Graduate Econometrics Lecture Notes - Michael Creel (414 Pages)
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johndoe-Graduate Econometrics Lecture Notes
Michael Creel
Version 0.4, 06 Nov. 2002, copyright (C) 2002 by Michael Creel
Contents
1 License, availability and use
10
1.1
License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
1.2
Obtaining the notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
1.3
Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
1.4
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
2 Economic and econometric models
12
3 Ordinary Least Squares
14
3.1
The classical linear model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
3.2
Estimation by least squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
3.3
Estimating the error variance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
3.4
Geometric interpretation of least squares estimation . . . . . . . . . .
17
3.4.1
17
In X Y Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dept.
of Economics and Economic History,
[email protected]
Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona.
3.4.2
In Observation Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
3.4.3
Projection Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
3.5
Influential observations and outliers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20
3.6
Goodness of fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22
3.7
Small sample properties of the least squares estimator . . . . . . . . .
25
3.7.1
Unbiasedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
25
3.7.2
Normality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26
3.7.3
Efficiency (Gauss-Markov theorem) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26
4 Maximum likelihood estimation
28
4.1
The likelihood function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
28
4.2
Consistency of MLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29
4.3
The score function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
4.4
Asymptotic normality of MLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
4.5
The information matrix equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
37
4.6
The Cramr-Rao lower bound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
39
5 Asymptotic properties of the least squares estimator
43
5.1
Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
43
5.2
Asymptotic normality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
5.3
Asymptotic efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
45
6 Restrictions and hypothesis tests
6.1
6.2
47
Exact linear restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
47
6.1.1
Imposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
48
6.1.2
Properties of the restricted estimator . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
52
Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
53
6.2.1
t-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
53
6.2.2
F test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
57
6.2.3
Wald-type tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
58
6.2.4
Score-type tests (Rao tests, Lagrange multiplier tests) . . . . .
59
6.2.5
Likelihood ratio-type tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
62
6.3
The asymptotic equivalence of the LR, Wald and score tests . . . . . .
63
6.4
Interpretation of test statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
68
6.5
Confidence intervals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
68
6.6
Bootstrapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
69
6.7
Testing nonlinear restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
71
7 Generalized least squares
76
7.1
Effects of nonspherical disturbances on the OLS estimator . . . . . .
77
7.2
The GLS estimator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
78
7.3
Feasible GLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
7.4
Heteroscedasticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
83
7.4.1
OLS with heteroscedastic consistent varcov estimation . . . .
84
7.4.2
Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
85
7.4.3
Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
88
Autocorrelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
91
7.5.1
Causes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
91
7.5.2
AR(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
93
7.5.3
MA(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
97
7.5.4
Asymptotically valid inferences with autocorrelation of un-
7.5
known form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
7.5.5
Testing for autocorrelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
7.5.6
Lagged dependent variables and autocorrelation . . . . . . . . 105
8 Stochastic regressors
107
8.1
Case 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
8.2
Case 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
8.3
Case 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
8.4
When are the assumptions reasonable? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
9 Data problems
9.1
9.2
9.3
114
Collinearity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
9.1.1
A brief aside on dummy variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
9.1.2
Back to collinearity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
9.1.3
Detection of collinearity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
9.1.4
Dealing with collinearity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Measurement error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
9.2.1
Error of measurement of the dependent variable . . . . . . . . 123
9.2.2
Error of measurement of the regressors . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Missing observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
9.3.1
Missing observations on the dependent variable . . . . . . . . 126
9.3.2
The sample selection problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
9.3.3
Missing observations on the regressors . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
10 Functional form and nonnested tests
132
10.1 Flexible functional forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
10.1.1 The translog form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
10.1.2 FGLS estimation of a translog model . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
10.2 Testing nonnested hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
11 Exogeneity and simultaneity
149
11.1 Simultaneous equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
11.2 Exogeneity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
11.3 Reduced form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
11.4 IV estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
11.5 Identification by exclusion restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
11.5.1 Necessary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
11.5.2 Sufficient conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
11.6 2SLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
11.7 Testing the overidentifying restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
11.8 System methods of estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
11.8.1 3SLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
11.8.2 FIML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
12 Limited dependent variables
195
12.1 Choice between two objects: the probit model . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
12.2 Count data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
12.3 Duration data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
12.4 The Newton method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
13 Models for time series data
208
13.1 Basic concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
13.2 ARMA models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
13.2.1 MA(q) processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
13.2.2 AR(p) processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
13.2.3 Invertibility of MA(q) process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
14 Introduction to the second half
225
15 Notation and review
233
15.1 Notation for differentiation of vectors and matrices . . . . . . . . . . 233
15.2 Convergenge modes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
15.3 Rates of convergence and asymptotic equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
16 Asymptotic properties of extremum estimators
241
16.1 Extremum estimators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
16.2 Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
16.3 Example: Consistency of Least Squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
16.4 Asymptotic Normality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
16.5 Example: Binary response models. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
16.6 Example: Linearization of a nonlinear model . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
17 Numeric optimization methods
261
17.1 Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
17.2 Derivative-based methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
17.2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
17.2.2 Steepest descent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
17.2.3 Newton-Raphson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
17.3 Simulated Annealing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
18 Generalized method of moments (GMM)
270
18.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
18.2 Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
18.3 Asymptotic normality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
18.4 Choosing the weighting matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
6
18.5 Estimation of the variance-covariance matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
18.5.1 Newey-West covariance estimator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
18.6 Estimation using conditional moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
18.7 Estimation using dynamic moment conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
18.8 A specification test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
18.9 Other estimators interpreted as GMM estimators . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
18.9.1 OLS with heteroscedasticity of unknown form . . . . . . . . 291
18.9.2 Weighted Least Squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
18.9.3 2SLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
18.9.4 Nonlinear simultaneous equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
18.9.5 Maximum likelihood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
18.10Application: Nonlinear rational expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
18.11Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
19 Quasi-ML
306
19.0.1 Consistent Estimation of Variance Components . . . . . . . . 309
20 Nonlinear least squares (NLS)
312
20.1 Introduction and definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
20.2 Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
20.3 Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
20.4 Asymptotic normality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
20.5 Example: The Poisson model for count data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
20.6 The Gauss-Newton algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
20.7 Application: Limited dependent variables and sample selection . . . . 322
20.7.1 Example: Labor Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
21 Examples: demand for health care
326
21.1 The MEPS data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
21.2 Infinite mixture models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
21.3 Hurdle models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
21.4 Finite mixture models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
21.5 Comparing models using information criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
22 Nonparametric inference
348
22.1 Possible pitfalls of parametric inference: estimation . . . . . . . . . . 348
22.2 Possible pitfalls of parametric inference: hypothesis testing . . . . . . 352
22.3 The Fourier functional form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
22.3.1 Sobolev norm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
22.3.2 Compactness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
22.3.3 The estimation space and the estimation subspace . . . . . . . 359
22.3.4 Denseness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
22.3.5 Uniform convergence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
22.3.6 Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
22.3.7 Review of concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
22.3.8 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
22.4 Kernel regression estimators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
22.4.1 Estimation of the denominator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
22.4.2 Estimation of the numerator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
22.4.3 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
22.4.4 Choice of the window width: Cross-validation . . . . . . . . . 371
22.5 Kernel density estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
22.6 Semi-nonparametric maximum likelihood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
23 Simulation-based estimation
378
23.1 Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
23.1.1 Example: Multinomial and/or dynamic discrete response models378
23.1.2 Example: Marginalization of latent variables . . . . . . . . . 381
23.1.3 Estimation of models specified in terms of stochastic differential equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
23.2 Simulated maximum likelihood (SML) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
23.2.1 Example: multinomial probit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
23.2.2 Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
23.3 Method of simulated moments (MSM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
23.3.1 Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
23.3.2 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
23.4 Efficient method of moments (EMM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
23.4.1 Optimal weighting matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
23.4.2 Asymptotic distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
23.4.3 Diagnotic testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
23.5 Application I: estimation of auction models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
23.6 Application II: estimation of stochastic differential equations . . . . . 401
23.7 Application III: estimation of a multinomial probit panel data model . 403
24 Thanks
404
25 The GPL
404
1 License, availability and use
1.1 License
These lecture notes are copyrighted by Michael Creel with the date that appears above.
They are provided under the terms of the GNU General Public License, which forms
Section 25 of the notes. The main thing you need to know is that you are free to modify
and distribute these notes in any way you like, as long as you do so under the terms of
the GPL. In particular, you must make available the source files in editable form for
your version of the notes.
1.2 Obtaining the notes
These notes are part of the OMEGA (Open-source Materials for Econometrics, GPL
Archive) project at pareto.uab.es/omega. They were prepared using LYX www.lyx.org.
LYX is a free1 what you see is what you mean word processor. It (with help from
other applications) can export your work in TEX, HTML, PDF and several other forms.
It will run on Unix, Windows, and MacOS systems. The source file is the LYX file
notes.lyx, which is available at pareto.uab.es/omega/Project_001. There you will
find the LYX source file, as well as PDF, HTML, TEX and zipped HTML versions of
the notes.
1.3 Use
You are free to use the notes as you like, for study, preparing a course, etc. I find
that a hard copy is of most use for lecturing or study, while the html version is useful
for quick reference or answering students questions in office hours. I would greatly
1 Free
is used in the sense of freedom, but LYX is also free of charge.
10
appreciate that you inform me of any errors you find. Id also welcome contributions
in any area, especially in the areas of time series and nonstationary data.
1.4 Sources
The following is a partial list of the sources that have been used in preparing these
notes.
References
[Amemiya (1985)]
Amemiya, T. (1985) Advanced Econometrics,
Harvard Univ. Press.
[Davidson and MacKinnon (1993)] Davidson, R. and J.G. MacKinnon (1993) Estimation and Inference in Econometrics, Oxford
Univ. Press.
[Gallant (1987)]
Gallant, A.R. (1985) Nonlinear Statistical Models, Wiley.
[Gallant (1997)]
Gallant, A.R. (1997) An Introduction to Econometric Theory, Princeton Univ. Press.
[Hamilton (1994)]
Hamilton, J. (1994) Time Series Analysis, Princeton Univ. Press
[Hayashi (2000)]
Hayashi, F. (2000) Econometrics, Princeton Univ.
Press.
[Judge (1985)]
Judge et. al. (1985) The Theory and Practice of
Econometrics, Wiley.
11
2 Economic and econometric models
Economic theory tells us that demand functions are something like:
xi
x i p i m i zi
xi is G 1 vector of quantities demanded
pi is G 1 vector of prices
mi is income
zi is a vector of individual characteristics related to preferences
Suppose we have a sample consisting of one observation on n individuals demands at
time period t (this is a cross section, where i
1 2 n indexes the individuals in the
sample). The model is not estimable as it stands, since:
The form of the demand function is different for all i
Some components of zi may not be observable to an outside modeler For example, people dont eat the same lunch every day, and you cant tell what they
will order just by looking at them. Suppose we can break zi into the observable
components wi and a single unobservable component i .
A step toward an estimable (e.g., econometric) model is
xi
0 pi
p mi m wi
w i
We have imposed a number of restrictions on the theoretical model:
12
The functions xi
which may differ for all i have been restricted to all belong
to the same parametric family.
Of all parametric families of functions, we have restricted the model to the class
of linear in the variables functions.
There is a single unobservable component, and we assume it is additive.
These are very strong restrictions, compared to the theoretical model. Furthermore,
these restrictions have no theoretical basis. In addition, we still need to make more
assumptions in order to determine how to estimate the model. The validity of any
results we obtain using this model will be contingent on these restrictions being correct.
For this reason, specification testing will be needed, to check that the model seems to
be reasonable. Only when we are convinced that the model is at least approximately
correct should we use it for economic analysis. In the next sections we will obtain
results supposing that the econometric model is correctly specified. Later we will
examine the consequences of misspecification and see some methods for determining
if a model is correctly specified.
13
3 Ordinary Least Squares
3.1 The classical linear model
The classical linear model is based upon several assumptions.
1. Linearity: the model is a linear function of the parameter vector 0 :
yt
xt
0 t
X0
or in matrix form,
where y is n 1 X
x1 x2
xn
where xt is K
1 and 0 and are
conformable. The subscript 0 in 0 means this is the true value of the unknown
parameter. It will be suppressed when its not necessary for clarity. Linear
models are more general than they might first appear, since one can employ
nonlinear transformations of the variables:
0 zt
(The i
1
wt
are known functions). Defining yt
2 wt
p wt
0 zt xt1
1 wt etc. leads to
a model in the form of equation (??). For example, the Cobb-Douglas model
Aw2 2 w3 3 exp
can be transformed logarithmically to obtain
ln z
ln A 2 ln w2 3 ln w3
14
2. IID mean zero errors:
E
E
Var
20 In
3. Nonstochastic, linearly independent regressors
(a) X has rank K
(b) X is nonstochastic
(c) limn
1
nX
X
QX a finite positive definite matrix.
4. Normality (Optional): is normally distributed
3.2 Estimation by least squares
The objective is to gain information about the unknown parameters 0 and 20 The
ordinary least squares estimator is defined as the value that minimizes the sum of the
squared errors:
s
arg min s
y
y
X
yt
xt
2
t 1
y
X
2y
X
X
X
X
This last expression makes it clear how the OLS estimator chooses : it minimizes the
Euclidean distance between y and X
15
To minimize the criterion s take the f.o.n.c. and set them to zero:
D s
2X
y 2X
X
so
X
X 1 X
y
To verify that this is a minimum, check the s.o.s.c.:
D2 s
Since X
2X
X
K this matrix is positive definite, since its a quadratic form in a
p.d. matrix (identity matrix of order n , so is in fact a minimizer.
X
The fitted values are in the vector y
The residuals are in the vector
X
Note that
X
3.3 Estimating the error variance
The OLS estimator of 20 is
20
1
n
16
3.4 Geometric interpretation of least squares estimation
3.4.1 In X Y Space
Figure 1 shows a typical fit to data, with a residual. The area of the square is that
residuals contribution to the sum of squared errors. The fitted line is chosen so as to
minimize this sum.
Figure 1: Fitted Regression Line
The fitted line and a residual
contribution of e_i to the sum of squared errorsx
x
e_i
3.4.2 In Observation Space
If we want to plot in observation space, well need to use only two or three observations, or well encounter some limitations of the blackboard. Lets use two. With only
17
1
two observations, we cant have K
Figure 2: The fit in observation space
Observation 2
e = M_xY
S(x)
x
x*beta=P_xY
Observation 1
We can decompose y into two components: the orthogonal projection onto the
K
dimensional space spanned by X , X and the component that is the or
thogonal projection onto the n
K subpace that is orthogonal to the span of X
Since is chosen to make as short as possible, will be orthogonal to the space
spanned by X Since X is in this space, X
0 Note that the f.o.c. that define
the least squares estimator imply that this is so.
18
3.4.3 Projection Matrices
We have that X is the projection of y on the span of X or
X X
X
X
y
Therefore, the matrix that projects y onto the span of X is
X X
X
PX
since
PX y
is the projection of y off the space spanned by X (that is onto the space that is
orthogonal to the span of X We have that
y
y
X X
X
In
X X
X
X
y
1
X
y
So the matrix that projects y off the span of X is
MX
X X
X 1 X
In
In
PX
We have
19
MX y
Therefore
PX y MX y
X
Note that both PX and MX are symmetric and idempotent.
A
A symmetric matrix A is one such that A
An idempotent matrix A is one such that A
AA
The only nonsingular idempotent matrix is the identity matrix.
3.5 Influential observations and outliers
The OLS estimator of the ith element of the vector 0 is simply
X
X
X
i y
ci
y
This is how we define a linear estimator - its a linear function of the dependent
variable. Since its a linear combination of the observations on the dependent variable, where the weights are detemined by the observations on the regressors, some
observations may have more influence than others. Define
ht
PX
tt
et
PX et
PX et
20
2
et
ht is the tth element on the main diagonal of PX ( et is a n vector of zeros with a 1 in
the tth position). So 0
ht
1 and
TrPX
K n
So, on average, the weight on the yt s is K n. If the weight is much higher, then the
observation is influential. However, an observation may also be influential due to the
value of yt , rather than the weight it is multiplied by, which only depends on the xt s.
To account for this, consider estimation of without using the t th observation (designate this estimator as t
One can show (see Davidson and MacKinnon, pp. 32-5
for proof) that
t
1
1
h
X
X
Xt
t
so the change in the t th observations fitted value is
Xt
Xt t
ht
1
ht
While and observation may be influential if it doesnt affect its own fitted value, it
certainly is influential if it does. A fast means of identifying influential observations is
to plot
ht
1 ht
t as a function of t.
After influential observations are detected, one needs to determine why they are
influential. Possi causes include:
data entry error, which can easily be corrected once detected. Data entry errors
are very common.
special economic factors that affect some observations. These would need to
be identified and incorporated in the model. This is the idea behind structural
change: the parameters may not be constant across all observations.
21
pure randomness may have caused us to sample a low-probability observation.
There exist robust estimation methods that downweight outliers.
3.6 Goodness of fit
The fitted model is
y
Take the inner product:
y
y
X
X 2
X
But the middle term of the RHS is zero since X
y
y
0, so
X
X
The uncentered R2u is defined as
R2u
y
y
X
X
y
y
PX y 2
y 2
cos2
where is the angle between y and the span of X (show with the one regressor, two
observation example).
The uncentered R2 changes if we add a constant to y since this changes .
Another, more common definition measures the contribution of the variables,
other than the constant term, to explaining the variation in y Thus it measures
22
Figure 3: Uncentered R2
!#"$"%
'&()'*,+,
& ,
+ -
&$ +
.*/.
10 , 23
+
23
the ability of the model to explain the variation of y about its unconditional sam-
ple mean.
Let
1 1 1
a n -vector. So
In
n
In
M y just returns the vector of deviations from the mean.
The centered R2c is defined as
R2c
1
y
M y
1
ESS
T SS
Supposing that X contains a column of ones (i.e., there is a constant term),
X
so M
In this case
y
M y
X
M X
So
R2c
RSS
T SS
Supposing that a column of ones is in the space spanned by X (PX
one can show that 0
R2c
1
24
then
3.7 Small sample properties of the least squares estimator
3.7.1 Unbiasedness
For we have
X
X
X
y
X
X
X
X
0
E
X
X 1 X
0
So the OLS estimator is unbiased.
For 2 we have
20
1
n
K
1
E 20
K
E Tr
M
E TrM
TrE M
20 TrM
20 n
20 n
1
n
1
n
1
n
1
n
1
n
M
1
n
20
25
TrX X
X
Tr X
X
X
X
Thus the estimator is also unbiased.
3.7.2 Normality
X
X
This is a linear function of . Supposing that in normally distributed, then
N 0 X
X
1 2
0
3.7.3 Efficiency (Gauss-Markov theorem)
The OLS estimator is a linear estimator, which means that it is a linear function of the
dependent variable, y
X
X 1 X
y
Cy
It is also unbiased, as we proved above. One could consider other weights W in place
of the OLS weights. Well still insist upon unbiasedness. Consider
estimator is unbiased
E Wy
E W X 0 W
W X 0
0
WX
IK
26
Wy If the
The variance of is
V
WW
20
Define
D
X
X
X
X
so
Since W X
IK DX
V
0 so
X
X
DD
X
X
D
X
X
20
20
So
V
V
This is a proof of the Gauss-Markov Theorem.
Theorem 1 (Gauss-Markov) Under the classical assumptions, the variance of any
linear unbiased estimator minus the variance of the OLS estimator is a positive semidefinite matrix.
It is worth noting that we have not used the normality assumption in any way
to prove the Gauss-Markov theorem, so it is valid if the errors are not normally
distributed, as long as the other assumptions hold.
The previous properties hold for finite sample sizes. Before considering the asymptotic
properties of the OLS estimator it is useful to review the MLE estimator, since under
the assumption of normal errors the two estimators coincide.
27
4 Maximum likelihood estimation
4.1 The likelihood function
Suppose a sample of size n of a random vector y. Suppose the joint density of Y
y1
yn
is characterized by a parameter vector 0 :
f Y Y 0
This will often be referred to using the simplified notation f 0
The likelihood function is just this density evaluated at other values
L Y
fY Y
where is a parameter space.
If the n observations are independent, the likelihood function can be written as
n
L Y
yt
t 1
where the ft are possibly of different form.
Even if this is not possible, we can always factor the likelihood into contributions
of observations, by using the fact that a joint density can be factored into the
product of a marginal and conditional (doing this iteratively)
L Y
f y 1 f y 2 y1 f y 3 y1 y2
28
f yn y1 y2 yt
n
To simplify notation, define
xt
y1 y2
S t
yt
where S is the sample space of Y (With this, conditioning on x1 has no effect and gives
a marginal probability). Now the likelihood function can be written as
n
L Y
yt xt
t 1
The criterion function can be defined as the average log-likelihood function:
sn
1 n
ln f yt xt
nt 1
1
ln L Y
n
The maximum likelihood estimator is defined as
arg max sn
where the set maximized over is defined below. Since ln
is a monotonic increasing
function, ln L and L maximize at the same value of Dividing by n has no effect on
Note that one can easily modify this to include exogenous conditioning variables
in xt in addition to the yt that are already there. This changes nothing in what follows,
and therefore it is suppressed to clarify the notation.
4.2 Consistency of MLE
To show consistency of the MLE, we need to make explicit some assumptions.
Compact parameter space
a open bounded subset of K Maximixation is
29
over which is compact.
This implies that is an interior point of the parameter space .
Uniform convergence
sn
uas
lim E0 sn s 0
We have suppressed Y here for simplicity. This requires that almost sure convergence
holds for all possible parameter values.
Continuity sn is continuous in
This implies that s 0 is continuous
in
Identification s 0 has a unique maximum in its first argument.
a s
We will use these assumptions to show that
0
First, certainly exists, since a continuous function has a maximum on a compact
set.
Second, for any
0
L
E ln
L 0
by Jensens inequality ( ln
ln E
L
L 0
is a concave function).
Now, the expectation on the RHS is
L
L 0
L
L 0 dy
L 0
1
since L 0 is the density function of the observations Therefore, since ln 1
L
E ln
L 0
30
0
0
or
E sn
E s n 0
0
Taking limits, this is
s 0
s 0 0
0
except on a set of zero probability (by the uniform convergence assumption).
By the identification assumption there is a unique maximizer, so the inequality is
strict if
0 :
s 0
s 0 0 0
0
However, since is a maximizer, independent of n we must have
s 0
s 0 0
0
These last two inequalities imply that
lim
0 a s
This completes the proof of strong consistency of the MLE. One can use weaker assumptions to prove weak consistency (convergence in probability to 0 ) of the MLE.
This is omitted here. Note that almost sure convergence implies convergence in probability.
