Asymptotic theory for the estimation of nonlinear vector error correction models that exhibit regime-specific short-run dynamics is developed. In particular, regimes are determined by the error correction term, and the transition between regimes is allowed to be discontinuous, as in, e.g., threshold cointegration. Several nonregular problems are resolved. First of all, consistency—square root n consistency for the cointegrating vector β—is established for the least squares estimation of this general class of models. Second, the convergence rates are obtained for the least squares of threshold cointegration, which are n3/2 and n for β and γ, respectively, where γ denotes the threshold parameter. This fast rate for β in itself is of practical relevance because, unlike in smooth transition models, the estimation error in β does not affect the estimation of short-run parameters. We also derive asymptotic distributions for the smoothed least squares estimation of threshold cointegration.

This paper considers dynamic time series binary choice models. It proves near epoch dependence and strong mixing for the dynamic binary choice model with correlated errors. Using this result, it shows in a time series setting the validity of the dynamic probit likelihood procedure when lags of the dependent binary variable are used as regressors, and it establishes the asymptotic validity of Horowitz’s smoothed maximum score estimation of dynamic binary choice models with lags of the dependent variable as regressors. For the semiparametric model, the latent error is explicitly allowed to be correlated. It turns out that no long-run variance estimator is needed for the validity of the smoothed maximum score procedure in the dynamic time series framework.

While differencing transformations can eliminate nonstationarity, they typically reduce signal strength and correspondingly reduce rates of convergence in unit root autoregressions. The present paper shows that aggregating moment conditions that are formulated in differences provides an orderly mechanism for preserving information and signal strength in autoregressions with some very desirable properties. In first order autoregression, a partially aggregated estimator based on moment conditions in differences is shown to have a limiting normal distribution that holds uniformly in the autoregressive coefficient ρ, including stationary and unit root cases. The rate of convergence is when and the limit distribution is the same as the Gaussian maximum likelihood estimator (MLE), but when ρ = 1 the rate of convergence to the normal distribution is within a slowly varying factor of n. A fully aggregated estimator (FAE) is shown to have the same limit behavior in the stationary case and to have nonstandard limit distributions in unit root and near integrated cases, which reduce both the bias and the variance of the MLE. This result shows that it is possible to improve on the asymptotic behavior of the MLE without using an artificial shrinkage technique or otherwise accelerating convergence at unity at the cost of performance in the neighborhood of unity. Confidence intervals constructed from the FAE using local asymptotic theory around unity also lead to improvements over the MLE.

A new class of large-sample covariance and spectral density matrix estimators is proposed based on the notion of flat-top kernels. The new estimators are shown to be higher-order accurate when higher-order accuracy is possible. A discussion on kernel choice is presented as well as a supporting finite-sample simulation. The problem of spectral estimation under a potential lack of finite fourth moments is also addressed. The higher-order accuracy of flat-top kernel estimators typically comes at the sacrifice of the positive semidefinite property. Nevertheless, we show how a flat-top estimator can be modified to become positive semidefinite (even strictly positive definite) while maintaining its higher-order accuracy. In addition, an easy (and consistent) procedure for optimal bandwidth choice is given; this procedure estimates the optimal bandwidth associated with each individual element of the target matrix, automatically sensing (and adapting to) the underlying correlation structure.

A local limit theorem is given for the sample mean of a zero energy function of a nonstationary time series involving twin numerical sequences that pass to infinity. The result is applicable in certain nonparametric kernel density estimation and regression problems where the relevant quantities are functions of both sample size and bandwidth. An interesting outcome of the theory in nonparametric regression is that the linear term is eliminated from the asymptotic bias. In consequence and in contrast to the stationary case, the Nadaraya–Watson estimator has the same limit distribution (to the second order including bias) as the local linear nonparametric estimator.

The fixed effects estimator of panel models can be severely biased because of well-known incidental parameter problems. It is shown that this bias can be reduced in nonlinear dynamic panel models. We consider asymptotics where n and T grow at the same rate as an approximation that facilitates comparison of bias properties. Under these asymptotics, the bias-corrected estimators we propose are centered at the truth, whereas fixed effects estimators are not. We discuss several examples and provide Monte Carlo evidence for the small sample performance of our procedure.

The notion of completeness between two random elements has been considered recently to provide identification in nonparametric instrumental problems. This condition is quite abstract, however, and characterizations have been obtained only in special cases. This paper considers a nonparametric model between the two variables with an additive separability and a large support condition. In this framework, different versions of completeness are obtained, depending on which regularity conditions are imposed. This result allows one to establish identification in an instrumental nonparametric regression with limited endogenous regressor, a case where the control variate approach breaks down.

We note that likelihood inference can be based on an unbiased simulation-based estimator of the likelihood when it is used inside a Metropolis–Hastings algorithm. This result has recently been introduced in statistics literature by Andrieu, Doucet, and Holenstein (2010, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B, 72, 269–342) and is perhaps surprising given the results on maximum simulated likelihood estimation. Bayesian inference based on simulated likelihood can be widely applied in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and financial econometrics. One way of generating unbiased estimates of the likelihood is through a particle filter. We illustrate these methods on four problems, producing rather generic methods. Taken together, these methods imply that if we can simulate from an economic model, we can carry out likelihood–based inference using its simulations.

