alternative strategy for estimation of DSGE models when data is available at di¤erent time intervals. Our method is based on a data augmentation technique within Bayesian estimation of structural models and allows us to jointly use data at di¤erent frequencies. The bene…ts achieved via this methodology will be twofold, resolution of time aggregation bias and identi…...

Reduced rank regression analysis provides maximum likelihood estimators of a matrix of regression coefficients of specified rank and of corresponding linear restrictions on such matrices. These estimators depend on the eigenvectors of an ‘‘effect’’ matrix in the metric of an error covariance matrix. In this paper it is shown that the maximum likelihood estimator of the restrictions can be appro...

This paper provides conditions for identification, and an associated estimator, of the average effect of a binary treatment or policy on a scalar outcome in models where treatment may be misclassified. Misclassification probabilities and the true probability of treatment are also identified. Misclassification occurs when treatment is measured with error, that is, some units are reported to have...

In this paper we consider the estimation of Markov models where the transition density is unknown. The approach we propose is the empirical characteristic function (ECF) estimation procedure with an approximate optimal weight function. The approximate optimal weight function is obtained through an Edgeworth/Gram-Charlier expansion of the logarithmic transition density of the Markov process. Bas...

This paper investigates the effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on CEO compensation, using panel data constructed for the S&P 1500 firms on CEO compensation, financial returns, and reported accounting income. Empirically SOX (i) changes the relationship between a firm’s abnormal returns and CEO compensation, (ii) changes the underlying distribution of abnormal returns, and (iii) significant...

Missing data is one of the most common challenges facing empirical researchers. This paper presents a general GMM framework for dealing with missing data on explanatory variables or instrumental variables. For a linear-regression model with missing covariate data, an efficient GMM estimator under minimal assumptions on missingness is proposed. The estimator, which also allows for a specificatio...

This paper introduces a novel approach to investigate the dynamics of state distributions, which accommodate both cross-sectional distributions of repeated panels and intra-period distributions of a time series observed at high frequency. In our approach, densities of the state distributions are regarded as functional elements in a Hilbert space, and are assumed to follow a functional autoregre...

The generalized method of moments estimator may be substantially biased in finite samples, especially so when there are large numbers of unconditional moment conditions. This paper develops a class of first order equivalent semi-parametric efficient estimators and tests for conditional moment restrictions models based on a local or kernel-weighted version of the Cressie-Read power divergence fa...

This paper provides a review of linear panel data models with slope heterogeneity, introduces various types of random coe¢ cients models and suggests a common framework for dealing with them. It considers the fundamental issues of statistical inference of a random coe¢ cients formulation using both the sampling and Bayesian approaches. The paper also provides a review of heterogeneous dynamic p...