When proxies (external instruments) used to identify target structural shocks
are weak, inference in proxy-SVARs (SVAR-IVs) is nonstandard and the
construction of asymptotically valid confidence sets for the impulse responses
of interest requires weak-instrument robust methods. In the presence of
multiple target shocks, test inversion techniques require extra restrictions on
the proxy-SVAR parameters other those implied by the proxies that may be
difficult to interpret and test. We show that frequentist asymptotic inference
in these situations can be conducted through Minimum Distance estimation and
standard asymptotic methods if the proxy-SVAR can be identified by using
`strong' instruments for the non-target shocks; i.e. the shocks which are not
of primary interest in the analysis. The suggested identification strategy
hinges on a novel pre-test for the null of instrument relevance based on
bootstrap resampling which is not subject to pre-testing issues, in the sense
that the validity of post-test asymptotic inferences is not affected by the
outcomes of the test. The test is robust to conditionally heteroskedasticity
and/or zero-censored proxies, is computationally straightforward and applicable
regardless of the number of shocks being instrumented. Some illustrative
examples show the empirical usefulness of the suggested identification and
testing strategy