arXiv subjects

James A. Duffy

Publications and source records attributed to James A. Duffy.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Stationarity with Occasionally Binding Constraints

This paper studies a class of multivariate threshold autoregressive models, known as censored and kinked structural vector autoregressions (CKSVAR), which are notably able to accommodate series that are subject to occasionally binding constraints. We develop a set of sufficient conditions for the processes generated by a CKSVAR to be stationary, ergodic, and weakly dependent. Our conditions relate directly to the stability of the deterministic part of the model, and are therefore less conservative than those typically available for general vector threshold autoregressive (VTAR) models. Though our criteria refer to quantities, such as refinements of the joint spectral radius, that cannot feasibly be computed exactly, they can be approximated numerically to a high degree of precision.

econ.EM↗

arXiv2026

Inference on Common Trends in a Cointegrated Nonlinear SVAR

We consider the problem of performing inference on the number of common stochastic trends when data is generated by a cointegrated CKSVAR (a two-regime, piecewise affine SVAR; Mavroeidis, 2021), using a modified version of the Breitung (2002) multivariate variance ratio test that is robust to the presence of nonlinear cointegration (of a known form). To derive the asymptotics of our test statistic, we prove a fundamental LLN-type result for a class of stable but nonstationary autoregressive processes, using a novel dual linear process approximation. We show that our modified test yields correct inferences regarding the number of common trends in such a system, whereas the unmodified test tends to infer a higher number of common trends than are actually present, when cointegrating relations are nonlinear.

econ.EM↗

arXiv2026

Identification in (Endogenously) Nonlinear SVARs Is Easier Than You Think

We study identification in structural vector autoregressions (SVARs) in which the endogenous variables enter nonlinearly on the left-hand side of the model, a feature we term endogenous nonlinearity, to distinguish it from the more familiar case in which nonlinearity arises only through exogenous or predetermined variables. This class of models accommodates asymmetric impact multipliers, endogenous regime switching, and occasionally binding constraints. We show that, under weak regularity conditions, the model parameters and structural shocks are (nonparametrically) identified up to an orthogonal transformation, exactly as in a linear SVAR. Our results have the powerful implication that most existing identification schemes for linear SVARs extend directly to our nonlinear setting, with the number of restrictions required to achieve exact identification remaining unchanged. We specialise our results to piecewise affine SVARs, which provide a convenient framework for the modelling of endogenous regime switching, and their smooth transition counterparts. We illustrate our methodology with an application to the nonlinear Phillips curve, providing a test for the presence of nonlinearity that is robust to the choice of identifying assumptions, and finding significant evidence for state-dependent inflation dynamics.

econ.EM↗

arXiv2025

Estimation of a Dynamic Tobit Model with a Unit Root

This paper studies robust estimation in the dynamic Tobit model under local-to-unity (LUR) asymptotics. We show that both Gaussian maximum likelihood (ML) and censored least absolute deviations (CLAD) estimators are consistent, extending results from the stationary case where ordinary least squares (OLS) is inconsistent. The asymptotic distributions of MLE and CLAD are derived; for the short-run parameters they are shown to be Gaussian, yielding standard normal t-statistics. In contrast, although OLS remains consistent under LUR, its t-statistics are not standard normal. These results enable reliable model selection via sequential t-tests based on ML and CLAD, paralleling the linear autoregressive case. Applications to financial and epidemiological time series illustrate their practical relevance.

econ.EM↗

arXiv2025

Cointegration with Occasionally Binding Constraints

In the literature on nonlinear cointegration, a long-standing open problem relates to how a (nonlinear) vector autoregression, which provides a unified description of the short- and long-run dynamics of a vector of time series, can generate 'nonlinear cointegration' in the profound sense of those series sharing common nonlinear stochastic trends. We consider this problem in the setting of the censored and kinked structural VAR (CKSVAR), which provides a flexible yet tractable framework within which to model time series that are subject to threshold-type nonlinearities, such as those arising due to occasionally binding constraints, of which the zero lower bound (ZLB) on short-term nominal interest rates provides a leading example. We provide a complete characterisation of how common linear and nonlinear stochastic trends may be generated in this model, via unit roots and appropriate generalisations of the usual rank conditions, providing the first extension to date of the Granger-Johansen representation theorem to a nonlinearly cointegrated setting, and thereby giving the first successful treatment of the open problem. The limiting common trend processes include regulated, censored and kinked Brownian motions, none of which have previously appeared in the literature on cointegrated VARs. Our results and running examples illustrate that the CKSVAR is capable of supporting a far richer variety of long-run behaviour than is a linear VAR, in ways that may be particularly useful for the identification of structural parameters.

econ.EM↗

arXiv2024

Common Trends and Long-Run Identification in Nonlinear Structural VARs

While it is widely recognised that linear (structural) VARs may fail to capture important aspects of economic time series, the use of nonlinear SVARs has to date been almost entirely confined to the modelling of stationary time series, because of a lack of understanding as to how common stochastic trends may be accommodated within nonlinear models. This has unfortunately circumscribed the range of series to which such models can be applied -- and/or required that these series be first transformed to stationarity, a potential source of misspecification -- and prevented the use of long-run identifying restrictions in these models. To address these problems, we develop a flexible class of additively time-separable nonlinear SVARs, which subsume models with threshold-type endogenous regime switching, both of the piecewise linear and smooth transition varieties. We extend the Granger--Johansen representation theorem to this class of models, obtaining conditions that specialise exactly to the usual ones when the model is linear. We further show that, as a corollary, these models are capable of supporting the same kinds of long-run identifying restrictions as are available in linearly cointegrated SVARs.