4.3 The score function
Differentiability Assume that sn is twice continuously differentiable in N 0 , at
least when n is large enough.
31
To maximize the log-likelihood function, take derivatives:
gn Y
D sn
1 n
D ln f yt xx
nt 1
1 n
gt
n t1
This is the score vector (with dim K
1 Note that the score function has Y as an
argument, which implies that it is a random function. Y will often be suppressed for
clarity, but one should not forget that it is still there.
The ML estimator sets the derivatives to zero:
1 n
gt 0
n t1
gn
We will show that E gt
the density f not necessarily f 0
t This is the expectation taken with respect to
D ln f yt x f yt x dyt
E gt
1
D f yt xt f yt xt dyt
f yt xt
D f yt xt dyt
Given some regularity conditions on boundedness of D f we can switch the order of
integration and differentiation, by the dominated convergence theorem. This gives
E gt
D
D 1
0
32
f t yt xt dyt
So E gt
This hold for all t so it implies that E gn Y
0 : the expectation of the score vector is zero.
0
4.4 Asymptotic normality of MLE
Recall that we assume that sn is twice continuously differentiable. Take a first order
Taylors series expansion of g Y about the true value 0 :
g
g 0
D g
0
or with appropirate definitions
H
where
0 0
0
g 0
1 Assume H
is invertible (well justify this
in a minute). So
n
Now consider H
ng 0
This is
H
D g
D2 sn
1
D2 ln f t
nt 1
where the notation
D2 sn
2 sn
Given that this is an average of terms, it should usually be the case that this satisfies
33
a strong law of large numbers (SLLN). Regularity conditions are a set of assumptions
that guarantee that this will happen. There are different sets of assumptions that can
be used to justify appeal to different SLLNs. For example, the D2 ln ft
must not
be too strongly dependent over time, and their variances must not become infinite. We
dont assume any particular set here, since the appropriate assumptions will depend
upon the particularities of a given model. However, we assume that a SLLN applies.
Also, since we know that is consistent, and since
that
as
0 . Given this, H
0 we have
converges to the limit of its expectation:
as
lim E D2 sn 0
H 0
This matrix converges to a finite limit.
Re-arranging orders of limits and differentiation, which is legitimate given regularity conditions, we get
D2 lim E sn 0
H 0
D2 s 0 0
Weve already seen that
s 0
s 0 0
i.e., 0 maximizes the limiting objective function. Since there is a unique maximizer,
and by the assumption that sn is twice continuously differentiable (which holds in
the limit), then H 0 must be negative definite, and therefore of full rank. Therefore
34
the previous inversion is justified, asymptotically, and we have
n
Now consider
as
H 0
1
ng 0
(1)
ng 0 This is
ngn 0
nD sn
n n
D ln ft yt xt 0
n t 1
1 n
gt 0
n t1
Weve already seen that E gt
0 As such, it is reasonable to assume that a CLT
applies.
Note that gn 0
0 by consistency. To avoid this collapse to a degenerate r.v. (a
as
n A generic CLT states that, for Xn a random
constant vector) we need to scale by
vector that satisfies certain conditions,
V Xn
where V Xn
1 2
1 2
Xn
E Xn
d N 0 I
is any matrix such that
V Xn
1 2
V Xn
1 2
V Xn
The certain conditions that Xn must satisfy depend on the case at hand. Usually, Xn
will be of the form of an average, scaled by
Xn
n:
tn 1 Xt
n
n
35
ng 0 for example. Then the properties of Xn depend on the
This is the case for
properties of the Xt For example, if the Xt have finite variances and are not too strongly
dependent, then a CLT for dependent processes will apply. Supposing that a CLT
applies, and noting that E
ngn 0
I 0
0 we get
1 2
d N 0 I
K
ngn 0
where
I 0
lim E0 n gn 0 gn 0
ngn 0
lim V0
This can also be written as
ngn 0
d N 0 I
0
(2)
I 0 is known as the information matrix.
Combining [1] and [??], we get
n
N 0 H 0
I 0 H 0
1
The MLE estimator is asymptotically normally distributed.
Definition 2 (CAN) An estimator of a parameter 0 is
n-consistent and asymptot-
ically normally distributed if
n
0
d N0 V
36
(3)
where V is a finite positive definite matrix.
n
There do exist, in special cases, estimators that are consistent such that
p
0 These are known as superconsistent estimators, since normally,
n is the highest
factor that we can multiply by an still get convergence to a stable limiting distribution.
Definition 3 (Asymptotic unbiasedness) An estimator of a parameter 0 is asymptotically unbiased if
lim E
(4)
Estimators that are CAN are asymptotically unbiased, though not all consistent
estimators are asymptotically unbiased. Such cases are unusual, though. An example
is:
Exercise 4 Consider an estimator with distribution
0 with prob. 1
1
1
n with prob.
n
n
(5)
Show that this estimator is consistent but asymptotically biased.
4.5 The information matrix equality
We will show that H
I Let ft be short for f yt xt
ft dy so
D ft dy
D ln ft ft dy
37
Now differentiate again:
D2 ln ft
E D ln ft D ln ft
D ln ft D ln ft
ft dy
E gt gt
Now sum over n and multiply by
E Ht
D ln ft D ft dy
E D2 ln ft
E D2 ln ft
ft dy
(6)
1
n
1 n
Ht
nt 1
1 n
gt gt
nt 1
E
The scores gt and gs are uncorrelated for t
s since for t
s ft yt y1 yt
1
has
conditioned on prior information, so what was random in s is fixed in t. (This forms the
basis for a specification test proposed by White: if the scores appear to be correlated
one may question the specification of the model). This allows us to write
E H
E n g g
since all cross products between different periods expect to zero. Finally take limits,
we get
H
I
This holds for all in particular, for 0 Using this,
n
N 0 H
0
as
38
I 0 H 0
1
simplifies to
n
as
N 0 I 0
To estimate the asymptotic variance, we need estimators of H 0 and I 0 . We
can use
n
n gt gt
I 0
t 1
H
H 0
Note, one cant use
I 0
n gn
gn
to estimate the information matrix. Why not?
From this we see that there are alternative ways to estimate V 0 that are all
valid. These include
V 0
V 0
V 0
H 0
I 0
H 0
1
1
I 0 H 0
These are known as the inverse Hessian, outer product of the gradient (OPG) and
sandwich estimators, respectively. The sandwich form is the most robust, since it
coincides with the covariance estimator of the quasi-ML estimator.
4.6 The Cramr-Rao lower bound
Theorem 5 [Cramer-Rao Lower Bound] The limiting variance of a CAN estimator of
minus the inverse of the information matrix is a positive semidefinite matrix.
0 , say ,
39
Proof: Since the estimator is CAN, it is asymptotically unbiased, so
lim E
Differentiate wrt
:
D lim E
D f Y dy
lim
0 this is a K
Noting that D f Y
lim
f Y
IK and
f Y D dy
lim
Now note that D
f D ln f dy
K matrix of zeros
f D ln f we can write
lim
IK dy
IK With this we have
1
D ln f f dy
n
f D ln f dy
IK
0
Playing with powers of n we get
lim
IK
But 1n D ln f is just the transpose of the score vector, g so we can write
lim E
n
ng
IK
n
This means that the covariance of the score function with
for any CAN
n
estimator, is an identity matrix. Using this, suppose the variance of
40
tends
to V Therefore,
V
ng
V
IK
IK
I
Since this is a covariance matrix, it is positive semi-definite. Therefore, for any K
-vector
I
1
V
IK
I
IK
I
0
This simplifies to
V
Since is arbitrary, V
I 1
0
I is positive semidefinite. This conludes the proof.
This means that I 1 is a lower bound for the asymptotic variance of a CAN
estimator.
Definition 6 (Asymptotic Efficiency) An estimator is of a parameter 0 is asymp
totically efficient if it is CAN and V
V is positive semidefinite for any other
CAN estimator of 0
A direct proof of asymptotic efficiency of an estimator is infeasible, but if one can
show that the asymptotic variance is equal to the inverse of the information matrix,
then the estimator is asymptotically efficient. In particular, the MLE is asymptotically
efficient.
Summary of MLE
Consistent
Asymptotically normal (CAN)
41
Asymptotically efficient
Asymptotically unbiased
This is for general MLE: we havent specified the distribution or the linearity/nonlinearity of the estimator
42
5 Asymptotic properties of the least squares estimator
5.1 Consistency
X
X
X
y
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
n
Consider the last two terms. By assumption limn
QX
1
X
n
XX
n
QX
limn
XX
n
1
since the inverse of a nonsingular matrix is a continuous function of the elements
of the matrix. Considering
X
n
X
n
1 n
xt t
n t1
V xt t
xt xt
20
E xt t s xs
0t
and
s
So the sum is a sum of independent, nonidentically distributed random variables, each
with mean zero. Supposing that V xt t
t the KLLN implies
1 n
xt t
n t1
as
This implies that
a s
0
43
0
This is the property of strong consistency: the estimator converges almost surely to the
true value. If we has used a weak LLN (defined in terms of convergence in probability),
we would have (simple, weak) consistency.
The consistency proof does not use the normality assumption.
5.2 Asymptotic normality
Weve seen that the OLS estimator is normally distributed under the assumption of
normal errors. If the error distribution is unknown, we of course dont know the
distribution of the estimator. However, we can get asymptotic results. Assuming the
distribution of is unknown, but the the other classical assumptions hold:
Now as before,
Considering
X
n
XX
n
1
X
X
X
X
n
0
X
X
1
X
1
X
n
Q 1
X
the limit of the variance is
lim V
X
n
1 n
xt xt
n
t 1
20 lim
n
20 QX
since cross-terms expect to zero by the assumption of uncorrelated errors.
The mean is of course zero. This term is a sum of nonidentically, uncorrelated
but possibly dependent terms, each with mean zero, weighted by
44
n. Apply-
ing the Lindeberg-Feller CLT for nonidentically but independently distributed
random vectors:
X
n
d N 0 2 Q
0 X
Therefore,
n
d N 0 2 Q 1
0 X
In summary, the OLS estimator is normally distributed in small and large samples if is normally distributed. If is not normally distributed, is asymptotically normally distributed.
5.3 Asymptotic efficiency
The least squares objective function is
s
xt
yt
2
t 1
Supposing that is normally distributed, the model is
X 0
f
N 0 20 In so
t 1
1
22
45
exp
t2
22
The joint density for y can be constructed using a change of variables. We have
y
X so
y
In and
1 so
f y
1
t 1
22
exp
xt
22
yt
Taking logs,
ln L
n ln 2
n ln
n
t 1
yt
xt
22
Its clear that the fonc for the MLE of 0 are the same as the fonc for OLS (up to multiplication by a constant), so the estimators are the same, under the present assumptions.
Therefore, their properties are the same. In particular, under the classical assumptions
with normality, the OLS estimator is asymptotically efficient.
As well see later, it will be possible to use linear estimation methods and still
achieve asymptotic efficiency even if the assumption that Var
2 In as long as
is still normally distributed. This is not the case if is nonnormal. In general with
nonnormal errors it will be necessary to use nonlinear estimation methods to achieve
asymptotically efficient estimation.
46
6 Restrictions and hypothesis tests
6.1 Exact linear restrictions
In many cases, economic theory suggests restrictions on the parameters of a model.
For example, a demand function is supposed to be homogeneous of degree zero in
prices and income. If we have a Cobb-Douglas (log-linear) model,
ln q
0 1 ln p1 2 ln p2 3 ln m
then we need that
k0 ln q
0 1 ln kp1 2 ln kp2 3 ln km
so
1 ln p1 2 ln p2 3 ln m
1 ln kp1 2 ln kp2 3 ln km
ln k 1 2 3
1 ln p1 2 ln p2 3 ln m
The only way to guarantee this for arbitrary k is to set
1 2 3
0
which is a parameter restriction. In particular, this is a linear equality restriction,
which is probably the most commonly encountered case.
47
6.1.1 Imposition
The general formulation of linear equality restrictions is the model
X
y
R
where R is a Q K matrix, Q
K and r is a Q 1 vector of constants.
We assume R is of rank Q so that there are no redundant restrictions.
We also assume that that satisfies the restrictions: they arent infeasible.
Lets consider how to estimate subject to the restrictions R
r The most obvious
approach is to set up the Lagrangean
1
y
n
min s
X
X
2
R
r
The Lagrange multipliers are scaled by 2, which makes thing less messy. The fonc are
D s
0
2X
y 2X
X R 2R
D s
R R
r 0
which can be written as
X
X R
R
48
X
y
We get
R
X
X R
X
y
Aside: Stepwise Inversion
Note that
X
X
X
X R
0
1
R X
X
AB
IQ
IK
X
X
R X
X
IK
X
X
and
IK
X
X
1R
IK
1
X
X
DC
IK
49
Q
so
DAB
IK
DA
B
Q
1
IK
0
1R
X
X
X
X
1R
R X
X
1R
X
X
X
X
IQ
X
X
X
X
1
P 1R X
X
1R
so
X
X
1R
X
X
P
1R
1R
X
X
X
X
1R
X
X
P
X
y
1R
X
X
r
1
r
IK
X
X
1R
1R
P 1R
X
X
1R
1r
1r
are linear functions of makes it easy to determine their disThe fact that R and
tributions, since the distribution of is already known. Recall that for x a random
vector, and for A and b a matrix and vector of constants, respectively, Var Ax b
AVar x A
Though this is the obvious way to go about finding the restricted estimator, an
easier way, if the number of restrictions is small, is to impose them by substitution.
50
Write
R
R2
X1 1 X2 2
1
where R1 is Q Q nonsingular. Supposing the Q restrictions are linearly independent,
one can always make R1 nonsingular by reorganizing the columns of X Then
1
R1 1 r
R 1 1 R 2 2
Substitute this into the model
X1 R1 1 r
y
y
X1 R1 1 r
X2
X1 R1 1 R2 2 X2 2
X1 R1 1 R2 2
or with the appropriate definitions,
yR
XR 2
This model satisfies the classical assumptions, supposing the restriction is true. One
can estimate by OLS. The variance of 2 is as before
V 2
XR
XR
20
and the estimator is
V 2
XR
XR
51
where one estimates 20 in the normal way, using the restricted model, i.e.,
yR
20
XR 2
yR
XR 2
Q
To recover 1 use the restriction. To find the variance of 1 use the fact that it is a
linear function of 2 so
V 1
R1 1 R2V 2 R2
R1 1
R1 1 R2 X2
X2
R2
R1 1
20
6.1.2 Properties of the restricted estimator
We have that
R
X
X
R
P
r
R
X
X
X
X
R
P
X
X
X
X
R
P
X
X
R
P
r
X
X
X
X
R
P
R
P
r
R X
X 1 X
y
R
X
X
R
P 1 R X
X
R
R X
X
Mean squared error is
MSE R
E R R
Noting that the crosses between the second term and the other terms expect to zero,
and that the cross of the first and third has a cancellation with the square of the third,
52
we obtain
MSE R
X
X
1 2
X
X
X
X
R
P
r
R r
R
P 1 R X
X
R
P 1 R X
X
1 2
So, the first term is the OLS covariance. The second term is PSD, and the third term is
NSD.
If the restriction is true, the second term is 0, so we are better off. True restrictions improve efficiency of estimation.
If the restriction is false, we may be better or worse off, in terms of MSE, depending on the magnitudes of r
R and 2
6.2 Testing
In many cases, one wishes to test economic theories. If theory suggests parameter
restrictions, as in the above homogeneity example, one can test theory by testing parameter restrictions. A number of tests are available.
6.2.1 t-test
Suppose one has the model
53
and one wishes to test the single restriction H0 :R
r vs. HA :R
r . Under H0
with normality of the errors,
R
N 0 R X
X 1 R
20
so
R
R X
X
r
1R
1R
R X
X
N 0 1
The problem is that 20 is unknown. One could use the consistent estimator 20 in place
of 20 but the test would only be valid asymptotically in this case.
Proposition 7
N 0 1
2 q
q
t q
(7)
as long as the N 0 1 and the 2 q are independent.
We need a few results on the 2 distribution.
Proposition 8 If x
N In is a vector of n independent r.v.s., then
x
x
where
i 2i
2 n
(8)
is the noncentrality parameter.
When a 2 r.v. has the noncentrality parameter equal to zero, it is referred to as a
central 2 r.v., and its distribution is written as 2 n suppressing the noncentrality
parameter.
Proposition 9 If the n dimensional random vector x
54
N 0 V then x
V
1x
2 n
Well prove this one as an indication of how the following unproven propositions
could be proved.
Proof: Factor V
as PP
(this is the Cholesky factorization). Then consider y
P
x We have
N 0 P
V P
but
so PV P
V PP
In
P
V PP
In
N 0 In
y
y
x
PP
x
xV
2 n
A more general proposition which implies this result is
Proposition 10 If the n dimensional random vector x
x
Bx
2 B
if and only if BV is idempotent.
An immediate consequence is
55
N 0 V then
(9)
Proposition 11 If the random vector (of dimension n) x
N 0 I and B is idempotent
with rank r then
2 r
x
Bx
(10)
Consider the random variable
MX
20
20
0
2 n
MX
K
N 0 I then Ax and x
Bx
Proposition 12 If the random vector (of dimension n) x
0
are independent if AB
Now consider (remember that we have only one restriction in this case)
R r
R X X 1R
R
n K 20
r
1R
R X
X
This will have the t n
X
X
1X
K distribution if and
are independent. But
and
X
X
X
MX
0
so
R
0
R r
R
R X
X
1R
t n
K
In particular, for the commonly encountered test of significance of an individual coefficient, for which H0 : i
0 vs. H0 : i
i
i
0 , the test statistic is
t n
56
K
Note: the t
test is strictly valid only if the errors are actually normally dis
tributed. If one has nonnormal errors, one could use the above asymptotic result
to justify taking critical values from the N 0 1 distribution, since t n
N 0 1 as n
K
d
In practice, a conservative procedure is to take critical values
from the t distribution if nonnormality is suspected. This will reject H0 less often
since the t distribution is fatter-tailed than is the normal.
6.2.2 F test
The F test allows testing multiple restrictions jointly.
Proposition 13 If x
2 r and y
2 s then
x r
y s
F r s
(11)
provided that x and y are independent.
N 0 I then x
Ax and x
Bx
Proposition 14 If the random vector (of dimension n) x
0
are independent if AB
Using these results, and previous results on the 2 distribution, it is simple to show
that the following statistic has the F distribution:
R
R X
X
R
F qn
q 2
A numerically equivalent expression is
ESSR ESSU q
ESSU n K
57
F qn
K
K
Note: The F test is strictly valid only if the errors are truly normally distributed.
The following tests will be appropriate when one cannot assume normally distributed errors.
6.2.3 Wald-type tests
The Wald principle is based on the idea that if a restriction is true, the unrestricted
model should approximately satisfy the restriction. Given that the least squares estimator is asymptotically normally distributed:
n
then under H0 : R0
d N 0 2 Q 1
0 X
r we have
n R
d N 0 2 RQ 1 R
0
X
so by Proposition [9]
n R
20 RQX 1 R
1
d 2 q
r
Note that QX 1 or 20 are not observable. The test statistic we use substitutes the con
sistent estimators. Use X
X n
as the consistent estimator of QX 1 With this, there
is a cancellation of n
s and the statistic to use is
R
20 R X
X
R
d 2 q
r
The Wald test is a simple way to test restrictions without having to estimate the
restricted model.
58
Note that this formula is similar to one of the formulae provided for the F test.
6.2.4 Score-type tests (Rao tests, Lagrange multiplier tests)
In some cases, an unrestricted model may be nonlinear in the parameters, but the model
is linear in the parameters under the null hypothesis. For example, the model
X
is nonlinear in and but is linear in under H0 :
1 Estimation of nonlinear
models is a bit more complicated, so one might prefer to have a test based upon the
restricted, linear model. The score test is useful in this situation.
Score-type tests are based upon the general principle that the gradient vector of
the unrestricted model, evaluated at the restricted estimate, should be asymptotically normally distributed with mean zero, if the restrictions are true. The
original development was for ML estimation, but the principle is valid for a
wide variety of estimation methods.
We have seen that
R X
X
1
R
r
1
R
r
Given that
n R
d N 0 2 RQ 1 R
0
X
under the null hypothesis,
d N 0 2 P 1 RQ 1 R
P
0
X
59
or
d N 0 2 lim n nP
0
RQX 1 R
P
1
since the ns cancel and inserting the limit of a matrix of constants changes nothing.
However,
lim nR X
X
lim nP
X
X
n
lim R
RQX 1 R
So there is a cancellation and we get
In this case,
d N 0 2 lim nP
0
R X
X
20
1R
1
d 2 q
since the powers of n cancel. To get a usable test statistic substitute a consistent estimator of 20
This makes it clear why the test is sometimes referred to as a Lagrange multiplier
test. It may seem that one needs the actual Lagrange multipliers to calculate this.
If we impose the restrictions by substitution, these are not available. Note that
the test can be written as
X
X
20
60
1R
d 2 q
However, we can use the fonc for the restricted estimator:
X
y X
X R R
to get that
X
y
X R
X
R
Substituting this into the above, we get
R
X X
X
20
1X
R d
2 q
but this is simply
R
PX
R
20
d 2 q
To see why the test is also known as a score test, note that the fonc for restricted least
squares
X
y X
X R R
give us
X
y
X
X R
and the rhs is simply the gradient (score) of the unrestricted model, evaluated at the
restricted estimator. The scores evaluated at the unrestricted estimate are identically
zero. The logic behind the score test is that the scores evaluated at the restricted estimate should be approximately zero, if the restriction is true. The test is also known as
a Rao test, since P. Rao first proposed it in 1948.
61
6.2.5 Likelihood ratio-type tests
The Wald test can be calculated using the unrestricted model. The score test can be
calculated using only the restricted model. The likelihood ratio test, on the other hand,
uses both the restricted and the unrestricted estimators. The test statistic is
2 ln L
LR
ln L
where is the unrestricted estimate and is the restricted estimate. To show that it is
asymptotically 2 take a second order Taylors series expansion of ln L about :
ln L
ln L
H
(note, the first order term drops out since D ln L
0 by the fonc and we need to
multiply the second-order term by n since H is defined in terms of n1 ln L ) so
n
H
LR
As n
H H
0
I 0 by the information matrix equality. So
LR
I 0
We also have that, from [??] that
n
a
I 0 1 n1 2 g 0
An analogous result for the restricted estimator is (this is unproven here, to prove
this set up the Lagrangean for MLE subject to R
62
r and manipulate the first order
conditions) :
n
I 0
R
RI 0
In
1
RI 0
n1 2 g 0
Combining the last two equations
n
n1 2 I 0 1 R
RI 0
1
1
RI 0
g 0
so, substituting into [??]