We analyze the impact of nonstationary volatility on the break fraction estimator and associated trend break unit root tests of Harris, Harvey, Leybourne, and Taylor (2009) (HHLT). We show that although HHLT’s break fraction estimator retains the same large-sample properties as demonstrated by HHLT for homoskedastic shocks, the limiting null distributions of unit root statistics based around this estimator are not pivotal under nonstationary volatility. A solution to the identified inference problem, which does not require the practitioner to specify a parametric model for volatility, is provided using the wild bootstrap and is shown to perform well in practice.

This paper proposes a model specification testing procedure for parametric specification of the conditional mean function in a nonlinear time series model with long-range dependent. An asymptotically normal test is established even when long-range dependent is involved. To implement the proposed test in practice using a simulated example, a bootstrap simulation procedure is established to find a simulated critical value to compute both the size and power values of the proposed test.

This paper proposes an empirical likelihood-based estimation method for conditional moment restriction models with unknown functions, which include several semiparametric models. Our estimator is called the sieve conditional empirical likelihood (SCEL) estimator, which is based on the methods of conditional empirical likelihood and sieves. We derive (i) the consistency and a convergence rate of the SCEL estimator for the whole parameter, and (ii) the asymptotic normality and efficiency of the SCEL estimator for the parametric component. As an illustrating example, we consider a partially linear regression model with nonparametric endogeneity and heteroskedasticity.

The nonparametric estimation of a regression function from conditional moment restrictions involving instrumental variables is considered. The rate of convergence of penalized estimators is studied in the case where the regression function is not identified from the conditional moment restriction. We also study the gain of modifying the penalty in the estimation, considering derivatives in the penalty. We analyze the effect of this modification on the identification of the regression function and the rate of convergence of its estimator.

GEL methods that generalize and extend previous contributions are defined and analyzed for moment condition models specified in terms of weakly dependent data. These procedures offer alternative one-step estimators and tests that are asymptotically equivalent to their efficient two-step GMM counterparts. The basis for GEL estimation is via a smoothed version of the moment indicators using kernel function weights that incorporate a bandwidth parameter. Examples for the choice of bandwidth parameter and kernel function are provided. Efficient moment estimators based on implied probabilities derived from the GEL method are proposed, a special case of which is estimation of the stationary distribution of the data. The paper also presents a unified set of test statistics for overidentifying moment restrictions and combinations of parametric and moment restriction hypotheses.

This paper studies the properties of naive block bootstrap tests that are scaled by zero frequency spectral density estimators (long-run variance estimators). The naive bootstrap is a bootstrap where the formula used in the bootstrap world to compute standard errors is the same as the formula used on the original data. Simulation evidence shows that the naive bootstrap can be much more accurate than the standard normal approximation. The larger the HAC bandwidth, the greater the improvement. This improvement holds for a large number of popular kernels, including the Bartlett kernel, and it holds when the independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) bootstrap is used and yet the data are serially correlated. Using recently developed fixed-b asymptotics for HAC robust tests, we provide theoretical results that can explain the finite sample patterns. We show that the block bootstrap, including the special case of the i.i.d. bootstrap, has the same limiting distribution as the fixed-b asymptotic distribution. For the special case of a location model, we provide theoretical results that suggest the naive bootstrap can be more accurate than the standard normal approximation depending on the choice of the bandwidth and the number of finite moments in the data. Our theoretical results lay the foundation for a bootstrap asymptotic theory that is an alternative to the traditional approach based on Edgeworth expansions.

This paper develops an asymptotic estimation theory for nonlinear autoregressive models with conditionally heteroskedastic errors. We consider a general nonlinear autoregression of order p (AR(p)) with the conditional variance specified as a general nonlinear first-order generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH(1,1)) model. We do not require the rescaled errors to be independent, but instead only to form a stationary and ergodic martingale difference sequence. Strong consistency and asymptotic normality of the global Gaussian quasi-maximum likelihood (QML) estimator are established under conditions comparable to those recently used in the corresponding linear case. To the best of our knowledge, this paper provides the first results on consistency and asymptotic normality of the QML estimator in nonlinear autoregressive models with GARCH errors.

We examine the limit properties of the nonlinear least squares (NLS) estimator under functional form misspecification in regression models with a unit root. Our theoretical framework is the same as that of Park and Phillips (2001, Econometrica 69, 117–161). We show that the limit behavior of the NLS estimator is largely determined by the relative orders of magnitude of the true and fitted models. If the estimated model is of different order of magnitude than the true model, the estimator converges to boundary points. When the pseudo-true value is on a boundary, standard methods for obtaining rates of convergence and limit distribution results are not applicable. We provide convergence rates and limit theory when the pseudo-true value is an interior point. If functional form misspecification is committed in the presence of stochastic trends, the convergence rates can be slower and the limit distribution different than that obtained under correct specification.