econ.EM↗

arXiv2024

The Local to Unity Dynamic Tobit Model

This paper considers highly persistent time series that are subject to nonlinearities in the form of censoring or an occasionally binding constraint, such as are regularly encountered in macroeconomics. A tractable candidate model for such series is the dynamic Tobit with a root local to unity. We show that this model generates a process that converges weakly to a non-standard limiting process, that is constrained (regulated) to be positive. Surprisingly, despite the presence of censoring, the OLS estimators of the model parameters are consistent. We show that this allows OLS-based inferences to be drawn on the overall persistence of the process (as measured by the sum of the autoregressive coefficients), and for the null of a unit root to be tested in the presence of censoring. Our simulations illustrate that the conventional ADF test substantially over-rejects when the data is generated by a dynamic Tobit with a unit root, whereas our proposed test is correctly sized. We provide an application of our methods to testing for a unit root in the Swiss franc / euro exchange rate, during a period when this was subject to an occasionally binding lower bound.

econ.EM↗

arXiv2023

Cointegration without Unit Roots

It has been known since Elliott (1998) that standard methods of inference on cointegrating relationships break down entirely when autoregressive roots are near but not exactly equal to unity. We consider this problem within the framework of a structural VAR, arguing this it is as much a problem of identification failure as it is of inference. We develop a characterisation of cointegration based on the impulse response function, which allows long-run equilibrium relationships to remain identified even in the absence of exact unit roots. Our approach also provides a framework in which the structural shocks driving the common persistent components continue to be identified via long-run restrictions, just as in an SVAR with exact unit roots. We show that inference on the cointegrating relationships is affected by nuisance parameters, in a manner familiar from predictive regression; indeed the two problems are asymptotically equivalent. By adapting the approach of Elliott, Müller and Watson (2015) to our setting, we develop tests that robustly control size while sacrificing little power (relative to tests that are efficient in the presence of exact unit roots).

econ.EM↗

arXiv2020

Estimation and Inference in the Presence of Fractional d=1/2 and Weakly Nonstationary Processes

We provide new limit theory for functionals of a general class of processes lying at the boundary between stationarity and nonstationarity -- what we term weakly nonstationary processes (WNPs). This includes, as leading examples, fractional processes with d=1/2, and arrays of autoregressive processes with roots drifting slowly towards unity. We first apply the theory to study inference in parametric and nonparametric regression models involving WNPs as covariates. We then use these results to develop a new specification test for parametric regression models. By construction, our specification test statistic has a chi-squared limiting distribution regardless of the form and extent of persistence of the regressor, implying that a practitioner can validly perform the test using a fixed critical value, while remaining agnostic about the mechanism generating the regressor. Simulation exercises confirm that the test controls size across a wide range of data generating processes, and outperforms a comparable test due to Wang and Phillips (2012, Ann. Stat.) against many alternatives.

math.ST↗

arXiv2019

Asymptotic Theory for Kernel Estimators under Moderate Deviations from a Unit Root, with an Application to the Asymptotic Size of Nonparametric Tests

We provide new asymptotic theory for kernel density estimators, when these are applied to autoregressive processes exhibiting moderate deviations from a unit root. This fills a gap in the existing literature, which has to date considered only nearly integrated and stationary autoregressive processes. These results have applications to nonparametric predictive regression models. In particular, we show that the null rejection probability of a nonparametric t test is controlled uniformly in the degree of persistence of the regressor. This provides a rigorous justification for the validity of the usual nonparametric inferential procedures, even in cases where regressors may be highly persistent.

math.ST↗

arXiv2016

A uniform law for convergence to the local times of linear fractional stable motions

We provide a uniform law for the weak convergence of additive functionals of partial sum processes to the local times of linear fractional stable motions, in a setting sufficiently general for statistical applications. Our results are fundamental to the analysis of the global properties of nonparametric estimators of nonlinear statistical models that involve such processes as covariates.

math.ST↗

arXiv2015

Generalized Indirect Inference for Discrete Choice Models

This paper develops and implements a practical simulation-based method for estimating dynamic discrete choice models. The method, which can accommodate lagged dependent variables, serially correlated errors, unobserved variables, and many alternatives, builds on the ideas of indirect inference. The main difficulty in implementing indirect inference in discrete choice models is that the objective surface is a step function, rendering gradient-based optimization methods useless. To overcome this obstacle, this paper shows how to smooth the objective surface. The key idea is to use a smoothed function of the latent utilities as the dependent variable in the auxiliary model. As the smoothing parameter goes to zero, this function delivers the discrete choice implied by the latent utilities, thereby guaranteeing consistency. We establish conditions on the smoothing such that our estimator enjoys the same limiting distribution as the indirect inference estimator, while at the same time ensuring that the smoothing facilitates the convergence of gradient-based optimization methods. A set of Monte Carlo experiments shows that the method is fast, robust, and nearly as efficient as maximum likelihood when the auxiliary model is sufficiently rich.

math.ST↗

arXiv2015

Uniform convergence rates over maximal domains in structural nonparametric cointegrating regression

This paper presents uniform convergence rates for kernel regression estimators, in the setting of a structural nonlinear cointegrating regression model. We generalise the existing literature in three ways. First, the domain to which these rates apply is much wider than has been previously considered, and can be chosen so as to contain as large a fraction of the sample as desired in the limit. Second, our results allow the regression disturbance to be serially correlated, and cross-correlated with the regressor; previous work on this problem (of obtaining uniform rates) having been confined entirely to the setting of an exogenous regressor. Third, we permit the bandwidth to be data-dependent, requiring only that it satisfy certain weak asymptotic shrinkage conditions. Our assumptions on the regressor process are consistent with a very broad range of departures from the standard unit root autoregressive model, allowing the regressor to be fractionally integrated, and to have an infinite variance (and even infinite lower-order moments).

math.ST↗