LR
n1 2 g 0
I 0
RI 0
R
1 1 2
RI 0
g 0
But since
n1 2 g 0
d N0 I
0
the linear function
RI 0
1 1 2
g 0
d N 0 RI
0
R
We can see that LR is a quadratic form of this rv, with the inverse of its variance in the
middle, so
LR
d 2 q
6.3 The asymptotic equivalence of the LR, Wald and score tests
We have seen that the three tests all converge to 2 random variables. In fact, they all
converge to the same 2 rv, under the null hypothesis. Well show that the Wald and LR
tests are asymptotically equivalent. We have seen that the Wald test is asymptotically
63
equivalent to
n R
20 RQX 1 R
R
d 2 q
r
Using
0
X
X 1 X
and
R
R
r
0
we get
nR
0
nR X
X
R
X
X
n
1
1 2
Substitute this into [??] to get
a
a
X QX 1 R
20 RQX 1 R
X X
X
A A
A
20
PR
20
1A
R
20 R X
X
RQX 1 X
1
R X
X
where PR is the projection matrix formed by the matrix X X
X
1R
Note that this matrix is idempotent and has q columns, so the projection matrix
has rank q
64
Now consider the likelihood ratio statistic
LR
n1 2 g 0
I 0
R
RI 0
1 1 2
RI 0
g 0
Under normality, we have seen that the likelihood function is
ln L
n ln 2
n ln
1 y
2
X
Using this,
1
D ln L
n
X
y X 0
n2
X
n2
g 0
Also, by the information matrix equality:
I 0
H 0
lim D g 0
X
y X 0
lim D
n2
X
X
lim 2
n
QX
2
so
I 0
65
2 Q X 1
y
X
Substituting these last expressions into [??], we get
LR
a
a
a
X
X
X
R
20 R X
X
1
R X
X
PR
20
W
This completes the proof that the Wald and LR tests are asymptotically equivalent.
Similarly, one can show that, under the null hypothesis,
qF
LM
LR
The proof for the statistics except for LR does not depend upon normality of the
errors, as can be verified by examining the expressions for the statistics.
The LR statistic is based upon distributional assumptions, since one cant write
the likelihood function without them.
However, due to the close relationship between the statistics qF and LR suppos
ing normality, the qF statistic can be thought of as a pseudo-LR statistic, in that
its like a LR statistic in that it uses the value of the objective functions of the
restricted and unrestricted models, but it doesnt require distributional assumptions.
The presentation of the score and Wald tests has been done in the context of
the linear model. This is readily generalizable to nonlinear models and/or other
estimation methods.
Though the four statistics are asymptotically equivalent, they are numerically different
in small samples. The numeric values of the tests also depend upon how 2 is esti66
mated, and weve already seen than there are several ways to do this. For example all
of the following are consistent for 2 under H0
n k
n
R R
n k q
R R
n
and in general the denominator call be replaced with any quantity a such that lim a n
1
It can be shown, for linear regression models subject to linear restrictions, and if
n is
used to calculate the Wald test and
R R
n
LR
is used for the score test, that
LM
For this reason, the Wald test will always reject if the LR test rejects, and in turn the
LR test rejects if the LM test rejects. This is a bit problematic: there is the possibility
that by careful choice of the statistic used, one can manipulate reported results to favor
or disfavor a hypothesis. A conservative/honest approach would be to report all three
test statistics when they are available. In the case of linear models with normal errors
the F test is to be preferred, since asymptotic approximations are not an issue.
The small sample behavior of the tests can be quite different. The true size (probability of rejection of the null when the null is true) of the Wald test is often dramatically
higher than the nominal size associated with the asymptotic distribution. Likewise, the
true size of the score test is often smaller than the nominal size.
67
6.4 Interpretation of test statistics
Now that we have a menu of test statistics, we need to know how to use them.
6.5 Confidence intervals
Confidence intervals for single coefficients are generated in the normal manner. Given
the t statistic
t
a 100 1
% confidence interval for 0 is defined by the bounds of the set of such
that t does not reject H0 : 0
C
using a significance level:
: c
2
The set of such is the interval
A confidence ellipse for two coefficients jointly would be, analogously, the set
of {1 2 such that the F (or some other test statistic) doesnt reject at the specified
critical value. This generates an ellipse, if the estimators are correlated. Draw a picture
here.
The region is an ellipse, since the CI for an individual coefficient defines a (infinitely long) rectangle with total prob. mass 1
since the other coefficient is
marginalized (e.g., can take on any value). Since the ellipse is bounded in both
dimensions but also contains mass 1
the individual CI.
it must extend beyond the bounds of
From the pictue we can see that:
68
Rejection of hypotheses individually does not imply that the joint test will
reject.
Joint rejection does not imply individal tests will reject.
6.6 Bootstrapping
When we rely on asymptotic theory to use the normal distribution-based tests and
confidence intervals, were often at serious risk of making important errors. If the
sample size is small and errors are highly nonnormal, the small sample distribution
n
of
may be very different than its large sample distribution. Also, the
distributions of test statistics may not resemble their limiting distributions at all. A
means of trying to gain information on the small sample distribution of test statistics
and estimators is the bootstrap. Well consider a simple example, just to get the main
idea.
Suppose that
X 0
IID 0 20
X is nonstochastic
Given that the distribution of is unknown, the distribution of will be unknown in
small samples. However, since we have random sampling, we could generate artificial
data. The steps are:
1. Draw n observations from with replacement. Call this vector j (its a n 1
2. Then generate the data by y j
X j
69
3. Now take this and estimate
j
X
X
X
y j
4. Save j
5. Repeat steps 1-4, until we have a large number, J of j
With this, we can use the replications to calculate the empirical distribution of j
One way to form a 100(1- % confidence interval for 0 would be to order the j
from smallest to largest, and drop the first and last J 2 of the replications, and use
the remaining endpoints as the limits of the CI. Note that this will not give the shortest
CI if the empirical distribution is skewed.
Suppose one was interested in the distribution of some function of for example
a test statistic. Simple: just calculate the transformation for each j and work
with the empirical distribution of the transformation.
If the assumption of iid errors is too strong (for example if there is heteroscedasticity or autocorrelation, see below) one can work with a bootstrap defined by
sampling from y x with replacement.
How to choose J: J should be large enough that the results dont change with
repetition of the entire bootstrap. This is easy to check. If you find the results
change a lot, increase J and try again.
The bootstrap is based fundamentally on the idea that the empirical distribution
of y x converges to the actual sampling distribution as n becomes large, so
statistics based on sampling from the empirical distribution should converge in
distribution to statistics based on sampling from the actual sampling distribution.
70
In finite samples, this doesnt hold. At a minimum, the bootstrap is a good way
to check if asymptotic theory results offer a decent approximation to the small
sample distribution.
6.7 Testing nonlinear restrictions
Testing nonlinear restrictions of a linear model is not much more difficult, at least
when the model is linear. Since estimation subject to nonlinear restrictions requires
nonlinear estimation methods, which are beyond the score of this course, well just
consider the Wald test for nonlinear restrictions on a linear model.
Consider the q nonlinear restrictions
r 0
where r
0
is a q-vector valued function. Write the derivative of the restriction evalu-
ated at as
D r
R
We suppose that the restrictions are not redundant in a neighborhood of 0 , so that
R
in a neighborhood of 0 Take a first order Taylors series expansion of r about 0 :
r
r 0
71
0
where is a convex combination of and 0 Under the null hypothesis we have
r
0
Due to consistency of we can replace by 0 , asymptotically, so
nr
nR 0
n
Weve already seen the distribution of
0
0 Using this we get
d N 0 R Q 1 R
2
0 X
0
0
nr
Considering the quadratic form
nr
R 0 Q X 1 R 0
1
r
20
d 2 q
under the null hypothesis. Substituting consistent estimators for 0 QX and 20 the
resulting statistic is
r
R X
X
1R
1
r
d 2 q
under the null hypothesis.
This is known in the literature as the Delta method, or as Kleins approximation.
Since this is a Wald test, it will tend to over-reject in finite samples. The score
and LR tests are also possibilities, but they require estimation methods for nonlinear models, which arent in the scope of this course.
72
Note that this also gives a convenient way to estimate nonlinear functions and associ
ated asymptotic confidence intervals. If the nonlinear function r 0 is not hypothesized to be zero, we just have
n r
d N 0 R Q 1 R
2
0 X
0
0
r 0
so an approximation to the distribution of the function of the estimator is
r N r 0 R 0 X
X
1
R 0
20
For example, the vector of elasticities of a function f x is
f x
x
x
where
x
f x
means element-by-element multiplication. Suppose we estimate a linear
function
y
x
The elasticities of y w.r.t. x are
x
x
x
(note that this is the entire vector of elasticities). The estimated elasticities are
x
x
x
73
To calculate the estimated standard errors of all five elasticites, use
R
x
x1
0
..
.
x2
..
1 x21
0
..
.
2 x22
0
..
.
..
xk
0
..
.
0
x
k x2k
Note that the elasticity and the stanTo get a consistent estimator just substitute in .
dard error are functions of x
In many cases, nonlinear restrictions can also involve the data, not just the param
eters. For example, consider a model of expenditure shares. Let x p m be a demand
funcion, where p is prices and m is income. An expenditure share system for G goods
is
p i xi p m
i
m
si p m
1 2 G
Now demand must be positive, and we assume that expenditures sum to income, so we
have the restrictions
0
G
si
si p m
p m
1 i
i 1
Suppose we postulate a linear model for the expenditure shares:
si p m
i1 p
ip mim i
It is fairly easy to write restrictions such that the shares sum to one, but the restriction
74
that the shares lie in the 0 1 interval depends on both parameters and the values of p
and m It is impossible to impose the restriction that 0
si p m
1 for all possible p
and m In such cases, one might consider whether or not a linear model is a reasonable
specification.
75
7 Generalized least squares
One of the assumptions weve made up to now is that
IID 0 2
IIN 0 2
or occasionally
Now well investigate the consequences of nonidentically and/or dependently distributed errors. The model is
X
y
E
V
E X
where is a general symmetric positive definite matrix (well write in place of 0 to
simplify the typing of these notes).
The case where is a diagonal matrix gives uncorrelated, nonidentically dis-
tributed errors. This is known as heteroscedasticity.
The case where has the same number on the main diagonal but nonzero elements off the main diagonal gives identically (assuming higher moments are
also the same) dependently distributed errors. This is known as autocorrelation.
The general case combines heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation. This is known
as nonspherical disturbances, though why this term is used, I have no idea.
76
Perhaps its because under the classical assumptions, a joint confidence region
for would be an n
dimensional hypersphere.
7.1 Effects of nonspherical disturbances on the OLS estimator
The least square estimator is
X
X 1 X
y
X
X 1 X
Conditional on X or supposing that X is independent of we have unbiased
ness, as before.
supposing X is nonstochastic, is
The variance of ,
E
E X
X
X
X
X
X X
X
X
X X
X
1
Due to this, any test statistic that is based upon 2 or the probability limit 2 of
is invalid. In particular, the formulas for the t F 2 based tests given above do
not lead to statistics with these distributions.
is still consistent, following exactly the same argument given before.
If is normally distributed, then, conditional on X
N X
X
X
X X
X
1
The problem is that is unknown in general, so this distribution wont be useful
77
for testing hypotheses.
Without normality, and unconditional on X we still have
n X
X
X
X
n
1 2X
Define the limiting variance of n
lim E
so we obtain
n
1 2
(supposing a CLT applies) as
X
X
n
d N 0 Q 1 Q 1
X
X
Summary: OLS with heteroscedasticity and/or autocorrelation is:
unbiased in the same circumstances in which the estimator is unbiased with iid
errors
has a different variance than before, so the previous test statistics arent valid
is consistent
is asymptotically normally distributed, but with a different limiting covariance
matrix. Previous test statistics arent valid in this case for this reason.
is inefficient, as is shown below.
7.2 The GLS estimator
Suppose were known. Then one could form the Cholesky decomposition
PP
78
We have
PP
In
so
P
PP
which implies that
P
P
In
Consider the model
P
X P
P
y
or, making the obvious definitions,
X
y
This variance of
P
is
E P
P
P
P
In
Therefore, the model
X
y
E
V
E X
0
In
satisfies the classical assumptions (with modifications to allow stochastic regressors
79
and nonnormality of The GLS estimator is simply OLS applied to the transformed
model:
GLS
X
X
X
PP
X
X
y
X
X
PP
y
X
The GLS estimator is unbiased in the same circumstances under which the OLS
estimator is unbiased. For example, assuming X is nonstochastic
E GLS
E
X
X
y
1
X
The variance of the estimator, conditional on X can be calculated using
GLS
X
y
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
so
E
GLS
GLS
X
X
X
X X
X
X
X
X
X
80
X
X
X X
X
1
Either of these last formulas can be used.
All the previous results regarding the desirable properties of the least squares
estimator hold, when dealing with the transformed model.
Tests are valid, using the previous formulas, as long as we substitute X in place
of X Furthermore, any test that involves 2 can set it to 1 This is preferable to
re-deriving the appropriate formulas.
The GLS estimator is more efficient than the OLS estimator. This is a consequence of the Gauss-Markov theorem, since the GLS estimator is based on a
model that satisfies the classical assumptions but the OLS estimator is not. To
see this directly, not that (the following needs to be completed)
Var
Var GLS
X
X
X
X X
X
1
X
As one can verify by calculating fonc, the GLS estimator is the solution to the
minimization problem
GLS
so the metric
arg min y
X
1
X
is used to weight the residuals.
7.3 Feasible GLS
The problem is that isnt known usually, so this estimator isnt available.
Consider the dimension of : its an n n matrix with n2
unique elements.
81
n
2 n
n2 n
The number of parameters to estimate is larger than n and increases faster than
n Theres no way to devise an estimator that satisfies a LLN without adding
restrictions.
The feasible GLS estimator is based upon making sufficient assumptions regarding the form of so that a consistent estimator can be devised.
Suppose that we parameterize as a function of X and , where may include as
well as other parameters, so that
X
where is of fixed dimension. If we can consistently estimate we can consistently
estimate as long as X is a continuous function of (by the Slutsky theorem).
In this case,
X
p X
If we replace in the formulas for the GLS estimator with we obtain the FGLS
estimator. The FGLS estimator shares the same asymptotic properties as GLS.
These are
1. Consistency
2. Asymptotic normality
3. Asymptotic efficiency if the errors are normally distributed. (Cramer-Rao).
4. Test procedures are asymptotically valid.
In practice, the usual way to proceed is
82
1. Define a consistent estimator of This is a case-by-case proposition, depending
on the parameterization Well see examples below.
2. Form
X
3. Calculate the Cholesky factorization P
Chol
4. Transform the model using
P
X P
P
y
5. Estimate using OLS on the transformed model.
7.4 Heteroscedasticity
Heteroscedasticity is the case where
E
is a diagonal matrix, so that the errors are uncorrelated, but have different variances.
Heteroscedasticity is usually thought of as associated with cross sectional data, though
there is absolutely no reason why time series data cannot also be heteroscedastic. Actually, the popular ARCH (autoregressive conditionally heteroscedastic) models explicitly assume that a time series is heteroscedastic.
Consider a supply function
qi
1 p Pi s Si i
where Pi is price and Si is some measure of size of the ith firm. One might suppose
83
that unobservable factors (e.g., talent of managers, degree of coordination between
production units, etc.) account for the error term i If there is more variability in these
factors for large firms than for small firms, then i may have a higher variance when Si
is high than when it is low.
Another example, individual demand.
1 p Pi m Mi i
qi
where P is price and M is income. In this case, i can reflect variations in preferences.
There are more possibilities for expression of preferences when one is rich, so it is
possible that the variance of i could be higher when M is high.
Add example of group means.
7.4.1 OLS with heteroscedastic consistent varcov estimation
Eicker (1967) and White (1980) showed how to modify test statistics to account for
heteroscedasticity of unknown form. The OLS estimator has asymptotic distribution
n
d N 0 Q 1 Q 1
X
X
as weve already seen. Recall that we defined
lim E
This matrix has dimension K
X
X
n
K and can be consistently estimated, even if we cant
estimate consistently. The consistent estimator, under heteroscedasticity but no autocorrelation is
1 n
x
xt 2
n t1 t t
84
One can then modify the previous test statistics to obtain tests that are valid when there
is heteroscedasticity of unknown form. For example, the Wald test for H0 : R
would be
n R
r
X
X
R
n
X
X
R
R
2 q
7.4.2 Detection
There exist many tests for the presence of heteroscedasticity. Well discuss three methods.
Goldfeld-Quandt
The sample is divided in to three parts, with n1 n2 and n3 observations, where
n1 n2 n3
n. The model is estimated using the first and third parts of the sample,
separately, so that 1 and 3 will be independent. Then we have
1
1
2
1 M 1 1
2
d 2 n K
1
3
3
2
3 M 3 3
2
d 2 n K
3
and
so
1
1 n1
3
3 n3
K
K
d F n K n K
1
3
The distributional result is exact if the errors are normally distributed. This test is a
two-tailed test. Alternatively, and probably more conventionally, if one has prior ideas
about the possible magnitudes of the variances of the observations, one could order
the observations accordingly, from largest to smallest. In this case, one would use a
85
conventional one-tailed F-test. Draw picture.
Ordering the observations is an important step if the test is to have any power.
The motive for dropping the middle observations is to increase the difference
between the average variance in the subsamples, supposing that there exists heteroscedasticity. This can increase the power of the test. On the other hand,
dropping too many observations will substantially increase the variance of the
statistics 1
1 and 3
3 A rule of thumb, based on Monte Carlo experiments is
to drop around 25% of the observations.
If one doesnt have any ideas about the form of the het. the test will probably
have low power since a sensible data ordering isnt available.
Whites test
When one has little idea if there exists heteroscedasticity, and no idea of its potential form, the White test is a possibility. The idea is that if there is homoscedasticity,
then
E t2 xt
2 t
so that xt or functions of xt shouldnt help to explain E t2 The test works as follows:
1. Since t isnt available, use the consistent estimator t instead.
2. Regress
t2
2 zt
vt
where zt is a P -vector. zt may include some or all of the variables in xt as well
as other variables. Whites original suggestion was to use xt , plus the set of all
unique squares and cross products of variables in xt
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3. Test the hypothesis that
0 The qF statistic in this case is
P ESSR ESSU P
ESSU n P 1
qF
Note that ESSR
T SSU so dividing both numerator and denominator by this
we get
qF
P
R2
1
1 R2
Note that this is the R2 or the artificial regression used to test for heteroscedasticity, not the R2 of the original model.
An asymptotically equivalent statistic, under the null of no heteroscedasticity (so that
R2 should tend to zero), is
nR2
2 P
This doesnt require normality of the errors, though it does assume that the fourth
moment of t is constant, under the null. Question: why is this necessary?
The White test has the disadvantage that it may not be very powerful unless the
zt vector is chosen well, and this is hard to do without knowledge of the form of
heteroscedasticity.
It also has the problem that specification errors other than heteroscedasticity may
lead to rejection.
Note: the null hypothesis of this test may be interpreted as
model V t2
h zt
where h
0 for the variance
is an arbitrary function of unknown form.
The test is more general than is may appear from the regression that is used.
87
Plotting the residuals
A very simple method is to simply plot the residuals (or their squares). Draw
pictures here. Like the Goldfeld-Quandt test, this will be more informative if the
observations are ordered according to the suspected form of the heteroscedasticity.
7.4.3 Correction
Correcting for heteroscedasticity requires that a parametric form for be supplied,
and that a means for estimating consistently be determined. The estimation method
will be specific to the for supplied for Well consider two examples. Before this,
lets consider the general nature of GLS when there is heteroscedasticity.
Multiplicative heteroscedasticity
Suppose the model is
xt
t
yt
E t2
t2
zt
but the other classical assumptions hold. In this case
t2
zt
vt
and vt has mean zero. Nonlinear least squares could be used to estimate and consistently, were t observable. The solution is to substitute the squared OLS residuals
t2 in place of t2 since it is consistent by the Slutsky theorem. Once we have and
we can estimate t2 consistently using
t2
zt
88
2
t
In the second step, we transform the model by dividing by the standard deviation:
xt
t
t
t
yt
t
or
xt
t
yt
Asymptotically, this model satisfies the classical assumptions.
This model is a bit complex in that NLS is required to estimate the model of the
variance. A simpler version would be
xt
t
yt
E t2
t2
2 zt
where zt is a single variable. There are still two parameters to be estimated,
and the model of the variance is still nonlinear in the parameters. However,
the search method can be used in this case to reduce the estimation problem to
repeated applications of OLS.
First, we define an interval of reasonable values for e.g.,
0 3
Partition this interval into M equally spaced values, e.g., 0 1 2 2 9 3
For each of these values, calculate the variable ztm
The regression
t2
2 ztm vt
is linear in the parameters, conditional on m so one can estimate 2 by OLS.
89
Save the pairs (2m m and the corresponding ESSm Choose the pair with the
minimum ESSm as the estimate.
Next, divide the model by the estimated standard deviations.
Can refine. Draw picture.
Works well when the parameter to be searched over is low dimensional, as in
this case.
Groupwise heteroscedasticity
A common case is where we have repeated observations on each of a number of
economic agents: e.g., 10 years of macroeconomic data on each of a set of countries or
regions, or daily observations of transactions of 200 banks. This sort of data is a pooled
cross-section time-series model. It may be reasonable to presume that the variance is
constant over time within the cross-sectional units, but that it differs across them (e.g.,
firms or countries of different sizes...). The model is
xit
it
yit
E 2it
where i
2i t
1 2 G are the agents, and t
1 2 n are the observations on each agent.
The other classical assumptions are presumed to hold.
In this case, the variance 2i is specific to each agent, but constant over the n
observations for that agent.
In this model, we assume that E it is
well relax later.
90
0 This is a strong assumption that
To correct for heteroscedasticity, just estimate each 2i using the natural estimator:
2i
1 n 2
n t1 it
Note that we use 1 n here since its possible that there are more than n regressors,
so n
K could be negative. Asymptotically the difference is unimportant.
With each of these, transform the model as usual:
xit
it
i
i
yit
i
Do this for each cross-sectional group. This transformed model satisfies the
classical assumptions, asymptotically.
7.5 Autocorrelation
Autocorrelation, which is the serial correlation of the error term, is a problem that is
usually associated with time series data, but also can affect cross-sectional data. For
example, a shock to oil prices will simultaneously affect all countries, so one could
expect contemporaneous correlation of macroeconomic variables across countries.
7.5.1 Causes
Autocorrelation is the existence of correlation across the error term:
E t s 0 t s
Why might this occur? Plausible explanations include
91
1. Lags in adjustment to shocks. In a model such as
xt
t
yt
one could interpret xt
as the equilibrium value. Suppose xt is constant over
a number of observations. One can interpret t as a shock that moves the system away from equilibrium. If the time needed to return to equilibrium is long
with respect to the observation frequency, one could expect t
to be positive,
conditional on t positive, which induces a correlation.
