Andrew Chesher - Böcker

This book examines the consequences of misspecifications ranging from the fundamental to the nonexistent for the interpretation of likelihood-based methods of statistical estimation and interference. Professor White first explores the underlying motivation for maximum-likelihood estimation, treats the interpretation of the maximum-likelihood estimator (MLE) for misspecified probability models, and gives the conditions under which parameters of interest can be consistently estimated despite misspecification, and the consequences of misspecification, for hypothesis testing in estimating the asymptotic covariance matrix of the parameters. Although the theory presented in the book is motivated by econometric problems, its applicability is by no means restricted to economics. Subject to defined limitations, the theory applies to any scientific context in which statistical analysis is conducted using approximate models.

At the Fourth World Congress of the Econometric Society, a number of Symposia were held at which invited papers were given. The purpose of these Symposia was to survey as completely as possible those areas in Economic Theory and Econometrics where important research had come to light during the last few years. This volume includes papers delivered at the Congress.

These twenty papers were selected by the author. The book includes a major introduction by Werner Hildenbrand, who assesses Professor Debreu's contribution to economic theory and explains the part played by these papers in the development of the subject.

This book presents the econometric analysis of single-equation and simultaneous-equation models in which the jointly dependent variables can be continuous, categorical, or truncated. Despite the traditional emphasis on continuous variables in econometrics, many of the economic variables encountered in practice are categorical (those for which a suitable category can be found but where no actual measurement exists) or truncated (those that can be observed only in certain ranges). Such variables are involved, for example, in models of occupational choice, choice of tenure in housing, and choice of type of schooling. Models with regulated prices and rationing, and models for program evaluation, also represent areas of application for the techniques presented by the author.

The most common mode of analysis in economic theory is to assume equilibrium. Yet, without a proper theory of how economies behave in disequilibrium, there is no foundation for such a practice. The necessary step in proposing a foundation is the formulation of a theory of stability, and in this 1984 book, Professor Fisher is primarily concerned with this subject, although disequilibrium behavior itself is analyzed. The author first undertakes a review of the existing literature on the stability of general equilibrium. He then proposes a more satisfactory general model in which agents realize their state of disequilibrium and act on arbitrage opportunities. The interrelated topics of the role of money, the nature of quantity constraints, and the optimal behaviour of arbitraging agents are extensively treated.

Misspecification tests play an important role in detecting unreliable and inadequate economic models. This book brings together many results from the growing literature in econometrics on misspecification testing. It provides theoretical analyses and convenient methods for application. The main emphasis is on the Lagrange multiplier principle, which provides considerable unification, although several other approaches are also considered. The author also examines general checks for model adequacy that do not involve formulation of an alternative hypothesis. General and specific tests are discussed in the context of multiple regression models, systems of simultaneous equations, and models with qualitative or limited dependent variables.

Two-sided matching provides a model of search processes such as those between firms and workers in labor markets or between buyers and sellers in auctions. This book gives a comprehensive account of recent results concerning the game-theoretic analysis of two-sided matching. The focus of the book is on the stability of outcomes, on the incentives that different rules of organization give to agents, and on the constraints that these incentives impose on the ways such markets can be organized. The results for this wide range of related models and matching situations help clarify which conclusions depend on particular modeling assumptions and market conditions, and which are robust over a wide range of conditions. 'This book chronicles one of the outstanding success stories of the theory of games, a story in which the authors have played a major role: the theory and practice of matching markets ... The authors are to be warmly congratulated for this fine piece of work, which is quite unique in the game-theoretic literature.' From the Foreword by Robert Aumann

This book presents statistical methods for analysis of the duration of events. The primary focus is on models for single-spell data, events in which individual agents are observed for a single duration. Some attention is also given to multiple-spell data. The first part of the book covers model specification, including both structural and reduced form models and models with and without neglected heterogeneity. The book next deals with likelihood based inference about such models, with sections on full and semiparametric specification. A final section treats graphical and numerical methods of specification testing. This is the first published exposition of current econometric methods for the study of duration data.

