Parameter Estimation via Conditional Expectation --- A Bayesian Inversion

When a mathematical or computational model is used to analyse some system, it is usual that some parameters resp.\ functions or fields in the model are not known, and hence uncertain. These parametric quantities are then identified by actual observations of the response of the real system. In a probabilistic setting, Bayes's theory is the proper mathematical background for this identification process. The possibility of being able to compute a conditional expectation turns out to be crucial for this purpose. We show how this theoretical background can be used in an actual numerical procedure, and shortly discuss various numerical approximations

A comparison of alternative approaches to sup-norm goodness of fit tests with estimated parameters

Goodness of fit tests based on sup-norm statistics of empirical processes have nonstandard limiting distributions when the null hypothesis is composite-that is, when parameters of the null model are estimated. Several solutions to this problem have been suggested, including the calculation of adjusted critical values for these nonstandard distributions and the transformation of the empirical process such that statistics based on the transformed process are asymptotically distribution-free. The approximation methods proposed by Durbin (1985) can be applied to compute appropriate critical values for tests based on sup-norm statistics. The resulting tests have quite accurate size, a fact which has gone unrecognized in the econometrics literature. Some justification for this accuracy lies in the similar features that Durbin's approximation methods share with the theory of extrema for Gaussian random fields and for Gauss-Markov processes. These adjustment techniques are also related to the transformation methodology proposed by Khmaladze (1981) through the score function of the parametric model. Monte Carlo experiments suggest that these two testing strategies are roughly comparable to one another and more powerful than a simple bootstrap procedure.

Some Empirical Observations on the Forward Exchange Rate Anomaly

This paper looks at issues surrounding the testing of fractional integration and nonlinearity in relation to the forward exchange rate anomaly of Fama (1984). Recent tests for fractional integration and nonlinearity are discussed and used to investigate the behaviour of three exchange rates and premiums. The findings provide some support for I(1) exchange rates but suggest fractionality for premiums, mixed evidence on cointegration, and a strong possibility of time-wise nonlinearity. Significantly, when the nonlinearity is modelled using a random field regression, the forward anomaly disappears.