2. Unobserved factors that are correlated over time. The error term is often assumed to correspond to unobservable factors. If these factors are correlated,
there will be autocorrelation.
3. Misspecification of the model. Suppose that the DGP is
yt
0 1 xt 2 xt2 t
but we estimate
yt
0 1 xt t
Draw a picture here.
92
7.5.2 AR(1)
There are many types of autocorrelation. Well consider two examples. The first is the
most commonly encountered case: autoregressive order 1 (AR(1) errors. The model is
yt
xt
t
ut
iid 0 2u
ut
E t us
0t
We assume that the model satisfies the other classical assumptions.
We need a stationarity assumption:
1 Otherwise the variance of t ex
plodes as t increases, so standard asymptotics will not apply.
By recursive substitution we obtain
t
ut
t
2 t
ut
ut
2 t
ut
ut
In the limit the lagged drops out, since m
t
ut
1
ut
2
mut
93
ut
0 as m so we obtain
m 0
With this, the variance of t is found as
E t2
2u
2m
m 0
2u
2
1
If we had directly assumed that t were covariance stationary, we could obtain
this using
2 E t2
V t
2V t
2E t
1
2u
1 ut
E ut2
so
2u
1 2
V t
The variance is the 0th order autocovariance: 0
V t
Note that the variance does not depend on t
Likewise, the first order autocovariance 1 is
Cov t t
E t
1
ut t
V t
2u
1 2
Using the same method, we find that for s
Cov t t
s
t
s
s 2u
1 2
94
1
The autocovariances dont depend on t: the process t is covariance stationary
The correlation (in general, for r.v.s x and y) is defined as
cov x y
se x se y
corr x y
but in this case, the two standard errors are the same, so the s-order autocorrelation s
is
s
s
All this means that the overall matrix has the form
1
..
.
2u
1 2
..
.
n 2
1
..
.
this is the variance
..
n 1
1
this is the correlation matrix
So we have homoscedasticity, but elements off the main diagonal are not zero.
All of this depends only on two parameters, and 2u If we can estimate these
consistently, we can apply FGLS.
It turns out that its easy to estimate these consistently. The steps are
1. Estimate the model yt
xt
t by OLS. This is consistent as long as 1n X
X
converges to a finite limiting matrix. It turns out that this requires that the regressors X satisfy the previous stationarity conditions and that
have assumed.
95
1 which we
2. Take the residuals, and estimate the model
t
ut
p this regression is asymptotically equivalent to the regression
t
Since t
ut
which satisfies the classical assumptions. Therefore, obtained by applying
OLS to t
ut is consistent. Also, since ut
1 n
u
n t2 t
2u
p u , the estimator
t
2
u
2 p
3. With the consistent estimators 2u and form
2u using the previous
structure of and estimate by FGLS. Actually, one can omit the factor 2u 1
2 since it cancels out in the formula
FGLS
1
y
One can iterate the process, by taking the first FGLS estimator of re-estimating
and 2u etc. If one iterates to convergences its equivalent to MLE (supposing
normal errors).
An asymptotically equivalent approach is to simply estimate the transformed
model
yt
using n
t
y
1
xt
t
x
1
ut
1 observations (since y0 and x0 arent available). This is the method
96
of Cochrane and Orcutt. Dropping the first observation is asymptotically irrelevant, but it can be very important in small samples. One can recuperate the first
observation by putting
2 y1
y1
2 x1
x1
1
This somewhat odd result is related to the Cholesky factorization of
1
See
Davidson and MacKinnon, pg. 348-49 for more discussion. Note that the variance of y1 is 2u asymptotically, so we see that the transformed model will be
homoscedastic (and nonautocorrelated, since the u
s are uncorrelated with the
y
s in different time periods.
7.5.3 MA(1)
The linear regression model with moving average order 1 errors is
yt
xt
t
ut ut
ut
iid 0 2u
E t us
0t
In this case,
V t
E ut ut
2u 2 2u
2u 1 2
97
1
2
Similarly
E ut ut
1
ut
ut
2
2u
and
ut ut
1
ut
ut
3
so in this case
1 2
2u
0
..
.
0
..
.
..
.
..
Note that the first order autocorrelation is
1
2u
2u 1 2
This achieves a maximum at
1
0
1 2
1 and a minimum at
1 and the maximal
and minimal autocorrelations are 1/2 and -1/2. Therefore, series that are more
strongly autocorrelated cant be MA(1) processes.
98
Again the covariance matrix has a simple structure that depends on only two parameters. The problem in this case is that one cant estimate using OLS on
ut ut
because the ut are unobservable and they cant be estimated consistently. However,
there is a simple way to estimate the parameters.
Since the model is homoscedastic, we can estimate
V t
2u 1 2
using the typical estimator:
1 n 2
n t1 t
2u 1 2
By the Slutsky theorem, we can interpret this as defining an (unidentified) estimator of both 2u and e.g., use this as
2u 1 2
1 n 2
n t1 t
However, this isnt sufficient to define consistent estimators of the parameters,
since its unidentified.
To solve this problem, estimate the covariance of t and t
Cov t t
2u
1
1 n
t t
n t2
using
This is a consistent estimator, following a LLN (and given that the epsilon hats
99
are consistent for the epsilons). As above, this can be interpreted as defining an
unidentified estimator:
1 n
t t
n t2
2u
Now solve these two equations to obtain identified (and therefore consistent)
estimators of both and 2u Define the consistent estimator
2u
following the form weve seen above, and transform the model using the Cholesky
decomposition. The transformed model satisfies the classical assumptions asymptotically.
7.5.4 Asymptotically valid inferences with autocorrelation of unknown form
See Hamilton Ch. 10, pp. 261-2 and 280-84.
When the form of autocorrelation is unknown, one may decide to use the OLS estimator, without correction. Weve seen that this estimator has the limiting distribution
n
d N 0 Q 1 Q 1
X
X
where, as before, is
lim E
X
X
n
We need a consistent estimate of . Define mt
100
xt t (recall that xt is defined as a
1 vector). Note that
x
x2
xn
1
2
..
.
n
n
xt t
t 1
n
mt
t 1
so that
n
1
lim E
n n
mt
mt
t 1
t 1
We assume that mt is covariance stationary (so that the covariance between mt and
mt
does not depend on t
Define the v
th autocovariance of mt as
v
Note that E mt mt
v
E mt mt
v
v
(show this with an example). In general, we expect that:
mt will be autocorrelated, since t is potentially autocorrelated:
E mt mt
v
0
Note that this autocovariance does not depend on t due to covariance stationar
ity.
contemporaneously correlated ( E mit m jt
101
0 ), since the regressors in xt will
in general be correlated (more on this later).
and heteroscedastic (E m2it
2i , which depends upon i ), again since the re-
gressors will have different variances.
While one could estimate parametrically, we in general have little information upon
which to base a parametric specification. Recent research has focused on consistent
nonparametric estimators of
Now define
1
n
mt
mt
t 1
t 1
We have (show that the following is true, by expanding sum and shifting rows to left)
n
1
1 1
2
2 2
1
n
n
1
The natural, consistent estimator of v is
n
1
nt
m t m t
v
v 1
where
xt t
m t
(note: one could put 1 n
v instead of 1 n here). So, a natural, but inconsistent,
estimator of n would be
n
n 1
n
1 1
n 2
n
0 vn
2 2
1n v
1 n
1
n
v v
1
This estimator is inconsistent in general, since the number of parameters to estimate is
102
more than the number of observations, and increases more rapidly than n, so information does not build up as n
On the other hand, supposing that v tends to zero sufficiently rapidly as v tends to
a modified estimator
qn
v v
v 1
where q n
p as n will be consistent, provided q n grows sufficiently slowly.
The assumption that autocorrelations die off is reasonable in many cases. For
example, the AR(1) model with
The term
n v
n
1 has autocorrelations that die off.
can be dropped because it tends to one for v
q n , given that
q n increases slowly relative to n
A disadvantage of this estimator is that is may not be positive definite. This
could cause one to calculate a negative 2 statistic, for example!
Newey and West proposed and estimator (Econometrica, 1987) that solves the
problem of possible nonpositive definiteness of the above estimator. Their estimator is
n
qn
1
v
v 1
q 1
v v
This estimator is p.d. by construction. The condition for consistency is that
n
1 4q
n
0 Note that this is a very slow rate of growth for q This estimator
is nonparametric - weve placed no parametric restrictions on the form of It
is an example of a kernel estimator.
n
Finally, since n has as its limit,
p We can now use and Q
n
X
1
nX
X to
consistently estimate the limiting distribution of the OLS estimator under heteroscedas-
103
ticity and autocorrelation of unknown form. With this, asymptotically valid tests are
constructed in the usual way.
7.5.5 Testing for autocorrelation
Durbin-Watson test
The Durbin-Watson test statistic is
t t 1 2
tn 1 t2
tn 2 t2 2 t t 1 t2
tn 1 t2
tn
DW
1
The null hypothesis is that the first order autocorrelation of the errors is zero:
H0 : 1
0 The alternative is of course HA : 1
0 Note that the alternative
is not that the errors are AR(1), since many general patterns of autocorrelation
will have the first order autocorrelation different than zero. For this reason the
test is useful for detecting autocorrelation in general. For the same reason, one
shouldnt just assume that an AR(1) model is appropriate when the DW test
rejects the null.
Under the null, the middle term tends to zero, and the other two tend to one, so
DW
p 2
Supposing
that we had an AR(1) error process with
middle term tends to
2 so DW
p 0
Supposing that we had an AR(1) error process with
middle term tends to 2 so DW
1 In this case the
p 4
These are the extremes: DW always lies between 0 and 4.
104
1 In this case the
The distribution depends on the matrix of regressors, X so tables cant give
exact critical values. The give upper and lower bounds, which correspond to the
extremes that are possible. Picture here. There are means of determining exact
critical values conditional on X
Note that DW can be used to test for nonlinearity (add discussion).
Breusch-Godfrey test
This test uses an auxiliary regression, as does the White test for heteroscedasticity.
The regression is
t
xt
1 t
2 t
P t
vt
and the test statistic is the nR2 statistic, just as in the White test. There are P restric
tions, so the test statistic is asymptotically distributed as a 2 P
The intuition is that the lagged errors shouldnt contribute to explaining the current error if there is no autocorrelation.
xt is included as a regressor to account for the fact that the t are not independent
even if the t are. This is a technicality that we wont go into here.
The alternative is not that the model is an AR(P), following the argument above.
The alternative is simply that some or all of the first P autocorrelations are different from zero. This is compatible with many specific forms of autocorrelation.
7.5.6 Lagged dependent variables and autocorrelation
Weve seen that the OLS estimator is consistent under autocorrelation, as long as
plim Xn
0 This will be the case when E X
105
0 following a LLN. An important
exception is the case where X contains lagged y
s and the errors are autocorrelated. A
simple example is the case of a single lag of the dependent variable with AR(1) errors.
The model is
yt
xt
yt
ut
yt
Now we can write
E yt 1 t
xt
1
ut
since one of the terms is E t2
and therefore plim Xn
1
which is clearly nonzero. In this case E X
0
0 Since
plim
plim
X
n
the OLS estimator is inconsistent in this case. One needs to estimate by instrumental
variables (IV), which well get to later.
106
8 Stochastic regressors
Up until now weve assumed that the regressors are nonstochastic. This is highly
unrealistic in the case of economic data.
There are several ways to think of the problem. First, if we are interested in an analysis conditional on the explanatory variables, then it is irrelevant if they are stochastic
or not, since conditional on the values of they regressors take on, they are nonstochastic, which is the case already considered.
In cross-sectional analysis it is usually reasonable to make the analysis conditional on the regressors.
In dynamic models, where yt may depend on yt
1
a conditional analysis is not
sufficiently general, since we may want to predict into the future many periods
out, so we need to consider the behavior of and the relevant test statistics
unconditional on X
The model well deal with is
1. Linearity: the model is a linear function of the parameter vector 0 :
yt
xt
0 t
X 0
or in matrix form,
where y is n 1 X
x1 x2
xn
conformable.
107
where xt is K
1 and 0 and are
(a) IID mean zero errors:
E
E
20 In
(b) Stochastic, linearly independent regressors
X has rank K with probability 1
X is stochastic
X is uncorrelated with : E X
1
Pr n X
X
0
limn
QX
1 where QX is a finite positive definite ma
trix.
1 2X
d N 0 Q 2
X 0
(c) Normality (Optional): is normally distributed
8.1 Case 1
Normality of X independent of
In this case,
X
X
Due to of independence of X and
E
0 E
X
X
1X
E
Conditional on X
N 0 X
X
108
1 2
0
If the density of X is d X the marginal density of is obtained by multiplying
the conditional density by d X and integrating over X Doing this leads to a
nonnormal density for in small samples.
However, conditional on X the usual test statistics have the t F and 2 distribu
tions. Importantly, these distributions dont depend on X so when marginalizing
to obtain the unconditional distribution, nothing changes. The tests are valid in
small samples.
Summary: When X is stochastic and uncorrelated with and is normally distributed:
1. is unbiased
2. is nonnormally distributed
3. The usual test statistics have the same distribution as with nonstochastic X
4. The Gauss-Markov theorem still holds, since it holds conditionally on X
and this is true for all X
5. Asymptotic properties are treated in the next section.
8.2 Case 2
nonnormally distributed, independent of X
The unbiasedness of carries through as before. However, the argument regarding
test statistics doesnt hold, due to nonnormality of Still, we have
0
0
X
X
X
X
n
109
X
1
X
n
Now
X
X
n
p Q 1
X
by assumption, and
X
n
1 2X
p
since the numerator converges to a N 0 QX 2 r.v. and the denominator still goes
to infinity. We have unbiasedness and the variance disappearing, so, the estimator is
consistent:
0
Considering the asymptotic distribution
X
X
n
n
X
X
n
X
n
1 2
so
n
d N 0 Q 1 2
0
X
directly following the assumptions. Asymptotic normality of the estimator still holds.
Since the asymptotic results on all test statistics only require this, all the previous
asymptotic results on test statistics are also valid in this case.
Summary: Under stochastic regressors that are independent of with normal
or nonnormal, has the properties:
1. Unbiasedness
2. Consistency
3. Gauss-Markov theorem holds, since it holds in the previous case and doesnt
110
depend on normality.
4. Asymptotic normality
5. Tests are asymptotically valid, but are not valid in small samples.
8.3 Case 3
Lagged dependent variables (dynamic models).
An important class of models are dynamic models, where lagged dependent variables have an impact on the current value. A simple version of these models that
captures the important points is
yt
syt
zt
s 1
xt
t
iid 0 20 In
where now xt contains lagged dependent variables. Clearly X and arent independent
anymore, so one cant show unbiasedness. For example, consider
E t 1 xt 0
since xt contains yt
(which is a function of t
1
as an element.
This fact implies that all of the small sample properties such as unbiasedness,
Gauss-Markov theorem, and small sample validity of test statistics do not hold
in this case.
Nevertheless, under the above assumptions, all asymptotic properties continue
to hold, using the same arguments as before.
111
8.4 When are the assumptions reasonable?
The two assumptions weve added are
1
Pr n X
1. limn
2. n
1 2X
QX
1 a QX finite positive definite matrix.
d N 0 Q 2
X 0
The most complicated case is that of dynamic models, since the other cases can be
treated as nested in this case. There exist a number of central limit theorems for dependent processes, many of which are fairly technical. We wont enter into details
(see Hamilton, Chapter 7 if youre interested). A main requirement for use of standard
asymptotics for a dependent sequence
st
1 n
zt
n t1
to converge in probability to a finite limit is that zt be stationary, in some sense.
Strong stationarity requires that the joint distribution of the set
zt zt
s
q
zt
not depend on t
Covariance (weak) stationarity requires that the first and second moments of this
set not depend on t
An example of a sequence that doesnt satisfy this is an AR(1) process with a
unit root (a random walk):
t
xt
xt
IIN 0 2
112
One can show that the variance of xt depends upon t in this case.
Stationarity prevents the process from trending off to plus or minus infinity, and prevents cyclical behavior which would allow correlations between far removed zt znd zs
to be high. Draw a picture here.
For application of central limit theorems, a useful concept is that of a martingale
difference sequence. This is a sequence zt such that
E zt t
1
0
where t is the information set in period t At a minimum, t includes all zs for
12
t Note that
xt
t
is a martingale difference sequence. Hamilton, Proposition 7.8 (pg. 193) gives a central limit theorem for covariance stationary martingale difference sequences.
In summary, the assumptions are reasonable when the stochastic conditioning
variables have variances that are finite, and are not too strongly dependent. The
AR(1) model with unit root is an example of a case where the dependence is too
strong for standard asymptotics to apply.
The econometrics of nonstationary processes has been an active area of research
in the last two decades. The standard asymptotics dont apply in this case. This
isnt in the scope of this course.
113
9 Data problems
In this section well consider problems associated with the regressor matrix: collinearity, missing observation and measurement error.
9.1 Collinearity
Collinearity is the existence of linear relationships amongst the regressors. We can
always write
1 x 1 2 x 2
K x K v
where xi is the ith column of the regressor matrix X and v is an n 1 vector. In the
case that there exists collinearity, the variation in v is relatively small, so that there is
an approximately exact linear relation between the regressors.
relative and approximate are imprecise, so its difficult to define when collinearilty
exists.
In the extreme, if there are exact linear relationships (every element of v equal) then
X
K so X
X
K so X
X is not invertible and the OLS estimator is not
uniquely defined. For example, if the model is
yt
1 2 x2t 3 x3t t
x2t
1 2 x3t
114
then we can write
1 2 1 2 x3t
yt
3 x3t t
1 2 1 2 2 x3t 3 x3t t
1 2 1
2 2 3 x3t
1 2 x3t t
The
s can be consistently estimated, but since the
s define two equations in
three
s the
s cant be consistently estimated (there are multiple values of
that solve the fonc). The
s are unidentified in the case of perfect collinearity.
Perfect collinearity is unusual, except in the case of an error in construction of
the regressor matrix, such as including the same regressor twice.
Another case where perfect collinearity may be encountered is with models with dummy
variables, if one is not careful. Consider a model of rental price y i of an apartment.
This could depend factors such as size, quality etc., collected in x i as well as on the
1 if the ith apartment is in Barcelona, Bi
location of the apartment. Let Bi
0 other-
wise. Similarly, define Gi Ti and Li for Girona, Tarragona and Lleida. One could use
a model such as
yi
1 2 Bi 3 Gi 4 Ti 5 Li xi
i
In this model, Bi Gi Ti Li
i so there is an exact relationship between these
variables and the column of ones corresponding to the constant. One must either drop
the constant, or one of the qualitative variables.
115
9.1.1 A brief aside on dummy variables
Introduce a brief discussion of dummy variables here.
9.1.2 Back to collinearity
The more common case, if one doesnt make mistakes such as these, is the existence
of inexact linear relationships, i.e., correlations between the regressors that are less
than one in absolute value, but not zero. The basic problem is that when two (or more)
variables move together, it is difficult to determine their separate influences. This is
reflected in imprecise estimates, i.e., estimates with high variances. With economic
data, collinearity is commonly encountered, and is often a severe problem.
To see the effect of collinearity on variances, partition the regressor matrix as
x W
where x is the first column of X (note: we can interchange the columns of X isf we like,
so theres no loss of generality in considering the first column). Now, the variance of
under the classical assumptions, is
V
Using the partition,
X
X
X
X
x
x
x
W
W
x W
W
116
and following a rule for partitioned inversion,
X
X
1
11
x
W W
W 1W
x
x
x
x
In
1
ESSx W
W W
W 1W
x
where by ESSx W we mean the error sum of squares obtained from the regression
W v
Since
R2
1
ESS T SS
we have
ESS
T SS 1
R2
so the variance of the coefficient corresponding to x is
V x
2
T SSx 1 R2x W
We see three factors influence the variance of this coefficient. It will be high if
1. 2 is large
2. There is little variation in x Draw a picture here.
3. There is a strong linear relationship between x and the other regressors, so that
W can explain the movement in x well. In this case, R2x W will be close to 1. As
R2x W
1 V
x
The last of these cases is collinearity.
117
Intuitively, when there are strong linear relations between the regressors, it is difficult to determine the separate influence of the regressors on the dependent variable.
This can be seen by comparing the OLS objective function in the case of no correlation
between regressors with the objective function with correlation between the regressors.
See the figures nocollin.ps (no correlation) and collin.ps (correlation), available on the
web site.
9.1.3 Detection of collinearity
The best way is simply to regress each explanatory variable in turn on the remaining
regressors. If any of these auxiliary regressions has a high R2 there is a problem of
collinearity. Furthermore, this procedure identifies which parameters are affected.
Sometimes, were only interested in certain parameters. Collinearity isnt a
problem if it doesnt affect what were interested in estimating.
An alternative is to examine the matrix of correlations between the regressors. High
correlations are sufficient but not necessary for severe collinearity.
Also indicative of collinearity is that the model fits well (high R2 but none of the
variables is significantly different from zero (e.g., their separate influences arent well
determined).
In summary, the artificial regressions are the best approach if one wants to be careful.
9.1.4 Dealing with collinearity
More information
Collinearity is a problem of an uninformative sample. The first question is: is all
the available information being used? Is more data available? Are there coefficient
118
restrictions that have been neglected? Picture illustrating how a restriction can solve
problem of perfect collinearity.
Stochastic restrictions and ridge regression
Supposing that there is no more data or neglected restrictions, one possibility is to
change perspectives, to Bayesian econometrics. One can express prior beliefs regarding the coefficients using stochastic restrictions. A stochastic linear restriction would
be something of the form
r v
where R and r are as in the case of exact linear restrictions, but v is a random vector.
For example, the model could be
X
y
R
N
r
0
2 In
0n
0q
2v Iq
This sort of model isnt in line with the classical interpretation of parameters as constants: according to this interpretation the left hand side of R
r v is constant
but the right is random. This model does fit the Bayesian perspective: we combine
information coming from the model and the data, summarized in
N 0 2 In
with prior beliefs regarding the distribution of the parameter, summarized in
119
N r 2v Iq
Since the sample is random it is reasonable to suppose that E v
0 which is the
last piece of information in the specification. How can you estimate using this model?
The solution is to treat the restrictions as artificial data. Write
This model is heteroscedastic, since 2
2v Define the prior precision k
v
This expresses the degree of belief in the restriction relative to the variability of the
data. Supposing that we specify k then the model
kr
X
kR
kv
is homoscedastic and can be estimated by OLS. Note that this estimator is biased. It
is consistent, however, given that k is a fixed constant, even if the restriction is false
(this is in contrast to the case of false exact restrictions). To see this, note that there
are Q restrictions, where Q is the number of rows of R As n
these Q artificial
observations have no weight in the objective function, so the estimator has the same
limiting objective function as the OLS estimator, and is therefore consistent.
