Out-of-sample comparison of copula specifications in multivariate density forecasts

We introduce a statistical test for comparing the predictive accuracy of competing copula specifications in multivariate density forecasts, based on the Kullback-Leibler Information Criterion (KLIC). The test is valid under general conditions: in particular it allows for parameter estimation uncertainty and for the copulas to be nested or non-nested. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the proposed test has satisfactory size and power properties in finite samples. Applying the test to daily exchange rate returns of several major currencies against the US dollar we find that the Student's t copula is favored over Gaussian, Gumbel and Clayton copulas. This suggests that these exchange rate returns are characterized by symmetric tail dependence.

Partial Likelihood-Based Scoring Rules for Evaluating Density Forecasts in Tails

We propose new scoring rules based on partial likelihood for assessing the relative out-of-sample predictive accuracy of competing density forecasts over a specific region of interest, such as the left tail in financial risk management. By construction, existing scoring rules based on weighted likelihood or censored normal likelihood favor density forecasts with more probability mass in the given region, rendering predictive accuracy tests biased towards such densities. Our novel partial likelihood-based scoring rules do not suffer from this problem, as illustrated by means of Monte Carlo simulations and an empirical application to daily S\&P 500 index returns.

A multi-level panel smooth transition autoregression for US sectoral production

We introduce a multi-level smooth transition model for a panel of time series variables, which can be used to examine the presence of common non-linear features across many such variables. The model is positioned in between a fully pooled model, which imposes such common features, and a fully heterogeneous model, which might render estimation problems for some of the panel members. To keep the model tractable, we introduce a second-stage model, which links the parameters in the transition functions with observable explanatory variables. We discuss representation, estimation by concentrated simulated maximum likelihood and inference. We illustrate our model for data on industrial production of 18 US manufacturing sectors, and document that there are subtle differences across sectors in leads and lags for business cycle recessions and expansions.non-linearity;business cycle;panel of time series

Forecasting aggregates using panels of nonlinear time series

Macroeconomic time series such as total unemployment or total industrial production concern data which are aggregated across regions, sectors, or age categories. In this paper we examine if forecasts for these aggregates can be improved by considering panel models for the disaggregate series. As many macroeconomic variables have nonlinear properties, we specifically focus on panels of nonlinear time series. We discuss the representation of such models, parameter estimation and a method to generate forecasts. We illustrate the usefulness of our approach for simulated data and for the US coincident index, making use of state-specific component series.business cycle;panel of time series;nonlinearity;multi-level models;data aggregation

The AdMit Package

This short note presents the R package AdMit which provides flexible functions to approximate a certain target distribution and it provides an efficient sample of random draws from it, given only a kernel of the target density function. The estimation procedure is fully automatic and thus avoids the time-consuming anddifficult task of tuning a sampling algorithm. To illustrate the use of the package, we apply the AdMit methodology to a bivariate bimodal distribution. We describe the use of the functions provided by the package and document the ability and relevance of the methodology to reproduce the shape of non-elliptical distributions.importance sampling;R software;Bayesian;adaptive mixture;student-t distribution;independence chain Metropolis-Hasting algorithm

The Misprediction of emotions in Track Athletics.: Is experience the teacher of all things?

People commonly overestimate the intensity of their emotions toward future events. In other words, they display an impact bias. This research addresses the question whether people learn from their experiences and correct for the impact bias. We hypothesize that athletes display an impact bias and, counterintuitively, that increased experience with an event increases this impact bias. A field study in the context of competitive track athletics supported our hypotheses by showing that athletes clearly overestimated their emotions toward the outcome of a track event and that this impact bias was more pronounced for negative events than for positive events. Moreover, with increased athletic experience this impact bias became larger. This effect could not be explained by athletes’ forecasted emotions, but it could be explained by the emotions they actually felt following the race. The more experience athletes had with athletics, the less they felt negative emotions after unsuccessful goal attainment. These findings are discussed in relation to possible underlying emotion regulation processes

Trackways in the Stormberg

Main articleVertebrate trackways in the lower groups of the Karoo Supergroup are mainly pre- Beaufort fish trails, although some tetrapod trackways are known (Griffiths, 1963, p. 292; plate I; specimens in the South African Museum). Recently fish trails have been discovered in the Beaufort, for instance at Kilburn and Wagondrift, but the Beaufort, despite its rich amphibian, reptilian and synapsid fauna, is remarkable for the paucity of its vertebrate trackways. Of the Stormberg (of Lesotho) it was early noted "Fossils are comparatively rare, but reptile tracks are fairly abundant"Non

Insect faunas of South Africa from the upper permian and the Permian/Triassic boundary

Main articleThose sites in South Africa where more than one insect fossil specimen has been found have been interpreted as younger than Middle Triassic or as Late Permian. One site which has yielded a number of specimens and is apparently near the Permian/Triassic boundary is a quarry in the town of Bulwer KwaZulu-Natai. There are six sites with more than one insect specimen which are stratigraphically lower than Bulwer, namely Escourt (a new site), Far End, Mooi River (National Road), Mount West, Balgowan and Lidgetton. According to the 1984 1: 1 000 000 Geological Map of South em Africa Bulwer is situated in the Tarkastad Subgroup of the Beaufort Group near its lower boundary; the Tarkastad has been considered as Triassic. The remaining sites, except Balgowan and Lidgetton, fall in the Estcourt Formation of the Beaufort Group, as do all the sites with single Late Permian specimens except for one similarly aged specimen from the more easterly Emakwezeni Formation. The stratigraphically lowest sites are Lidgetton and slightly younger Balgowan; both are mapped as VoIksrust Formation of the Ecca Group. An analysis is made of vertical distribution of taxa, with those of Lidgetton and Balgowan grouped together as a lower unit, of Bulwer as upper unit, and of the Estcourt Formation sites and Emakwezini site as a middle unit. No obvious break between the three units has been noted.Non

African fossil Lissamphibia

Main articleThe Anura (Frogs and Toads) are represented in Africa and associated regions by fossils of every epoch from the Cretaceous to the Holocene. Pipid frogs of African affinity are known from the Early Cretaceous of Israel and Later Cretaceous of South America and Africa; those of Israel and South America have been well-studied, but only one from Africa has been: Eoxenopoides reuningi from Namaqualand. Two well-studied Palaeocene frogs of South America, Shelania pascuali and Xenopus romeri, have affinities with the African pipids. Apart from a Miocene assemblage from North Africa (including pipids, which are now exclusively sub-Saharan) and one species from Namibia, Xenopus stromeri, the fossil African anurans remain largely unstudied. Deposits in which the African anuran fossils occur represent crater lakes, other lacustrine deposits, including lacustrine tuffs, river terraces, deltas, estuarine/lagoon zones, karst landscapes and archaeological sites; data are not available for several of the recorded fossils. No fossils in Africa appear to have been definitely ascribed to the Urodela or Caecilia.Non