The Econometric Society holds a World Congress every five years. The programme of these congresses has traditionally included a series of invited symposia, where speakers survey important recent advances in economic theory and econometrics. These two volumes, with their focus on econometrics, and their companion volume on economic theory, contain papers delivered at the Fifth World Congress held in 1985. Designed to make material accessible to a general audience of economists, these papers should be helpful to anyone with training in economics who wishes to follow ideas and tendencies in the subject. Advances in Econometrics: Fifth World Congress, Volumes I and II, edited by Professor Truman F. Bewley of Yale University, include a wide variety of topics, comprising empirical and policy oriented subjects as well as theoretical and methodological ones.

This book examines the consequences of misspecifications ranging from the fundamental to the nonexistent for the interpretation of likelihood-based methods of statistical estimation and interference. Professor White first explores the underlying motivation for maximum-likelihood estimation, treats the interpretation of the maximum-likelihood estimator (MLE) for misspecified probability models, and gives the conditions under which parameters of interest can be consistently estimated despite misspecification, and the consequences of misspecification, for hypothesis testing in estimating the asymptotic covariance matrix of the parameters. Although the theory presented in the book is motivated by econometric problems, its applicability is by no means restricted to economics. Subject to defined limitations, the theory applies to any scientific context in which statistical analysis is conducted using approximate models.

Quantile regression is gradually emerging as a unified statistical methodology for estimating models of conditional quantile functions. By complementing the exclusive focus of classical least squares regression on the conditional mean, quantile regression offers a systematic strategy for examining how covariates influence the location, scale and shape of the entire response distribution. This monograph is the first comprehensive treatment of the subject, encompassing models that are linear and nonlinear, parametric and nonparametric. The author has devoted more than 25 years of research to this topic. The methods in the analysis are illustrated with a variety of applications from economics, biology, ecology and finance. The treatment will find its core audiences in econometrics, statistics, and applied mathematics in addition to the disciplines cited above.

This 2007 book provides a systematic and self-contained account of the fast-developing theory of complex social networks. Social networks are central to the understanding of most socio-economic phenomena in the modern world. The classical approach to studying them relies on a methodology that abstracts from their size and complexity. In contrast, the approach taken in this book keeps complexity at the core, whilst integrating it with the incentive considerations that are preeminent in traditional economic analysis. The treatment starts with a detailed discussion of the basic models that act as 'benchmarks' for the complex-network literature: random networks, small worlds, and scale-free networks, before studying three different forces that underlie almost all network phenomena in social contexts: diffusion, search, and play. Finally, these forces are combined into a unified framework that is brought to bear on the issue of network formation and the coevolution of agents' behaviour and their pattern of interaction.

Quantile regression is gradually emerging as a unified statistical methodology for estimating models of conditional quantile functions. By complementing the exclusive focus of classical least squares regression on the conditional mean, quantile regression offers a systematic strategy for examining how covariates influence the location, scale and shape of the entire response distribution. This monograph is the first comprehensive treatment of the subject, encompassing models that are linear and nonlinear, parametric and nonparametric. The author has devoted more than 25 years of research to this topic. The methods in the analysis are illustrated with a variety of applications from economics, biology, ecology and finance. The treatment will find its core audiences in econometrics, statistics, and applied mathematics in addition to the disciplines cited above.

Many believe that equality of opportunity will be achieved when the prospects of children no longer depend upon the wealth and education of their parents. The institution through which the link between child and parental prospects may be weakened is public education. Many also believe that democracy is the political institution that will bring about justice. This study, first published in 2006, asks whether democracy, modeled as competition between political parties that represent different interests in the polity, will result in educational funding policies that will, at least eventually, produce citizens who have equal capacities (human capital), thus breaking the link between family background and child prospects. In other words, will democracy engender, through the educational finance policies it produces, a state of equal opportunity in the long run?