To motivate the use of stochastic restrictions, consider the expectation of the squared
120
length of :
E
E
X
X
X
X
E
X X
X
X
X
Tr X
X
1X
2 K
i 1 i (the trace is the sum of eigenvalues)
max X X
2 (the eigenvalues are all positive, sinceX
X is p.d.
so
E
min X X
where min X X is the minimum eigenvalue of X
X (which is the inverse of the maxi
mum eigenvalue of X
X
1
As collinearity becomes worse and worse, X
X becomes
more nearly singular, so min X X tends to zero (recall that the determinant is the prod
uct of the eigenvalues) and E
tends to infinite. On the other hand,
is finite.
Now considering the restriction IK
comes
y
0 v With this restriction the model be
kIK
kv
and the estimator is
ridge
X
kIK
X
kIK
X
X k2 IK
X
1
IK
y
X
y
This is the ordinary ridge regression estimator. The ridge regression estimator can be
seen to add k2 IK which is nonsingular, to X
X which is more and more nearly singular
121
as collinearity becomes worse and worse. As k
the restrictions tend to
0
that is, the coefficients are shrunken toward zero. Also, the estimator tends to
ridge
ridge
so ridge
X
X k2 IK
1
X
y
k2 IK
1
X
y
k2
X
y
0
0 This is clearly a false restriction in the limit, if our original model
is at al sensible.
There should be some amount of shrinkage that is in fact a true restriction. The
problem is to determine the k such that the restriction is correct. The interest in
ridge regression centers on the fact that it can be shown that there exists a k such
that MSE ridge
OLS The problem is that this k depends on and 2 which are
unknown.
ridge as a function of k and chooses the value
The ridge trace method plots ridge
of k that artistically seems appropriate (e.g., where the effect of increasing k dies
off). Draw picture here. This means of choosing k is obviously subjective. This is not
a problem from the Bayesian perspective: the choice of k reflects prior beliefs about
the length of
In summary, the ridge estimator offers some hope, but it is impossible to guarantee
that it will outperform the OLS estimator. Collinearity is a fact of life in econometrics,
and there is no clear solution to the problem.
9.2 Measurement error
Measurement error is exactly what it says, either the dependent variable or the regressors are measured with error. Thinking about the way economic data are reported,
measurement error is probably quite prevalent. For example, estimates of growth of
GDP, inflation, etc. are commonly revised several times. Why should the last revision
122
necessarily be correct?
9.2.1 Error of measurement of the dependent variable
Measurement errors in the dependent variable and the regressors have important differences. First consider error in measurement of the dependent variable. The data
generating process is presumed to be
X
iid 0 2v
vt
where y is the unobservable true dependent variable, and y is what is observed. We
assume that and v are independent and that y
X satisfies the classical as
sumptions. Given this, we have
X
y v
so
X
iid 0 2 2v
As long as v is uncorrelated with X this model satisfies the classical assumptions
and can be estimated by OLS. This type of measurement error isnt a problem,
then.
123
9.2.2 Error of measurement of the regressors
The situation isnt so good in this case. The DGP is
xt
t
yt
xt
xt
iid 0 v
vt
where v is a K
vt
K matrix. Now X contains the true, unobserved regressors, and
X is what is observed. Again assume that v is independent of and that the model
X satisfies the classical assumptions. Now we have
yt
xt
vt
t
xt
vt
t
xt
t
The problem is that now there is a correlation between xt and t since
E xt t
E xt
vt
vt
t
where
v
E vt vt
Because of this correlation, the OLS estimator is biased and inconsistent, just as in
the case of autocorrelated errors with lagged dependent variables. In matrix notation,
write the estimated model as
y
X
124
We have that
X
X
n
X
y
n
and
X
X
n
plim
plim
QX
X
n
v
V
since X and V are independent, and
plim
V
V
n
lim E 1n tn 1 vt vt
Likewise,
plim
X
y
n
plim
X
n
QX
so
plim
QX
v
QX
So we see that the least squares estimator is inconsistent when the regressors are measured with error.
A potential solution to this problem is the instrumental variables (IV) estimator,
which well discuss shortly.
125
9.3 Missing observations
Missing observations occur quite frequently: time series data may not be gathered in a
certain year, or respondents to a survey may not answer all questions. Well consider
two cases: missing observations on the dependent variable and missing observations
on the regressors.
9.3.1 Missing observations on the dependent variable
In this case, we have
X
y
or
y1
y2
X1
1
X2
where y2 is not observed. Otherwise, we assume the classical assumptions hold.
A clear alternative is to simply estimate using the compete observations
y1
X1 1
Since these observations satisfy the classical assumptions, one could estimate by
OLS.
The question remains whether or not one could somehow replace the unobserved
y2 by a predictor, and improve over OLS in some sense. Let y2 be the predictor
of y2 Now
126
X1
X1
X2
X1
X2
1
y1
X2
X1
X1 X2
X2
y2
X1
y1 X2
y2
Recall that the OLS fonc are
X
X
X
y
so if we regressed using only the first (complete) observations, we would have
X1
X1 1
X1
y1
Likewise, and OLS regression using only the second (filled in) observations would
give
X2
X2 2
X2
y2
Substituting these into the equation for the overall combined estimator gives
X1
X1 X2
X2
X1
X1 X2
X2
X1
X1 1 X2
X2 2
X1
X1 1
A 1
IK
X1
X1 X2
X2
A 2
where
A
X1
X1 X2
X2
127
X1
X1
X2
X2 2
and we use
X1
X1 X2
X2
X2
X2
X1
X1 X2
X2
IK
1
X1
X1 X2
X2
X1
X1 X2
X2
IK
X1
X1
X1
X1
A
Now,
E
IK
A E 2
and this will be unbiased only if E 2
The conclusion is the this filled in observations alone would need to define an
unbiased estimator. This will be the case only if
X2 2
y2
where 2 has mean zero. Clearly, it is difficult to satisfy this condition without
knowledge of
Note that putting y2
y1 does not satisfy the condition and therefore leads to a
biased estimator.
Exercise 15 Formally prove this last statement.
One possibility that has been suggested (see Greene, page 275) is to estimate
using a first round estimation using only the complete observations
1
X1
X1 1 X1
y1
128
then use this estimate, 1 to predict y2 :
X2 1
y2
1X y
1
1
X2 X1
X1
Now, the overall estimate is a weighted average of 1 and 2 just as above, but
we have
2
1 X y
2
2
X2
X2
X2
X2
1X X
2
2 1
This shows that this suggestion is completely empty of content: the final estimator is the same as the OLS estimator using only the complete observations.
9.3.2 The sample selection problem
In the above discussion we assumed that the missing observations are random. The
sample selection problem is a case where the missing observations are not random.
Consider the model
xt
t
yt
which is assumed to satisfy the classical assumptions. However, yt is not always
observed. What is observed is yt defined as
yt
yt ifyt
Or, in other words, yt is missing when it is less than zero.
129
The difference in this case is that the missing values are not random: they are
correlated with the xt Consider the case
x
y
with V
25 The figure sampsel.ps (on web site) illustrates this.
9.3.3 Missing observations on the regressors
Again the model is
y1
y2
X1
X2
1
but we assume now that each row of X2 has an unobserved component(s). Again,
one could just estimate using the complete observations, but it may seem frustrating
to have to drop observations simply because of a single missing variable. In general,
if the unobserved X2 is replaced by some prediction, X2 then we are in the case of
errors of observation. As before, this means that the OLS estimator is biased when
X2 is used instead of X2 Consistency is salvaged, however, as long as the number of
missing observations doesnt increase with n
Including observations that have missing values replaced by ad hoc values can
be interpreted as introducing false stochastic restrictions. In general, this introduces bias. It is difficult to determine whether MSE increases or decreases.
Monte Carlo studies suggest that it is dangerous to simply substitute the mean,
for example.
In the case that there is only one regressor other that the constant, subtitution of
x for the missing xt does not lead to bias. This is a special case that doesnt hold
for K
2
130
Exercise 16 Prove this last statement.
In summary, if one is strongly concerned with bias, it is best to drop observations
that have missing components. There is potential for reduction of MSE through
filling in missing elements with intelligent guesses, but this could also increase
MSE.
131
10 Functional form and nonnested tests
Though theory often suggests which conditioning variables should be included, and
suggests the signs of certain derivatives, it is usually silent regarding the functional
form of the relationship between the dependent variable and the regressors. For example, considering a cost function, one could have a Cobb-Douglas model
Aw1 1 w2 2 qq e
This model, after taking logarithms, gives
ln c
where 0
0 1 ln w1 2 ln w2 q ln q
ln A Theory suggests that A
0 1
0 2
compatible with a fixed cost of production since c
degree one in input prices suggests that 1 2
implies q
0 3
0 This model isnt
0 when q
0 Homogeneity of
1 while constant returns to scale
1
While this model may be reasonable in some cases, an alternative
0 1 w 1 2 w 2 q q
may be just as plausible. Note that
x and ln x look quite alike, for certain values of
the regressors, and up to a linear transform, so it may be difficult to choose between
these models.
The basic point is that many functional forms are compatible with the linear-inparameters model, since this model can incorporate a wide variety of nonlinear transformations of the dependent variable and the regressors. For example, suppose that
132
is a real valued function and that x
is a K
vector-valued function. The follow
ing model is linear in the parameters but nonlinear in the variables:
xt
x zt
yt
xt
t
There may be P fundamental conditioning variables zt , but there may be K regressors,
where K may be smaller than, equal to or larger than P For example, xt could include
squares and cross products of the conditioning variables in zt
10.1 Flexible functional forms
Given that the functional form of the relationship between the dependent variable and
the regressors is in general unknown, one might wonder if there exist parametric models that can closely approximate a wide variety of functional relationships. A DiewertFlexible functional form is defined as one such that the function, the vector of first
derivatives and the matrix of second derivatives can take on an arbitrary value at a
single data point. Flexibility in this sense clearly requires that there be at least
P2
1 P
P
2 P
free parameters: one for each independent effect that we wish to model.
Suppose that the model is
y
g x
A second-order Taylors series expansion (with remainder term) of the function g x
133
about the point x
0 is
g x
g 0
x
Dx g 0
x
D2x g 0 x
R
2
Use the approximation, which simply drops the remainder term, as an approximation
to g x :
g x
gK x
g 0
x
Dx g 0
x
D2x g 0 x
2
0 the approximation becomes more and more exact, in the sense that g x
K
D g x and D2 g x D2 g x For x 0 the approximation is
g x D x gK x
x
x K
x
As x
exact, up to the second order. The idea behind many flexible functional forms is to
note that g 0 Dx g 0 and D2x g 0 are all constants. If we treat them as parameters, the
approximation will have exactly enough free parameters to approximate the function
g x which is of unknown form, exactly, up to second order, at the point x
0 The
model is
x
1 2x
x
gK x
so the regression model to fit is
x
1 2x
x
While the regression model has enough free parameters to be Diewert-flexible,
g 0 ? Is plim
the question remains: is plim
Dx g 0 ? Is plim
D2x g 0 ?
The answer is no, in general. The reason is that if we treat the true values of the
parameters as these derivatives, then is forced to play the part of the remainder
term, which is a function of x so that x and are correlated in this case. As
before, the estimator is biased in this case.
134
A simpler example would be to consider a first-order T.S. approximation to a
quadratic function. Draw picture.
The conclusion is that flexible functional forms arent really flexible in a useful statistical sense, in that neither the function itself nor its derivatives are consistently estimated, unless the function belongs to the parametric family of the
specified functional form. In order to lead to consistent inferences, the regression model must be correctly specified.
10.1.1 The translog form
In spite of the fact that FFFs arent really as flexible as they were originally claimed
to be, they are useful, and they are certainly subject to less bias due to misspecification
of the functional form than are many popular forms, such as the Cobb-Douglas of
the simple linear in the variables model. The translog model is probably the most
widely used FFF. This model is as above, except that the variables are subjected to a
logarithmic tranformation. Also, the expansion point is usually taken to be the sample
mean of the data, after the logarithmic transformation. The model is defined by
ln c
ln
z
z
ln z
ln z
x
1 2x
x
135
In this presentation, the t subscript that distinguishes observations is suppressed for
simplicity. Note that
y
x
x
ln c
ln z
(the other part ofx is constant)
c z
z c
which is the elasticity of c with respect to z This is a convenient feature of the translog
model. Note that at the means of the conditioning variables, z, x
y
x
0 so
z z
so the are the first-order elasticities, at the means of the data.
To illustrate, consider that y is cost of production:
c w q
where w is a vector of input prices and q is output. We could add other variables by
extending q in the obvious manner, but this is supressed for simplicity. By Shephards
lemma, the conditional factor demands are
c w q
w
and the cost shares of the factors are therefore
wx
c
c w q w
w c
136
which is simply the vector of elasticities of cost with respect to input prices. If the cost
function is modeled using a translog function, we have
x
z
1 2
ln c
x z
11 12
12
22
x
x
z
1 2x
11 x x
12 z 1 2z2 22
where x
ln w
w and z
ln q q and
11 12
11
12 22
13
12
22
23
33
Note that symmetry of the second derivatives has been imposed.
Then the share equations are just
11
12
x
Therefore, the share equations and the cost equation have parameters in common. By
pooling the equations together and imposing the (true) restriction that the parameters
of the equations be the same, we can gain efficiency.
To illustrate in more detail, consider the case of two inputs, so
x1
x2
137
In this case the translog model of the logarithmic cost function is
ln c
1 x1 2 x2 z
11 2 22 2 33 2
x
x
z 12 x1 x2 13 x1 z 23 x2 z
2 1
2 2
2
The two cost shares of the inputs are the derivatives of ln c with respect to x 1 and x2 :
s1
1 11 x1 12 x2 13 z
s2
2 12 x1 22 x2 13 z
Note that the share equations and the cost equation have parameters in common.
One can do a pooled estimation of the three equations at once, imposing that the parameters are the same. In this way were using more observations and therefore more
information, which will lead to imporved efficiency. Note that this does assume that
the cost equation is correctly specified (i.e., not an approximation), since otherwise the
derivatives would not be the true derivatives of the log cost function, and would then
be misspecified for the shares. To pool the equations, write the model in matrix form
138
(adding in error terms)
ln c
s1
1 x 1 x2 z
0 1
s2
x22
2
0 x1 0
0 0
x21
2
0 0
x2
x2 0
x1 x2 x1 z x 2 z
13
12
3
33
22
11
x1
z2
2
2
1
23
This is one observation on the three equations. With the appropriate notation, a
single observation can be written as
Xt t
yt
The overall model would stack n observations on the three equations for a total of 3n
observations:
y1
y2
..
.
yn
X2
..
.
Xn
X1
2
..
.
Next we need to consider the errors. For observation t the errors can be placed in a
139
vector
1t
2t
3t
First consider the covariance matrix of this vector: the shares are certainly correlated since they must sum to one. (In fact, with 2 shares the variances are equal and
the covariance is -1 times the variance. General notation is used to allow easy extension to the case of more than 2 inputs). Also, its likely that the shares and the cost
equation have different variances. Supposing that the model is covariance stationary,
the variance of t won
t depend upon t:
Vart
11 12 13
22 23
33
Note that this matrix is singular, since the shares sum to 1. Assuming that there is no
autocorrelation, the overall covariance matrix has the seemingly unrelated regressions
(SUR) structure.
Var
2
..
.
n
1
0 0
0
..
.
0
..
.
In
where the symbol
0
0
0
. . ..
. .
indicates the Kronecker product. The Kronecker product of two
140
matrices A and B is
a11 B a12 B
.
a21 B . .
..
.
a1q B
..
.
a pq B
a pq B
Personally, I can never keep straight the roles of A and B.
10.1.2 FGLS estimation of a translog model
So, this model has heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation, so OLS wont be efficient.
The next question is: how do we estimate efficiently using FGLS? FGLS is based upon
inverting the estimated error covariance So we need to estimate
An asymptotically efficient procedure is (supposing normality of the errors)
1. Estimate each equation by OLS
2. Estimate 0 using
0
1 n
t
n t1 t
3. Next we need to account for the singularity of 0 It can be shown that 0 will
be singular when the shares sum to one, so FGLS wont work. The solution is to
141
drop one of the share equations, for example the second. The model becomes
ln c
1 x 1 x2 z
s1
0 1
x22
2
x21
2
z2
2
0 x1 0
x2
12
13
33
22
11
x1 x2 x1 z x 2 z
2
1
23
or in matrix notation for the observation:
Xt t
yt
and in stacked notation for all observations we have the 2n observations:
y1
y2
..
.
X2
..
.
or, finally in matrix notation for all observations:
X
142
Xn
yn
2
..
.
1
X1
Considering the error covariance, we can define
Var
In
Define 0 as the leading 2 2 block of 0 , and form
0
In
This is a consistent estimator, following the consistency of OLS and applying a
LLN.
4. Next compute the Cholesky factorization
Chol 0
P0
and the Cholesky factorization of the overall covariance matrix of the 2 equation
model, which can be calculated as
Chol
P0
In
5. Finally the FGLS estimator can be calculated by applying OLS to the transformed model
Py
PX
or by directly using the GLS formula
FGLS
1
X
143
It is equivalent to transform each observation individually:
P0 Xt P
P0 yy
and then apply OLS. This is probably the simplest approach.
A few last comments.
1. We have assumed no autocorrelation across time. This is clearly restrictive. It is
relatively simple to relax this, but we wont go into it here.
2. Also, we have only imposed symmetry of the second derivatives. Another restriction that the model should satisfy is that the estimated shares should sum to
1. This can be accomplished by imposing
1 2
i j
0 j
1 2 3
i 1
These are linear parameter restrictions, so they are easy to impose and will improve efficiency if they are true.
3. The estimation procedure outlined above can be iterated. That is, estimate FGLS
as above, then re-estimate 0 using errors calculated as
y
X FGLS
These might be expected to lead to a better estimate than the estimator based on
OLS since FGLS is asymptotically more efficient. Then re-estimate using the
new estimated error covariance. It can be shown that if this is repeated until the
144
estimates dont change (i.e., iterated to convergence) then the resulting estimator
is the MLE. At any rate, the asymptotic properties of the iterated and uniterated
estimators are the same, since both are based upon a consistent estimator of the
error covariance.
10.2 Testing nonnested hypotheses
Given that the choice of functional form isnt perfectly clear, in that many possibilities
exist, how can one choose between forms? When one form is a parametric restriction
of another, the previously studied tests such as Wald, LR, score or qF are all possibilities. For example, the Cobb-Douglas model is a parametric restriction of the translog:
The translog is
xt
1 2xt
xt
yt
where the variables are in logarithms, while the Cobb-Douglas is
yt
xt
so a test of the Cobb-Douglas versus the translog is simply a test that
0
The situation is more complicated when we want to test non-nested hypotheses. If
the two functional forms are linear in the parameters, and use the same transformation
of the dependent variable, then they may be written as
M1 : y
t
M2 : y
X
iid 0 2
Z
iid 0 2
145
We wish to test hypotheses of the form: H0 : Mi is correctly specified versus HA : Mi is
misspecified, for i
1 2
One could account for non-iid errors, but well suppress this for simplicity.
There are a number of ways to proceed. Well consider the J test, proposed by
Davidson and MacKinnon, Econometrica (1981). The idea is to artificially nest
the two models, e.g.,
X Z
If the first model is correctly specified, then the true value of is zero. On the
other hand, if the second model is correctly specified then
1
The problem is that this model is not identified in general. For example, if
the models share some regressors, as in
M1 : yt
1 2 x2t 3 x3t t
M2
1 2 x2t 3 x4t t
: yt
then the composite model is
yt
1
1
1
2 x2t
1
3 x3t 1 2 x2t 3 x4t t
Combining terms we get
yt
1
1 1
1
2 2 x2t
1
3 x3t 3 x4t t
1 2 x2t 3 x3t 4 x4t t
146
The four
s are consistently estimable, but is not, since we have four equations in 7
unknowns, so one cant test the hypothesis that
0
The idea of the J test is to substitute in place of This is a consistent estimator
supposing that the second model is correctly specified. It will tend to a finite probability limit even if the second model is misspecified. Then estimate the model
X Z
X y
where y
Z Z
Z
1Z
PZ y In this model, is consistently estimable, and one
can show that, under the hypothesis that the first model is correct,
ordinary t -statistic for
0 is asymptotically normal:
t
p 0 and that the
N 0 1
If the second model is correctly specified, then t
p since tends in proba
bility to 1, while its estimated standard error tends to zero. Thus the test will
always reject the false null model, asymptotically, since the statistic will eventually exceed any critical value with probability one.
We can reverse the roles of the models, testing the second against the first.
It may be the case that neither model is correctly specified. In this case, the test
will still reject the null hypothesis, asymptotically, if we use critical values from
the N 0 1 distribution, since as long as tends to something different from
zero, t
p Of course, when we switch the roles of the models the other will
also be rejected asymptotically.
147
In summary, there are 4 possible outcomes when we test two models, each
against the other. Both may be rejected, neither may be rejected, or one of the
two may be rejected.
There are other tests available for non-nested models. The J
test is simple to
apply when both models are linear in the parameters. The P-test is similar, but
easier to apply when M1 is nonlinear.
The above presentation assumes that the same transformation of the dependent
variable is used by both models. MacKinnon, White and Davidson, Journal of
Econometrics, (1983) shows how to deal with the case of different transforma-
tions.
Monte-Carlo evidence shows that these tests often over-reject a correctly specified model. Can use bootstrap critical values to get better-performing tests.
148
11 Exogeneity and simultaneity
Several times weve encountered cases where correlation between regressors and the
error term lead to biasedness and inconsistency of the OLS estimator. Cases include
autocorrelation with lagged dependent variables and measurement error in the regressors. Another important case is that of simultaneous equations. The cause is different,
but the effect is the same.
11.1 Simultaneous equations
Up until now our model is
X
where, for purposes of estimation we can treat X as fixed. This means that when estimating we condition on X When analyzing dynamic models, were not interested in
conditioning on X as we saw in the section on stochastic regressors. Nevertheless, the
OLS estimator obtained by treating X as fixed continues to have desirable asymptotic
properties even in that case.
Simultaneous equations is a different prospect. An example of a simultaneous
equation system is a simple supply-demand system:
1 2 pt 3 yt 1t
Demand: qt
1t
2t
1 2 pt 2t
Supply: qt
1t
2t
11 12
22
t
The presumption is that qt and pt are jointly determined at the same time by the in149
tersection of these equations. Well assume that yt is determined by some unrelated
process. Its easy to see that we have correlation between regressors and errors. Solving for pt :
1 2 pt 3 yt 1t
2 pt
1 2 pt 2t
2 pt
pt
1
2
1 3 yt 1t
1
2
3 yt
2 2
2t
1t
2
2t
2
Now consider whether pt is uncorrelated with 1t :
E pt 1t
1 1
2 2
12
2
11
2
3 yt
2 2
1t
2
2t
2
1t
Because of this correlation, OLS estimation of the demand equation will be biased and
inconsistent. The same applies to the supply equation, for the same reason.
In this model, qt and pt are the endogenous varibles (endogs), that are determined
within the system. yt is an exogenous variable (exogs). These concepts are a bit tricky,
and well return to it in a minute. First, some notation. Suppose we group together
current endogs in the vector Yt If there are G endogs, Yt is G 1 Group current and
lagged exogs, as well as lagged endogs in the vector Xt , which is K 1 Stack the errors
of the G equations into the error vector Et The model, with additional assumtions, can
be written as
Yt
Xt
B Et
N 0
Et
E Et Es
0t
150
s
We can stack all n observations and write the model as
Y
XB E
E X
E
0 K
G
N 0
vec E
where
Y1
Y
Y2
..
.
Yn
X2
..
.
E1
X1
Xn
E
E2
..
.
En
Y is n G X is n K and E is n G
This system is complete, in that there are as many equations as endogs.
There is a normality assumption. This isnt necessary, but allows us to consider
the relationship between least squares and ML estimators.
Since there is no autocorrelation of the Et s, and since the columns of E are
individually homoscedastic, then
11 In 12 In
22 In
1G In
..
.
. . ..
. .
GG In
In
X may contain lagged endogenous and exogenous variables. These variables are
predetermined.
151
We need to define what is meant by endogenous and exogenous when classifying the current period variables.
11.2 Exogeneity
The model defines a data generating process. The model involves two sets of variables,
Yt and Xt as well as a parameter vector
vec
vec
vec B
In general, without additional restrictions, is a G2 GK
G2
G
2 G di-
mensional vector. This is the parameter vector that were interested in estimating.
In principle, there exists a joint density function for Yt and Xt which depends on
a parameter vector Write this density as
ft Yt Xt It
where It is the information set in period t This includes lagged Yt
s and lagged
Xt s of course. This can be factored into the density of Yt conditional on Xt times
the marginal density of Xt :
ft Yt Xt It
ft Yt Xt It ft Xt It
This is a general factorization, but is may very well be the case that not all
parameters in affect both factors. So use 1 to indicate elements of that
enter into the conditional density and write 2 for parameters that enter into the
152
marginal. In general, 1 and 2 may share elements, of course. We have
ft Yt Xt It
ft Yt Xt 1 It ft Xt 2 It
Recall that the model is
Yt
Xt
B Et
N 0
Et
E Et Es
s
0t
Normality and lack of correlation over time imply that the observations are independent of one another, so we can write the log-likelihood function as the sum of likelihood contributions of each observation:
ln ft Yt
ln L Y It
t 1
n
Xt It
ln
t 1
n
ft Yt Xt 1 It ft Xt 2 It
ln ft Yt Xt 1 It
t 1
ln ft
Xt 2 It
t 1
Definition 17 (Weak Exogeneity) Xt is weakly exogeneous for (the original parameter vector) if there is a mapping from to that is invariant to 2 More formally, for
an arbitrary 1 2
1
This implies that 1 and 2 cannot share elements if Xt is weakly exogenous, since
1 would change as 2 changes, which prevents consideration of arbitrary combina
tions of 1 2 .
153
Supposing that Xt is weakly exogenous, then the MLE of 1 using the joint density
is the same as the MLE using only the conditional density
ln L Y X It
ln ft Yt Xt
1 It
t 1
since the conditional likelihood doesnt depend on 2 In other words, the joint and
conditional log-likelihoods maximize at the same value of 1
With weak exogeneity, knowledge of the DGP of Xt is irrelevant for inference
on 1 and knowledge of 1 is sufficient to recover the parameter of interest,
Since the DGP of Xt is irrelevant, we can treat Xt as fixed in inference.
By the invariance property of MLE, the MLE of is 1 and this mapping is
assumed to exist in the definition of weak exogeneity.
Of course, well need to figure out just what this mapping is to recover from
1 This is the famous identification problem.
With lack of weak exogeneity, the joint and conditional likelihood functions
maximize in different places. For this reason, we cant treat Xt as fixed in infer-
ence. The joint MLE is valid, but the conditional MLE is not.
In resume, we require the variables in Xt to be weakly exogenous if we are to be
able to treat them as fixed in estimation. Lagged Yt satisfy the definition, since
they are in the conditioning information set, e.g., Yt
It Lagged Yt arent
exogenous in the normal usage of the word, since their values are determined
within the model, just earlier on. Weakly exogenous variables include exogenous
(in the normal sense) variables as well as all predetermined variables.
154
11.3 Reduced form
Recall that the model is
Yt
Xt
B Et
V Et
This is the model in structural form.
Definition 18 (Structural form) An equation is in structural form when more than
one current period endogenous variable is included.
The solution for the current period endogs is easy to find. It is
Yt
Xt
B
Et
Xt
Vt
Now only one current period endog appears in each equation. This is the reduced form.
Definition 19 (Reduced form) An equation is in reduced form if only one current period endog is included.
An example is our supply/demand system. The reduced form for quantity is obtained by solving the supply equation for price and substituting into demand:
155
2 qt
qt
1 2
qt
2 qt
2 1
qt
2 1
2
1 2t
2
2 1 2t
2 1
2
2 3 yt 2 1t
2 3 yt
2 2
3 yt 1t
2 1t
2
2 2t
2
11 21 yt V1t
Similarly, the rf for price is
1 2 pt 2t
2 pt
1 2 pt 3 yt 1t
2 pt
pt
1
2
1 3 yt 1t
1
2
3 yt
2 2
2t
1t
2
2t
2
12 22 yt V2t
The interesting thing about the rf is that the equations individually satisfy the classical
assumptions, since yt is uncorrelated with 1t and 2t by assumption, and therefore
E yt Vit
0 i=1,2, t The errors of the rf are
V1t
V2t
2 1t 2 2t
2 2
1t 2t
2 2
The variance of V1t is
V V1t
2 1t 2 2t
2 1t
2 2
2
22 11 22 2 12 2 22
2
2
156
2 2t
2
This is constant over time, so the first rf equation is homoscedastic.
Likewise, since the t are independent over time, so are the Vt
The variance of the second rf error is
V V2t
1t 2t
1t
2 2
2
212 22
11
2
2t
2
and the contemporaneous covariance of the errors across equations is
2 1t 2 2t
1t 2t
2 2
2 2
2 11 2 2 12 22
E V1t V2t
2
In summary the rf equations individually satisfy the classical assumptions, under
the assumtions weve made, but they are contemporaneously correlated.
The general form of the rf is
Yt
Xt
B
Et
Xt
Vt
so we have that
Vt
N 0
Et
1
and that the Vt are timewise independent (note that this wouldnt be the case if the Et
were autocorrelated).
157
11.4 IV estimation
The simultaneous equations model is
Y
XB E
Considering the first equation (this is without loss of generality, since we can always
reorder the equations) we can partition the Y matrix as
y
Y
y is the first column
Y1 are the other endogenous variables that enter the first equation
Y2 are endogs that are excluded from this equation
Similarly, partition X as
X
Y1 Y2
X
X2
X1 are the included exogs, and X2 are the excluded exogs.
Finally, partition the error matrix as
E12
Assume that has ones on the main diagonal. These are normalization restrictions
that simply scale the remaining coefficients on each equation, and which scale the
variances of the error terms.
158
Given this scaling and our partitioning, the coefficient matrices can be written as
12
1
1 22
32
1 B12
B
B22
With this, the first equation can be written as
Y1 1 X1 1
Z
The problem, as weve seen is that Z is correlated with since Y1 is formed of endogs.
Now, lets consider the general problem of a linear regression model with correlation between regressors and ther error term:
iid 0 In 2
E X
0
The present case of a structural equation from a system of equations fits into this notation, but so do other problems, such as measurement error or lagged dependent variables with autocorrelated errors. Consider some matrix W which is formed of variables
uncorrelated with . This matrix defines a projection matrix
PW
W W
W
159
so that anything that is projected onto the space spanned by W will be uncorrelated
with by the definition of W Transforming the model with this projection matrix we
get
PW X PW
PW y
or
X
Now we have that and X are uncorrelated, since this is simply
E X
E X
PW
PW
E X
PW
and
W W
W 1W
X
PW X
is the fitted value from a regression of X on W This is a linear combination of the
columns of W so it must be uncorrelated with This implies that applying OLS to the
model
X
will lead to a consistent estimator, given a few more assumptions. This is the generalized instrumental variables estimator. W is known as the matrix of instruments. The
estimator is
IV
X
PW X
160
X
PW y
from which we obtain
IV
X
PW X
X
PW X
1
X
PW X
X
PW
so
IV
X
PW X
X
PW
X
W W
W
W
X
X
W W
W
Now we can introduce factors of n to get
IV
X
W
n
W
W
n
W
X
n
X
W
n
W
W
n
W
n
Assuming that each of the terms with a n in the denominator satisfies a LLN, so that
WW
n
p Q , a finite pd matrix
WW
XW
n
p Q a finite matrix with rank K (= cols X )
XW
0
W p
n
then the plim of the rhs is zero. This last term has plim 0 since we assume that W and
are uncorrelated, e.g.,
E Wt
t
0
Given these assumtions the IV estimator is consistent
IV
p
161
Furthermore, scaling by
n IV
n we have
X
W
n
W
W
n
W
X
n
X
W
n
W
W
n
W
n
Assuming that the far right term satifies a CLT, so that
N 0 Q 2
WW
W d
n
then we get
n IV
d N 0 Q Q 1 Q
XW WW XW
1 2
The estimators for QXW and QWW are the obvious ones. An estimator for 2 is
1
y
n
2IV
X IV
X IV
This estimator is consistent following the proof of consistency of the OLS estimator of
2 when the classical assumptions hold.
The formula used to estimate the variance of IV is
V IV
X
W
W
W
W
X
2IV
The IV estimator is
1. Consistent
2. Asymptotically normally distributed
3. Biased in general, since even though E X
PW
not be zero, since X
PW X
0 E X
PW X
and X
PW are not independent.
162
1X
PW
may
An important point is that the asymptotic distribution of IV depends upon QXW and
QWW and these depend upon the choice of W The choice of instruments influences
the efficiency of the estimator.
When we have two sets of instruments, W1 and W2 such that W1
W2 then the IV
estimator using W2 is at least as efficiently asymptotically as the estimator that
used W1 More instruments leads to more asymptotically efficient estimation, in
general.
There are special cases where there is no gain (simultaneous equations is an
example of this, as well see).
The penalty for indiscriminant use of instruments is that the small sample bias of
the IV estimator rises as the number of instruments increases. The reason for this
is that PW X becomes closer and closer to X itself as the number of instruments
increases.
IV estimation can clearly be used in the case of simultaneous equations. The
only issue is which instruments to use.
11.5 Identification by exclusion restrictions
The identification problem in simultaneous equations is in fact of the same nature as the
identification problem in any estimation setting: does the limiting objective function
have the proper curvature so that there is a unique global minimum or maximum at the
true parameter value? In the context of IV estimation, this is the case if the limiting
covariance of the IV estimator is positive definite and plim 1n W
V IV
QXW QWW
QXW
163
1 2
0. This matrix is
The necessary and sufficient condition for identification is simply that this matrix
be positive definite, and that the instruments be (asymptotically) uncorrelated
with .
For this matrix to be positive definite, we need that the conditions noted above
hold: QWW must be positive definite and QXW must be of full rank ( K ).
These identification conditions are not that intuitive nor is it very obvious how
to check them.
11.5.1 Necessary conditions
If we use IV estimation for a single equation of the system, the equation can be written
as
y
where
Z
Y
X1
Notation:
Let K be the total numer of weakly exogenous variables.
Let K
cols X1 be the number of included exogs, and let K
K
K be
the number of excluded exogs (in this equation).
Let G
cols Y1
1 be the total number of included endogs, and let G
G
G be the number of exxluded endogs.
Using this notation, consider the selection of instruments.
Now the X1 are weakly exogenous and can serve as their own instruments.
164
It turns out that X exhausts the set of possible instruments, in that if the variables
in X dont lead to an identified model then no other instruments will identify the
model either. Assuming this is true (well prove it in a moment), then a necessary
condition for identification is that cols X2
cols Y1 since if not then at least
one instrument must be used twice, so W will not have full column rank:
W
QZW K
1
G
This is the order condition for identification in a set of simultaneous equations.
When the only identifying information is exclusion restrictions on the variables
that enter an equation, then the number of excluded exogs must be greater than
or equal to the number of included endogs, minus 1 (the normalized lhs endog),
e.g.,
1
To show that this is in fact a necessary condition consider some arbitrary set of
instruments W A necessary condition for identification is that
1
plim W
Z
n
where
Y
X1
Recall that weve partitioned the model
Y
165
XB E
G
as
y
X
Y1 Y2
X2
Given the reduced form
X V
we can write the reduced form using the same partition
y
Y1 Y2
X
X2
11 12 13
21 22 23
v V1 V2
so we have
Y1
X1 12 X2 22 V1
1
W
X
so
1
W
Z
n
X2 22 V1 X1
12
Because the W s are uncorrelated with the V1 s, by assumption, the cross between W
and V1 converges in probability to zero, so
1
plim W
Z
n
X
1
plim W
12
X2 22 X1
Since the far rhs term is formed only of linear combinations of columns of X the rank
of this matrix can never be greater than K regardless of the choice of instruments. If
Z has more than K columns, then it is not of full column rank. When Z has more than
K columns we have
1 K
166
or noting that K
K
K
1
In this case, the limiting matrix is not of full column rank, and the identification condition fails.
11.5.2 Sufficient conditions
Identification essentially requires that the structural parameters be recoverable from
the data. This wont be the case, in general, unless the structural model is subject to
some restrictions. Weve already identified necessary conditions. Turning to sufficient
conditions (again, were only considering identification through zero restricitions on
the parameters, for the moment).
The model is
Yt
Xt
B Et
V Et
This leads to the reduced form
Yt
Xt
B
Et
Xt
Vt
V Vt
The reduced form parameters are consistently estimable, but none of them are known
a priori, and there are no restrictions on their values. The problem is that more than
one structural form has the same reduced form, so knowledge of the reduced form
167
parameters alone isnt enough to determine the structural parameters. To see this,
consider the model
Yt
F
Xt
BF Et F
F
F
V Et F
where F is some arbirary nonsingular G G matrix. The rf of this new model is
Xt
BF F
Yt
Xt
BFF
Xt
B
Et
Et F F
Et FF
Xt
Vt
Likewise, the covariance of the rf of the transformed model is
V Et F F
V Et
Since the two structural forms lead to the same rf, and the rf is all that is directly
estimable, the models are said to be observationally equivalent. What we need for
identification are restrictions on and B such that the only admissible F is an identity
matrix (if all of the equations are to be identified). Take the coefficient matrices as
partitioned before:
168
B
1 22
12
1
32
B12
B22
The coefficients of the first equation of the transformed model are simply these coefficients multiplied by the first column of F. This gives
f11
F2
1 22
12
1
32
B12
B22
f11
F2
For identification of the first equation we need that there be enough restrictions so that
the only admissible
f11
F2
be the leading column of an identity matrix, so that
12
1 22
1
B12
B22
f11
1
0
F2
1
0
169
32
Note that the third and fifth rows are
32
F2
B22
Supposing that the leading matrix is of full column rank, e.g.,
32
cols
32
B22
G
B22
then the only way this can hold, without additional restrictions on the models parameters, is if F2 is a vector of zeros. Given that F2 is a vector of zeros, then the first
equation
1
12
Therefore, as long as
f11
1
f11
F2
32
1
B22
then
f11
F2
0G
The first equation is identified in this case, so the condition is sufficient for identification. It is also necessary, since the condition implies that this submatrix must have at
least G
1 rows. Since this matrix has
170
rows, we obtain
G
G
or
G
which is the previously derived necessary condition.
When an equation has K
1 is is exactly identified, in that omission of
an identifiying restriction is not possible without loosing consistency.
When K
1 the equation is overidentified, since one could drop a re
striction and still retain consistency. Overidentifying restrictions are therefore
testable. When an equation is overidentified we have more instruments than are
strictly necessary for consistent estimation. Since estimation by IV with more
instruments is more efficient asymptotically, one should employ overidentifying
restrictions if one is confident that theyre true.
We can repeat this partition for each equation in the system, to see which equa-
tions are identified and which arent.
These results are valid assuming that the only identifying information comes
from knowing which variables appear in which equations, e.g., by exclusion
restrictions, and through the use of a normalization. There are other sorts of
identifying information that can be used. These include
1. Cross equation restrictions
2. Additional restrictions on parameters within equations (as in the Klein
model discussed below)
3. Restrictions on the covariance matrix of the errors
171
4. Nonlinearities in variables
When these sorts of information are available, the above conditions arent necessary for identification, though they are of course still sufficient.
To give an example of how other information can be used, consider the model
Y
XB E
where is an upper triangular matrix with 1s on the main diagonal. This is a triangular system of equations. In this case, the first equation is
y1
XB 1 E 1
Since only exogs appear on the rhs, this equation is identified.
The second equation is
y2
This equation has K
21 y1 X B 2 E 2
0 excluded exogs, and G
2 included endogs, so it fails the
order (necessary) condition for identification.
However, suppose that we have the restriction 21
0 so that the first and sec
ond structural errors are uncorrelated. In this case
E y1t 2t
Xt
B 1 1t 2t
so theres no problem of simultaneity. If the entire matrix is diagonal, then
following the same logic, all of the equations are identified. This is known as a
fully recursive model.
172
To give an example of determining identification status, consider the following macro
model (this is the widely known Kleins Model 1)
Consumption: Ct
0 1 Pt 2 Pt
Investment: It
0 1 Pt 2 Pt
Private Wages: Wt
0 1 Xt 2 Xt
Output: Xt
Ct It Gt
Profits: Pt
Xt
Capital Stock: Kt
Kt
Tt
Wt
3 Wt
3 Kt
Wt
1t
2t
3 At 3t
It
The other variables are the government wage bill, Wt taxes, Tt government nonwage
spending, Gt and a time trend, At The endogenous variables are the lhs variables,
C
Yt
It Wt
Xt Pt Kt
and the predetermined variables are all others:
1
Xt
The model written as Y
Wt
Gt Tt At Pt
Kt
Xt
X B E gives
1 0
0
3 0
0
0
1
1 0
1
1
0
1 1
1 0
1
0
1 0
0
173
0 0 0 0 0
3 0
0 0
1 0
3 0 0
B
1 0
0
2 2 0
0 0
3 0
0 0
2 0 0
To check this identification of the consumption equation, we need to extract 32 and
B22 the submatrices of coefficients of endogs and exogs that dont appear in this equa
tion. These are the rows that have zeros in the first column, and we need to drop the
first column. We get
1
0
0
1 0
1 1
1
1 0
1
32
B22
3 0
0
0
1 0
We need to find a set of 5 rows of this matrix gives a full-rank 5 5 matrix. For
174
example, selecting rows 3,4,5,6, and 7 we obtain the matrix
0 0
1 0
3 0 0
A
3 0
1 0
0
0 0
This matrix is of full rank, so the sufficient condition for identification is met. Counting
included endogs, G
3 and counting excluded exogs, K
5 so
K
5
L
1
1
The equation is over-identified by three restrictions, according to the counting
rules, which are correct when the only identifying information are the exclusion
p
restrictions. However, there is additional information in this case. Both Wt and
g
Wt enter the consumption equation, and their coefficients are restricted to be the
same. For this reason the consumption equation is in fact overidentified by four
restrictions.
11.6 2SLS
When we have no information regarding cross-equation restrictions or the structure of
the error covariance matrix, one can estimate the parameters of a single equation of the
system without regard to the other equations.
175
This isnt always efficient, as well see, but it has the advantage that misspecifications in other equations will not affect the consistency of the estimator of the
parameters of the equation of interest.
Also, estimation of the equation wont be affected by identification problems in
other equations.
The 2SLS estimator is very simple: in the first stage, each column of Y1 is regressed on
all the weakly exogenous variables in the system, e.g., the entire X matrix. The fitted
values are
Y1
X X
X 1 X
Y1
PX Y1
1
X
Since these fitted values are the projection of Y1 on the space spanned by X and since
any vector in this space is uncorrelated with by assumption, Y1 is uncorrelated with
Since Y1 is simply the reduced-form prediction, it is correlated with Y1 The only
other requirement is that the instruments be linearly independent. This should be the
case when the order condition is satisfied, since there are more columns in X2 than in
Y1 in this case.
The second stage substitutes Y1 in place of Y1 and estimates by OLS. This original
model is
Y1 1 X1 1
Z
176
and the second stage model is
Y1 1 X1 1
Since X1 is in the space spanned by X PX X1
X1 so we can write the second stage
model as
PX Y1 1 PX X1 1
PX Z
The OLS estimator applied to this model is
Z
PX Z 1 Z
PX y
which is exactly what we get if we estimate using IV, with the reduced form predictions
of the endogs used as instruments. Note that if we define
PX Z
Y
X1
so that Z are the instruments for Z then we can write
Z
Z
Z
y
Important note: OLS on the transformed model can be used to calculate the
2SLS estimate of since we see that its equivalent to IV using a particular set
of instruments. However the OLS covariance formula is not valid. We need to
177
apply the IV covariance formula already seen above.
Actually, there is also a simplification of the general IV variance formula. Define
PX Z
Y X
The IV covariance estimator would ordinarily be
V
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
1
2IV
However, looking at the last term in brackets
Y
Z
Z
X1
Y
X1
but since PX is idempotent and since PX X
Y
X1
Y
X1
Y1
X1
X1
Y1
PX Y1 Y1
PX X1
X we can write
X1
Y1
PX PX Y1 Y1
PX X1
X1
PX Y1
Y
X1
X1
X1
Y
X1
Z
Z
Therefore, the second and last term in the variance formula cancel, so the 2SLS varcov
estimator simplifies to
V
Z
Z
178
1
2IV
which, following some algebra similar to the above, can also be written as
V
Z
Z
1
2IV
Finally, recall that though this is presented in terms of the first equation, it is general
since any equation can be placed first.
Properties of 2SLS:
1. Consistent
2. Asymptotically normal
3. Biased when the mean esists (the existence of moments is a technical issue we
wont go into here).
4. Asymptotically inefficient, except in special circumstances (more on this later).
11.7 Testing the overidentifying restrictions
The selection of which variables are endogs and which are exogs is part of the specification of the model. As such, there is room for error here: one might erroneously
classify a variable as exog when it is in fact correlated with the error term. A general
test for the specification on the model can be formulated as follows:
The IV estimator can be calculated by applying OLS to the transformed model, so
the IV objective function at the maximized value is
s IV
y
X IV
PW y
179
X IV
but
IV
X IV
y
y
X X
PW X
X X
PW X
I
X X
PW X
X
PW y
1
X
PW y
X
PW
X
A X
where
A I
X X
PW X
X
PW
so
s IV
X
A
PW A X
Moreover, A
PW A is idempotent, as can be verified by multiplication:
A
PW A
PW
PW X X
PW X
PW X X
PW X
X
PW I
PW X X
PW X
X X
PW X
X
PW
PW
X
PW
I
X
X X
PW X
X
180
X
PW
PW X X
PW X
Furthermore, A is orthogonal to X
AX
X
PW X
X
PW
so
s IV
A
PW A
Supposing the are normally distributed, with variance 2 then the random variable
s IV
2
A
PW A
2
is a quadratic form of a N 0 1 random variable with an idempotent matrix in the
middle, so
s IV
2
2 A
PW A
This isnt available, since we need to estimate 2 . Substituting a consistent estimator,
s IV
2
2 A
PW A
Even if the arent normally distributed, the asymptotic result still holds. The
last thing we need to determine is the rank of the idempotent matrix. We have
A
PW A
PW
PW X X
PW X
X
PW
so
A
PW A
Tr PW
TrPW
PW X X
PW X
TrW
W W
W
KX
181
X
PW
TrX
PW PW X X
PW X
TrW W
W
KW
KX
KX
where KW is the number of columns of W and KX is the number of columns of
X The degrees of freedom of the test is simply the number of overidentifying restrictions: the number of instruments we have beyond the number that is strictly
necessary for consistent estimation.
This test is an overall specification test: the joint null hypothesis is that the
model is correctly specified and that the W form valid instruments (e.g., that
the variables classified as exogs really are uncorrelated with Rejection can
Z is misspecified, or that there is correlation
mean that either the model y
between X and
Note that since
IV
and
s IV
A
PW A
we can write
s IV
W W
W
1W
W W
W
n
1W
n RSSIV W T SSIV
nR2u
where R2u is the uncentered R2 from a regression of the IV residuals on all of the
instruments W . This is a convenient way to calculate the test statistic.
On an aside, consider IV estimation of a just-identified model, using the standard notation
182
and W is the matrix of instruments. If we have exact identification then cols W
cols X The transformed model is
PW X PW
PW y
and the fonc are
X
PW y
X IV
The IV estimator is
IV
X
PW X
X
PW y
Considering the inverse here
1
X
PW X
W
X
W
X
W
X
1
X
W W
W
X
W W
W
W
W X
W
Now multiplying this by X
PW y we obtain
IV
W
X
W
X
W
X
1
1
W
W X
W
W
W X
W
W
y
183
X
PW y
X
W W
W 1W
y
The objective function for the generalized IV estimator is
s IV
X IV
PW y
X IV
X IV
y
PW y
IV
X
PW y
X IV
X
PW X IV
IV
X
PW y
IV
X IV
y
PW y
X IV
y
PW y
IV
X
PW y X
PW X IV
y
PW y
X IV
by the fonc for generalized IV. However, when were in the just indentified case, this
is
s IV
y
PW y
W
y
y
PW I
X W
X
X W
X
y
W W
W
W
y
W W
W
W
X W
X
W
y
The value of the objective function of the IV estimator is zero in the just identified case.
This makes sense, since weve already shown that the objective function after dividing
by 2 is asymptotically 2 with degrees of freedom equal to the number of overidentifying restrictions. In the present case, there are no overidentifying restrictions, so we
have a 2 0 rv, which has mean 0 and variance 0, e.g., its simply 0. This means were
not able to test the identifying restrictions in the case of exact identification.
184
11.8 System methods of estimation
2SLS is a single equation method of estimation, as noted above. The advantage of a
single equation method is that its unaffected by the other equations of the system, so
they dont need to be specified (except for defining what are the exogs, so 2SLS can
use the complete set of instruments). The disadvantage of 2SLS is that its inefficient,
in general.
Recall that overidentification improves efficiency of estimation, since an overidentified equation can use more instruments than are necessary for consistent
estimation.
Secondly, the assumption is that
XB E
E X
E
0 K
G
N 0
vec E
Since there is no autocorrelation of the Et s, and since the columns of E are
individually homoscedastic, then
11 In 12 In
22 In
1G In
..
.
. . ..
. .
GG In
In
This means that the structural equations are heteroscedastic and correlated with
one another
185
In general, ignoring this will lead to inefficient estimation, following the section on GLS. When equations are correlated with one another estimation should
account for the correlation in order to obtain efficiency.
Also, since the equations are correlated, information about one equation is implicitly information about all equations. Therefore, overidentification restrictions in any equation improve efficiency for all equations, even the just identified
equations.
Single equation methods cant use these types of information, and are therefore
inefficient (in general).
11.8.1 3SLS
Following our above notation, each structural equation can be written as
Yi 1 Xi 1 i
yi
Zi i i
Grouping the G equations together we get
y1
Z1 0
0
..
.
yG
y2
..
.
0
..
.
Z2
..
ZG
or
y
186
2
..
.
2
..
.
. 0
where we already have that
E
In
The 3SLS estimator is just 2SLS combined with a GLS correction that takes advantage
of the structure of Define Z as
X X
X
1X
Z1
0
Z
X X
X
0
..
.
1X
Z2
..
0
..
.
. 0
X X
X
1X
ZG
Y1 X1
0
..
.
0
..
.
0
Y2 X2
..
. 0
YG XG
These instruments are simply the unrestricted rf predicitions of the endogs, combined with the exogs. The distinction is that if the model is overidentified, then
may be subject to some zero restrictions, depending on the restrictions on and B
does not impose these restrictions. Also, note that
is calculated using OLS
and
equation by equation. More on this later.
187
The 2SLS estimator would be
Z
Z 1 Z
y
as can be verified by simple multiplication, and noting that the inverse of a blockdiagonal matrix is just the matrix with the inverses of the blocks on the main diagonal.
This IV estimator still ignores the covariance information. The natural extension is
to add the GLS transformation, putting the inverse of the error covariance into the
formula, which gives the 3SLS estimator
3SLS
In
In
Z
In Z
Z
In y
This estimator requires knowledge of The solution is to define a feasible estimator
using a consistent estimator of The obvious solution is to use an estimator based on
the 2SLS residuals:
i
yi
Zi i 2SLS
(IMPORTANT NOTE: this is calculated using Zi not Z i Then the element i j of
is estimated by
i
j
n
i j
Substitute into the formula above to get the feasible 3SLS estimator.
Analogously to what we did in the case of 2SLS, the asymptotic distribution of the
3SLS estimator can be shown to be
n 3SLS
N 0 lim E
188
In
n
A formula for estimating the variance of the 3SLS estimator in finite samples (cancelling out the powers of n is
V 3SLS
In Z
1
This is analogous to the 2SLS formula in equation (??), combined with the GLS
correction.
In the case that all equations are just identified, 3SLS is numerically equivalent
to 2SLS. Proving this is easiest if we use a GMM interpretation of 2SLS and
3SLS. GMM is presented in the next econometrics course. For now, take it on
faith.
calculated equation
The 3SLS estimator is based upon the rf parameter estimator
by equation using OLS:
which is simply
X
X
X
X
y
X
Y
y2
yG
that is, OLS equation by equation using all the exogs in the estimation of each column
of
It may seem odd that we use OLS on the reduced form, since the rf equations are
correlated:
Yt
Xt
B
Xt
Vt
189
Et
and
Vt
N 0
Et
Let this var-cov matrix be indicated by
OLS equation by equation to get the rf is equivalent to
y1
X 0
y2
..
.
0
..
.
yG
0
..
.
X
..
v1
2
..
.
. 0
v2
..
.
vG
where yi is the n 1 vector of observations of the ith endog, X is the entire n K matrix
of exogs, i is the ith column of and vi is the ith column of V Use the notation
X v
to indicate the pooled model. Following this notation, the error covariance matrix is
V v
In
This is a special case of a type of model known as a set of seemingly unrelated
equations (SUR) since the parameter vector of each equation is different. The
equations are contemporanously correlated, however. The general case would
have a different Xi for each equation.
Note that each equation of the system individually satisfies the classical assump190
tions.
However, pooled estimation using the GLS correction is more efficient, since
equation-by-equation estimation is equivalent to pooled estimation, since X is
block diagonal, but ignoring the covariance information.
The model is estimated by GLS, where is estimated using the OLS residuals
from equation-by-equation estimation, which are consistent.
In the special case that all the Xi are the same, which is true in the present case
OLS. To show this note that in this
of estimation of the rf parameters, SUR
case X
1. A
2. A
3. A
X Using the rules
In
B
B
B C
B
and
D
SUR
AC
In
BD we get
X
1
In
In
1
X
In
X
In
IG
2
..
.
In
X
X
X
X
X
X
y
X
y
X
y
1
G
So the unrestricted rf coefficients can be estimated efficiently (assuming normality) by OLS, even if the equations are correlated.
191
We have ignored any potential zeros in the matrix which if they exist could
potentially increase the efficiency of estimation of the rf.
Another example where SUR OLS is in estimation of vector autoregressions.
See two sections ahead.
11.8.2 FIML
Full information maximum likelihood is an alternative estimation method. FIML will
be asymptotically efficient, since ML estimators based on a given information set are
asymptotically efficient w.r.t. all other estimators that use the same information set,
and in the case of the full-information ML estimator we use the entire information set.
The 2SLS and 3SLS estimators dont require distributional assumptions, while FIML
of course does. Our model is, recall
Yt
Xt
B Et
N 0
Et
E Et Es
0t
s
The joint normality of Et means that the density for Et is the multivariate normal,
which is
2
g 2
det
1 2
1
exp
1
Et
1 Et
2
The transformation from Et to Yt requires the Jacobian
det
dEt
dYt
192
det
so the density for Yt is
2
G 2
det det
1 2
1
Y
2 t
exp
Xt
B
Yt
Xt
B
Given the assumption of independence over time, the joint log-likelihood function is
ln L B
nG
ln 2
2
n ln det
n
ln det
2
1 n
Y
2 t1 t
Xt
B
1
Yt
This is a nonlinear in the parameters objective function. Maximixation of this
can be done using iterative numeric methods. Well see how to do this in the
next section.
It turns out that the asymptotic distribution of 3SLS and FIML are the same,
assuming normality of the errors.
One can calculate the FIML estimator by iterating the 3SLS estimator, thus
avoiding the use of a nonlinear optimizer. The steps are
1. Calculate 3SLS and B 3SLS as normal.
2. Calculate
1
B 3SLS 3SLS
This is new, we didnt estimate in this way
before. This estimator may have some zeros in it. When Greene says
iterated 3SLS doesnt lead to FIML, he means this for a procedure that
but only updates and B and If you update
you do
doesnt update
converge to FIML.
3. Calculate the instruments Y
and calculate using and B to get the
X
estimated errors, applying the usual estimator.
4. Apply 3SLS using these new instruments and the estimate of
5. Repeat steps 2-4 until there is no change in the parameters.
193
Xt
B
FIML is fully efficient, since its an ML estimator that uses all information. This
implies that 3SLS is fully efficient when the errors are normally distributed.
Also, if each equation is just identified and the errors are normal, then 2SLS will
be fully efficient, since in this case 2SLS 3SLS.
When the errors arent normally distributed, the likelihood function is of course
different than whats written above.
194
12 Limited dependent variables
Note: this is limited in scope, just intended to give some flavor. Also, parts are note
even complete, and are maintained here only to facillitate completion at some point.
Up until now weve considered models where the lhs variable typically is assumed
to take on values on the real line. For example, if the model is yt
xt
t and
t is assumed to be normally distributed, then yt will also be normally distributed,
conditional on xt and therefore will take on values on This is unreasonable in many
cases. For example, economic variables are often nonnegative (for example prices and
quatities), or the variables may be restricted to integers (for example, the number of
visits to the doctor a person makes in a year). In this section well see a few examples
of models for these sorts of data.
12.1 Choice between two objects: the probit model
Suppose that an individual has to choose between two mutually exclusive possibilities,
for example, between one of two job offers. Let indirect utility in the two states be
v j p m z
j j
0 1 where p is a price vector, m is income, and z is a vector of
other variables related to the persons preferences or characteristics of the object. The
first object ( j
1 is chosen if
0 v0 m p z
v1 m p z
or if
0
v1 m p z
195
v0 m p z
Define
1 let x collect m p and z and let v x
v1 x
v0 x The first
object is chosen if
Define y
v x
1 if the consumer chooses object j
1 y
0 otherwise. The probability
the first object is chosen is
Pr y
1
F v x
p x
where are the parameters of the utility functions and the distribution function of
A fairly simple version of this model is the standard probit model. Suppose that
0 0 m p
0
v0 m p z
1 1 m p
1
v1 m p z
and
N
0
0 5 12
22
0 22
0 5 then
1
11 12
0
0
If we make the restrictions 11
N 0 1
Also,
v w
1
0
m p
196
0 m p
1
0
and
Pr y
where
1
m p
x
is the standard normal distribution function and is the vector formed of
the parameters and which are in turn functions of the parameters i , i and i
1 2
Each observation can be thought of as a Bernoulli trial with probability of success
equal to x
The density function for a single Bernoulli trial is
x
Pr y x
y
x
1 y
0 1
With n i.i.d. observations indexed by t, the likelihood function is
n
xt
yt
ln L
xt
1 yt
t 1
and the average log-likelihood function is
sn
1 n
yt ln xt
ni 1
1
yt ln 1
xt
This is a nonlinear in the parameters function. Well discuss how it can be maximized
later. Most packages for econometrics have a function to calculate
. With this its
not hard to program the likelihood function.
A few comments:
The parameters in are consistently estimated. On the other hand this has required making assumptions regarding the parameters 11 12 and 22 Without
197
these restrictions the distribution function of is not identified, so the other parameters arent identified. Also, knowledge of does not allow recovery of the
i i and i since there are twice as many unknowns as equations.
The particular restrictions used to get that
N 0 1 are not unique. We could
have just as well assumed that 0
N 0 1 and 1
0 This would give the same
distribution for
Binary response models of this sort are never identified without these sorts of
restrictions.
The logit model is very similar to the probit model. Under the logit model the j j
12
are assumed to be iid extreme value random variables. This leads to
F z
1
exp
z
so
Pr y
1
1
exp x
It turns out that the probit and logit models give very similar estimates for Pr y
and the marginal effects Dx Pr y
1
1 These functions and functionals of them are
usually of most interest. Therefore the choice between logit and probit models is not
very important, in the binary choice case. The coefficients are different (there is a
scaling factor that related the coefficients). However, the coefficient themselves arent
usually of much interest and they are difficult to interpret.
12.2 Count data
Another situation where a continuous normally distributed dependent variable is unreasonable is the case where it represent the number of times some event occurs. For
198
example, the dependent variable could be the number of auto accidents in a weekend, or the number of political leaders that make fools of themselve in a week. Such
variables are termed count data dependent variables.
The Poisson model is one of the simplest models for count data. The Poisson
density is
exp
fY y
y
y
y!
0 1 2
0
To allow for conditioning variables x, make a function of x We need to ensure that
is positive for all x The most popular parameterization is
exp x
The log-likelihood for an individual observation is
exp xt
st
yt exp xt
ln yt !
and the average likelihood function is just the sum of this divided by the sample size:
sn
1 n
n i1
exp xt
yt exp xt
ln yt !
With this, can be estimated by ML.
The Poisson model exhibits a restriction that may not be desirable. This is that
E y
V y
Usually there is no reason why the mean should be equal to the
variance. There are generalizations of the Poisson model that relax this restriction.
The way this is done is to make a function of another random variable, then integrate
199
this variable out. That is
exp x
f z
so the joint density of y and is the product of the conditional density of y given
and the marginal of :
fY y
exp
exp x
exp x
y
f
y!
and the marginal density of y is obtained by integrating out :
fY y
exp
exp x
z exp x
z y
f z dz
y!
This effectively introduces other parameters into the densisty which relax the Poisson
mean-variance restriction.
12.3 Duration data
In some cases the dependent variable may be the time that passes between the occurence of two events. For example, it may be the duration of a strike, or the time
needed to find a job once one is unemployed. Such variables take on values on the
positive real line, and are referred to as duration data.
A spell is the period of time between the occurence of initial event and the concluding event. For example, the initial event could be the loss of a job, and the final
event is the finding of a new job. The spell is the period of unemployment.
Let t0 be the time the initial event occurs, and t1 be the time the concluding event
occurs. For simplicity, assume that time is measured in years. The random variable D
200
is the duration of the spell, D
t1
t0 . Define the density function of D f D t with
distribution function FD t
Pr D
t
Several questions may be of interest. For example, one might wish to know the
expected time one has to wait to find a job given that one has already waited s years.
The probability that a spell lasts s years is
Pr D
s
Pr D
s
FD s
The density of D conditional on the spell already having lasted s years is
fD t
1 FD s
fD t D
s
The expectanced additional time required for the spell to end given that is has already
lasted s years is the expectation of D with respect to this density, minus s
E DD
s
s
fD z
ds
z
1 FD s
s
To estimate this function, one needs to specify the density f D t as a parametric
density, then estimate by maximum likelihood. There are a number of possibilities
including the exponential density, the lognormal, etc. A reasonably flexible model that
is a generalization of the exponential density is the Weibull density
fD t
According to this model, E D
e
t
The log-likelihood is just the product of the log
densities.
To illustrate application of this model, 402 observations on the length (in months)
of strikes in the industrial sector were used to fit a Weibull model. The parameter
201
estimates are
lllParameterEstimateSt Error
& 0.559 & 0.034 \\\(\gamma\)& 0.867 & 0.033\end{tabular}\end{equation} and the
log-likelihood value is -659.3
A plot of E with 95% confidence bands follows. The plot is accompanied by
a nonparametric Kaplan-Meier estimate of life-expectancy. This nonparametric estimator of E simply averages all spell lengths greater than t and subtracts t This is
consistent by the LLN.
In the figure one can seel that the model doesnt fit the data well, in that it predicts
E quite differently than does the nonparametric model. It seems that many strikes end
quickly, since E is relatively low initially, but that if a strike lasts a month then it is
likely to last considerably longer. Due to the dramatic change in the rate that spells
end as a function of t, one might specify f D t as a mixture of two Weibull densities,
fD t
1 t
1
1 1 1 t
1 1
1
2 t
The parameters i and i i
2
2 2 2 t
2 1
1 2 are the parameters of the two Weibull densities, and
is the parameter that mixes the two.
With the same data, can be estimated using the mixed model. The results are a
log-likelihood = -623.17. The parameter estimates are
Parameter
Estimate St. Error
0.233
0.016
1.722
0.166
1.731
0.101
1.522
0.096
0.428
0.035
202
This model leads to a fit for E in the figure
Note that the parametric and nonparametric fits are quite close to one another, up
to around 6 months. The disagreement after this point is not too important, since
less that 5% of strikes last more than 6 months, which implies that the Kaplan-Meier
nonparametric estimate has a high variance (since its an average of a small number of
observations).
12.4 The Newton method
The Newton-Raphson method uses information about the slope and curvature of the
objective function to determine which direction and how far to move from an initial
point. Supposing were trying to maximize sn Take a second order Taylors series
approximation of sn about k (an initial guess).
sn sn k
g k
k
1 2
H k
k
To attempt to maximize sn we can maximize the portion of the right-hand side that
depends on e.g, we can maximize
s
g k
1 2
H k
k
with respect to This is a much easier problem, since it is a quadratic function in
so it has linear first order conditions. These are
D s
g k
H k
k
203
So the solution for the next round estimate is
k
H k 1 g k
However, its good to include a stepsize, since the approximation to s n may be
bad far away from the maximizer so the actual iteration formula is
k
ak H k
1
g k
A potential problem is that the Hessian may not be negative definite when were
far from the maximizing point. So
H k
1g
H k
may not be positive definite, and
k may not define an increasing direction of search. This can hap-
pen when the objective function may have flat regions, in which case the Hessian matrix is very ill-conditioned (e.g., is nearly singular), or when were in the
vicinity of a local minimum, H k is positive definite, and our direction is a decreasing direction of search. Matrix inverses by computers are subject to large
errors when the matrix is ill-conditioned. Also, we certainly dont want to go
in the direction of a minimum when were maximizing. To solve this problem,
Quasi-Newton methods simply add a positive definite component to H to ensure that the resulting matrix is positive definite, e.g., Q
H
bI where b
is chosen large enough so that Q is well-conditioned. This has the benefit that
improvement in the objective function is guaranteed.
Another variation of quasi-Newton methods is to approximate the Hessian by
using successive gradient evaluations. This avoids actual calculation of the Hessian, which is an order of magnitude (in the dimension of the parameter vector)
more costly than calculation of the gradient. They can be done to ensure that the
204
approximation is p.d. DFP and BFGS are two well-known examples.
Example of Newton iterations
Consider the funcion
f x
ln x
x
1 0 e
1 0
1 0x
1 058416 (approximately) as we can see by
This has a maximum at the point x
f
1 058416
2 206 10
0 5 The second order
Consider applying Newton-Raphson. The initial point is z
approximation is
g x
f z
f
z x
z
1
f
z x
2
z
Plotting the true function and the approximation:
The next round expansion point is obtained by maximizing the approximation:
g x Candidate(s) for extrema:
82563
at
78371
Now set the expansion point to the new value, and re-plot:
z2
78371
g2 x
f
z2 x
f z2
1
f
z
2
2
z2
g2 x Candidate(s) for extrema:
73735
z2
at
99458
Another round:
z3
g3 x
99458
f z3
f
z3 x
z3
g3 x Candidate(s) for extrema:
1
f
z
3
2
72907
z3
at
1 055
So after two NR
iterations were already pretty close to the maximum and the approximation is quite
205
close to the function, up to second order.
Stopping criteria
The last thing we need is to decide when to stop. A digital computer is subject to
limited machine precision and round-off errors. For these reasons, it is unreasonable
to hope that a program can exactly find the point that maximizes a function, and in
fact, more than about 6-10 decimals of precision is usually infeasible. Some stopping
criteria are:
Negligable change in parameters:
kj
kj
kj
1
Negligable relative change:
kj
2
kj 1
Negligable change of function:
s k
s k
Gradient negligibly different from zero:
g j k
g j k
Or, even better, check all of these.
Also, if were maximizing, its good to check that the last round Hessian is
negative definite.
206
Starting values
The Newton-Raphson and related algorithms work well if the objective function
is concave (when maximizing), but not so well if there are convex regions and local
minima or multiple local maxima. The algorithm may converge to a local minimum
or to a local maximum that is not optimal. The algorithm may also have difficulties
converging at all.
The usual way to ensure that a global maximum has been found is to use
many different starting values, and choose the solution that returns the highest
objective function value. THIS IS IMPORTANT in practice.
207
13 Models for time series data
This section can be ignored in its present form. Just left in to form a basis for completion (by someone else ?!) at some point.
Hamilton, Time Series Analysis is a good reference for this section. This is very
incomplete and contributions would be very welcome.
Up to now weve considered the behavior of the dependent variable yt as a function
of other variables xt These variables can of course contain lagged dependent variables,
e.g., xt
wt yt
1
yt
j
Pure time series methods consider the behavior of yt as
a function only of its own lagged values, unconditional on other observable variables.
One can think of this as modeling the behavior of yt after marginalizing out all other
variables. While its not immediately clear why a model that has other explanatory
variables should marginalize to a linear in the parameters time series model, most time
series work is done with linear models, though nonlinear time series is also a large and
growing field. Well stick with linear time series models.
13.1 Basic concepts
Definition 20 (Stochastic process) A stochastic process is a sequence of random variables, indexed by time:
Yt
t
(12)
Definition 21 (Time series) A time series is one observation of a stochastic process,
over a specific interval:
yt
n
t 1
(13)
So a time series is a sample of size n from a stochastic process. Its important to
keep in mind that conceptually, one could draw another sample, and that the values
would be different.
208
Definition 22 (Autocovariance) The jth autocovariance of a stochastic process is
E yt
jt
where t
E yt
t yt
j
(14)
j
Definition 23 (Covariance (weak) stationarity) A stochastic process is covariance
stationary if it has time constant mean and autocovariances of all orders:
jt
j t
As weve seen, this implies that j
: the autocovariances depend only one the
interval between observations, but not the time of the observations.
Definition 24 (Strong stationarity) A stochastic process is strongly stationary if the
joint distribution of an arbitrary collection of the Yt doesnt depend on t
Since moments are determined by the distribution, strong stationarity
weak sta-
tionarity.
What is the mean of Yt ? The time series is one sample from the stochastic process.
One could think of M repeated samples from the stoch. proc., e.g., ytm By a LLN,
we would expect that
1 M
lim
ytm
M M
m 1
p EY
t
The problem is, we have only one sample to work with, since we cant go back in time
and collect another. How can E Yt be estimated then? It turns out that ergodicity is
the needed property.
209
Definition 25 (Ergodicity) A stationary stochastic process is ergodic (for the mean)
if the time average converges to the mean
1 n
yt
n t1
p
(15)
A sufficient condition for ergodicity is that the autocovariances be absolutely summable:
j
j 0
This implies that the autocovariances die off, so that the yt are not so strongly dependent that they dont satisfy a LLN.
Definition 26 (Autocorrelation) The jth autocorrelation, j is just the jth autocovariance divided by the variance:
j
j
0
(16)
Definition 27 (White noise) White noise is just the time series literature term for a
classical error. t is white noise if i) E t
are independent, t
0 t ii) V t
t and iii) t and s
s Gaussian white noise just adds a normality assumption.
13.2 ARMA models
With these concepts, we can discuss ARMA models. These are closely related to the
AR and MA error processes that weve already discussed. The main difference is that
the lhs variable is observed directly now.
210
13.2.1 MA(q) processes
A qth order moving average (MA) process is
t 1 t
yt
2 t
q t
where t is white noise. The variance is
E yt
E t 1 t
2 t
2 1 21 22
q t
2q
q
Similarly, the autocovariances are
j
j j
0 j
1 1
2 2
q q
j
j
Therefore an MA(q) process is necessarily covariance stationary and ergodic, as long
as 2 and all of the j are finite.
13.2.2 AR(p) processes
An AR(p) process can be represented as
yt
c 1 yt
2 yt
211
p yt
The dynamic behavior of an AR(p) process can be studied by writing this pth order
difference equation as a vector first order difference equation:
yt
yt
..
.
1
0
..
.
yt
1 2
p 1
0
..
.
1
..
0
..
yt
. 0
..
. 0
Et
yt
..
.
yt
0
..
.
..
or
Yt
C FYt
With this, we can recursively work forward in time:
Yt
C FYt Et
C F C FYt
Et
Et
C FC F 2Yt
FEt Et
C FYt
Et
C F C FC F 2Yt
FEt Et
and
Yt
C FC F 2C F 3Yt
1
F 2 Et FEt
Et
Et
FEt
or in general
Yt
C FC
F jC F j 1Yt
F j Et F j
212
Et
j 1
Et
j
Consider the impact of a shock in period t on yt
Yt j
Et
This is simply
F11
11
If the system is to be stationary, then as we move forward in time this impact must
die off. Otherwise a shock causes a permanent change in the mean of yt Therefore,
stationarity requires that
j
lim F 1 1
0
Save this result, well need it in a minute.
Consider the eigenvalues of the matrix F These are the for such that
IP
F
The determinant here can be expressed as a polynomial. for example, for p
matrix F is simply
1
F
so
can be written as
1
When p
2 the matrix F is
0
1 2
213
1 the
so
IP
2
1
and
IP
F
2
1
2
So the eigenvalues are the roots of the polynomial
2
1
2
which can be found using the quadratic equation. This generalizes. For a pth order AR
process, the eigenvalues are the roots of
p
1
p 2 2
p
1
Supposing that all of the roots of this polynomial are distinct, then the matrix F can be
factored as
T T
where T is the matrix which has as its columns the eigenvectors of F and is a
diagonal matrix with the eigenvalues on the main diagonal. Using this decomposition,
we can write
Fj
where T T
T T
1
T T
1
is repeated j times. This gives
Fj
T jT
214
T T
1
and
j
1
j
2
..
j
p
0
Supposing that the i i
1 2 p are all real valued, it is clear that
lim F 1 1
0
requires that
i
1 2 p
1i
e.g., the eigenvalues must be less than one in absolute value.
It may be the case that some eigenvalues are complex-valued. The previous
result generalizes to the requirement that the eigenvalues be less than one in
modulus, where the modulus of a complex number a bi is
mod a bi
a2 b2
This leads to the famous statement that stationarity requires the roots of the
determinantal polynomial to lie inside the complex unit circle. draw picture
here.
When there are roots on the unit circle (unit roots) or outside the unit circle, we
leave the world of stationary processes.
Dynamic multipliers: yt
F 1 1 is a dynamic multiplier or an impulse
response function. Real eigenvalues lead to steady movements, whereas comlpex
215
eigenvalue lead to ocillatory behavior. Of course, when there are multiple eigenvalues the overall effect can be a mixture. pictures
Invertibility of AR process
To begin with, define the lag operator L
Lyt
yt
The lag operator is defined to behave just as an algebraic quantity, e.g.,
L2 yt
L Lyt
Lyt
yt
1
2
or
L 1 L yt
1
1
Lyt Lyt
yt
L2 yt
A mean-zero AR(p) process can be written as
yt
1 yt
2 yt
2
p yt
or
yt 1
1 L
2 L2
216
pL p
Factor this polynomial as
1 L
2 L2
pL p
1 L 1
1
2 L
1
pL
For the moment, just assume that the i are coefficients to be determined. Since L is
defined to operate as an algebraic quantitiy, determination of the i is the same as
determination of the i such that the following two expressions are the same for all z :
1 z
2 z2
p
1 z1
2 z2
p
and now define
p
1 p
1
pz p
1 z 1
2 z
1
pz
Multiply both sides by z
p
1z
1 z
1
2
1
p
so we get
2 p
2
1
1
2
p
The LHS is precisely the determinantal polynomial that gives the eigenvalues of F
Therefore, the i that are the coefficients of the factorization are simply the eigenvalues
of the matrix F
Now consider a different stationary process
1
L yt
Stationarity, as above, implies that
217
1
Multiply both sides by 1 L 2 L2
1 L 2 L2
jL j
L yt
j L j to get
1 L 2 L2
j L j t
or, multiplying the polynomials on th LHS, we get
1 L 2 L2
jL j
L
2 L2
1 L 2 L2
jL j
1L j 1
yt
j L j t
and with cancellations we have
1
1 j 1
yt
1 L 2 L2
j L j t
so
j
yt
1 j 1
1 L 2 L2
yt
j 1 L j 1 y 0 since
t
Now as j
j L j t
1 so
yt
1 L 2 L2
j L j t
and the approximation becomes better and better as j increases. However, we started
with
1
L yt
Substituting this into the above equation we have
yt
1 L 2 L2
218
jL j
1
L yt
so
1 L 2 L2
jL j
L
and the approximation becomes arbitrarily good as j increases arbitrarily. Therefore,
for
1 define
L
jL j
j 0
Recall that our mean zero AR(p) process
yt 1
1 L
2 L2
pL p
can be written using the factorization
yt 1
1 L 1
2 L
1
pL
where the are the eigenvalues of F and given stationarity, all the i
1 Therefore,
we can invert each first order polynomial on the LHS to get
yt
j
1 L j
j 0
j
2 L j
j 0
pj L j
j 0
The RHS is a product of infinite-order polynomials in L which can be represented as
yt
1 1 L 2 L2
t
where the i are real-valued and absolutely summable.
The i are formed of products of powers of the i , which are in turn functions
of the i
The i are real-valued because any complex-valued i always occur in conju219
gate pairs. This means that if a bi is an eigenvalue of F then so is a
bi In
multiplication
a bi a
a2
bi
abi abi
b 2 i2
a2 b2
which is real-valued.
This shows that an AR(p) process is representable as an infinite-order MA(q)
process.
Recall before that by recursive substitution, an AR(p) process can be written as
Yt
C FC
F jC F j 1Yt
F j Et F j
Et
FEt
j 1
Et
If the process is mean zero, then everything with a C drops out. Take this and
lag it by j periods to get
Yt
As j
F j 1Yt
j 1
F j Et
Fj
Et
j 1
the lagged Y on the RHS drops out. The E
t
FEt
Et
are vectors of zeros
except for their first element, so we see that the first equation here, in the limit,
is just
yt
j 0
Fj
11 t j
which makes explicit the relationship between the i and the i (and the i as
well, recalling the previous factorization of F j
Moments of AR(p) process
220
The AR(p) process is
c 1 yt
yt
2 yt
p yt
p yt
Assuming stationarity, E yt
t so
c 1 2
so
1
c
2
and
c
1
p
so
yt
1 yt
p 1 yt
2 yt
2 yt
1
2
p yt
p
With this, the second moments are easy to find: The variance is
0
1 1 2 2
The autocovariances of orders j
1 follow the rule
E yt
j
E 1 yt
1
p p 2
2 yt
1 j
2
1
yt
2 j
221
2
j
p yt
t yt
p j
p
j
Using the fact that
j one can take the p 1 equations for j
have p 1 unknowns (2 0 1
for j
0 1 p, which
p and solve for the unknowns. With these, the j
p can be solved for recursively.
13.2.3 Invertibility of MA(q) process
An MA(q) can be written as
yt
1 1 L
q Lq t
As before, the polynomial on the RHS can be factored as
1 1 L
and each of the 1
q Lq
1 L 1
2 L
i L can be inverted as long as i
1
q L
1 If this is the case, then
we can write
1 1 L
1
q Lq
yt
where
1 1 L
q Lq
will be an infinite-order polynomial in L so we get
j L j yt
j 0
with 0
1 or
yt
1 yt
1
2 yt
222
2
or
c 1 yt
yt
2 yt
where
1 2
So we see that an MA(q) has an infinite AR representation, as long as the i
1
1 2 q
It turns out that one can always manipulate the parameters of an MA(q) process
to find an invertible representation. For example, the two MA(1) processes
yt
L t
and
yt
1 L t
1
have exactly the same moments if
2 2
2
For example, weve seen that
0
2 1 2
Given the above relationships amongst the parameters,
0
2 2 1
2 1 2
so the variances are the same. It turns out that all the autocovariances will be the
223
same, as is easily checked. This means that the two MA processes are observationally equivalent. As before, its impossible to distinguish between observationally equivalent processes on the basis of data.
For a given MA(q) process, its always possible to manipulate the parameters to
find an invertible representation (which is unique).
Its important to find an invertible representation, since its the only representation that allows one to represent t as a function of past y
s The other representations express
Why is invertibility important? The most important reason is that it provides a
justification for the use of parsimonious models. Since an AR(1) process has an
MA( representation, one can reverse the argument and note that at least some
MA( processes have an AR(1) representation. At the time of estimation, its a
lot easier to estimate the single AR(1) coefficient rather than the infinite number
of coefficients associated with the MA representation.
This is the reason that ARMA models are popular. Combining low-order AR
and MA models can usually offer a satisfactory representation of univariate time
series data with a reasonable number of parameters.
Stationarity and invertibility of ARMA models is similar to what weve seen we wont go into the details. Likewise, calculating moments is similar.
Exercise 28 Calculate the autocovariances of an ARMA(1,1) model: 1 L yt
c
1 L t
224
14 Introduction to the second half
Well begin with study of extremum estimators in general. Let Zn be the available data,
based on a sample of size n.
Definition 29 [Extremum estimator] An extremum estimator is the optimizing ele
ment of an objective function sn Zn over a set .
Well write the objective function suppressing the dependence on Z n
Example 30 Least squares, linear model
xt
0
Let the d.g.p. be yt
cally, yn
t t
1 2 n 0
Xn 0 n where Xn
x1 x2
xn
Stacking observations verti-
The least squares estimator
is defined as
arg min sn
We readily find that
1X
X
X
Xn
yn
1 n yn
Xn
y
Example 31 Maximum likelihood
Suppose that the continuous random variable yt
IIN 0 1 The maximum like
lihood estimator is defined as
arg max Ln
n
2
1 2
exp
yt
2
t 1
Because the logarithmic function is strictly increasing on 0 , maximization of the
average logarithm of the likelihood function is achieved at the same as for the likelihood function:
arg max sn
1 n ln Ln
1 2 ln 2
n
1 n
t 1
225
yt
Solution of the f.o.c. leads to the familiar result that
y
MLE estimators are asymptotically efficient (Cramr-Rao theorem), supposing
the strong distributional assumptions upon which they are based are true.
One can investigate the properties of an ML estimator supposing that the distributional assumptions are incorrect. This gives a quasi-ML estimator, which
well study later.
The strong distributional assumptions of MLE may be questionable in many
cases. It is possible to estimate using weaker distributional assumptions based
only on some of the moments of a random variable(s).
Example 32 Method of moments
Suppose we draw a random sample of yt from the 2 0 distribution. Here, 0 is
the parameter of interest. The first moment (expectation), 1 of a random variable will
in general be a function of the parameters of the distribution, i.e., 1 0 .
1 0 is a moment-parameter equation.
In this example, the relationship is the identity function 1 0
0 though in
general the relationship may be more complicated. The sample first moment is
n
yt
n
t 1
Define
m1
1
The method of moments principle is to choose the estimator of the parameter
to set the estimate of the population moment equal to the sample moment, i.e.,
226
m1
0. Then the moment-parameter equation is inverted to solve for the
parameter estimate.
In this case,
m1
yt
0
t 1
Since tn 1 yt n
p 0 by the LLN, the estimator is consistent.
Example 33 Method of moments, continued.
Continuing with the above example, the variance of a 2 0 r.v. is
E yt
20
Define
m2
V yt
tn
yt
n
y2
The MM estimator would set
m2
tn
yt
n
y2
0
Again, by the LLN, the sample variance is consistent for the true variance, that
is,
tn
1
yt
n
So,
tn
p 20
y2
1
yt
2n
y2
which is obtained by inverting the moment-parameter equation, is consistent.
Example 34 Generalized method of moments (GMM)
227
The previous two examples give two estimators of 0 which are both consistent.
With a given sample, the estimators will be different in general.
With two moment-parameter equations and only one parameter, we have overidentification, which means that we have more information than is strictly necessary for consistent estimation of the parameter.
The GMM combines information from the two moment-parameter equations
to form a new estimator which will be more efficient, in general (proof of this
below).
From the first example, define m1t
yt We already have that m1 is the
sample average of m1t i.e.,
1 n m1t
m1
t 1
n
yt
n
t 1
Clearly, when evaluated at the true parameter value 0 both E m1t 0
E m1 0
0 and
0.
From the second example we define additional moment conditions
m2t
yt
and
m2
2
tn
Again, it is clear from the LLN that m2 0
set either m1
0 or m2
1
y2
yt
n
y2
0 The MM estimator would chose to
as
0 In general, no single value of will solve the two
equations simultaneously.
228
The GMM estimator is based on defining a measure of distance d m where
m
m1 m2
and choosing
arg min sn
d m
m
Am where A is a positive definite ma-
An example would be to choose d m
trix. While its clear that the MM gives consistent estimates if there is a one-to-one
relationship between parameters and moments, its not immediately obvious that the
GMM estimator is consistent. (Well see later that it is.)
These examples show that these widely used estimators may all be interpreted as
the solution of an optimization problem. For this reason, the study of extremum estimators is useful for its generality. We will see that the general results extend smoothly
to the more specialized results available for specific estimators. After studying extremum estimators in general, we will study the GMM estimator, then QML and NLS.
The reason we study GMM first is that LS, IV, NLS, MLE, QML and other well-known
parametric estimators may all be interpreted as special cases of the GMM estimator,
so the general results on GMM can simplify and unify the treatment of these other
estimators. Nevertheless, there are some special results on QML and NLS, and both
are important in empirical research, which makes focus on them useful.
One of the focal points of the course will be nonlinear models. This is not to
suggest that linear models arent useful. Linear models are more general than they
might first appear, since one can employ nonlinear transformations of the variables:
0 yt
1
xt
2 xt
229
p xt
For example,
x1t x21t x1t x2t t
ln yt
fits this form.
The important point is that the model is linear in the parameters but not necessarily linear in the variables.
In spite of this generality, situations often arise which simply can not be convincingly
represented by linear in the parameters models.
Example 35 Expenditure shares
Roys Identity states that the quantity demanded of the ith of G goods is
xi
v p y pi
v p y y
An expenditure share is
si
so necessarily si
0 1 and G
i 1 si
p i xi y
1.
No linear in the parameters model for xi or si with a parameter space that is defined
independent of the data can guarantee that either of these conditions holds. These
constraints will often be violated by estimated linear models, which calls into question
their appropriateness in cases of this sort.
Example 36 Binary limited dependent variable
Suppose there is a latent process
x
0
230
but that y is not observed. Rather we observe only the sign of y :
1y
0
1 x
0
so that y is either 0 or 1. In this case, we can write
F x
0
y
E
0
One could estimate this by (nonlinear) least squares
1
y
n
t
arg min
F x
2
The main point is that it is impossible that F x
0 can be written as a linear in the
parameters model, in the sense that there are no x such that
F x
0
x
x
where x is a p-vector valued function of the vector x and is a p dimensional
parameter. This is because for any x we can always find a such that x
will be
negative or greater than 1 which is illogical.
Since this sort of problem occurs often in empirical work, it is useful to study NLS
and other nonlinear models.
After discussing these estimation methods for parametric models well briefly introduce nonparametric estimation methods. These methods allow one, for example, to
231
estimate f xt consistently when we are not willing to assume that a model of the form
yt
f xt
can be restricted to a parametric form
Pr t
where f
yt
f xt
z
F z xt
and perhaps F z xt are of known functional form. This is important
since economic theory gives us general information about functions and the signs of
their derivatives, but not about their specific form.
The final section deals with simulation methods in econometrics. These methods
allow us to substitute computer power for mental power. Since computer power is
becoming relatively cheap compared to mental effort, any econometrician who lives
by the principles of economic theory should be interested in these techniques.
232
15 Notation and review
All vectors will be column vectors, unless they have a transpose symbol (or I
forget to apply this rule - your help catching typos and er0rors is much appreciated). For example, if xt is a p 1 vector, xt
is a 1 p vector. When I refer to a
p-vector, I mean a column vector.
15.1 Notation for differentiation of vectors and matrices
[?, Chapter 1]
Let s
: p
be a real valued function of the p-vector Then
nized as a p-vector,
s
..
.
s
p
is orga-
s
2
s
1
Following this convention,
2 s
is a 1 p vector and
s
s
a x
x
a.
n be a n-vector valued function of the p-vector . Let f
be
the 1 n valued transpose of f . Then
is a p p matrix. Also,
Exercise 37 For a and x both p-vectors, show that
Let f : p
2 s
Product rule: Let f : p
f
f
n and h : p n be n-vector valued func
tions of the p-vector . Then
h
f
233
has dimension 1 p Applying the transposition rule we get
h
f
which has dimension p 1
Exercise 38 For A a p p matrix and x a p 1 vector, show that
Chain Rule: Let f
ment, and let g :r
: p
x Ax
x
A A
.
n a n-vector valued function of a p-vector argu-
p be a p-vector valued function of an r-vector valued
argument . Then
f g
f
g
g
has dimension n r
Exercise 39 For x and both p 1 vectors, show that
exp x
exp x
x.
15.2 Convergenge modes
Readings: [Davidson and MacKinnon (1993), Chapter 4];[?, Chapter 4].
We will consider several modes of convergence. The first three modes discussed
are simply for background. The stochastic modes are those which will be used later in
the course.
Definition 40 A sequence is a mapping from the natural numbers 1 2
n
n 1
n to some other set, so that the set is ordered according to the natural numbers as
sociated with its elements.
234
Real-valued sequences:
Definition 41 [Convergence] A real-valued sequence of vectors a n converges to the
vector a if for any
0 there exists an integer N such that for all n
a
. a is the limit of an written an
an
a
Deterministic real-valued functions
Consider a sequence of functions f n
fn :
where
T
may be an arbitrary set.
fn
Definition 42 [Pointwise convergence] A sequence of functions
pointwise on to the function f ( if for all
N such that
fn
f
0 and
n
converges
there exists an integer
N
Its important to note that N depends upon so that converge may be much
more rapid for certain than for others. Uniform convergence requires a similar rate
of convergence throughout
Definition 43 [Uniform convergence] A sequence of functions f n
formly on to the function f ( if for any
sup fn
f
converges uni
0 there exists an integer N such that
N
(insert a diagram here showing the envelope around f in which f n must lie)
235
Stochastic sequences
In econometrics, we typically deal with stochastic sequences. Given a probability
space F P
recall that a random variable maps the sample space to the real
line, i.e., X :
A sequence of random variables Xn
is a collection
of such mappings, i.e., each Xn is a random variable with respect to the probabil
ity space F P
X
X
For example, given the model Y
X 0 the OLS estimator
X
Y where n is the sample size, can be used to form a sequence of ran
dom vectors n . A number of modes of convergence are in use when dealing with
sequences of random variables. Several such modes of convergence should already be
familiar:
Definition 44 [Convergence in probability] Let Xn be a sequence of random vari
ables, and let X be a random variable. Let An
: Xn
X
. Then
Xn
converges in probability to X if
lim P An
Convergence in probability is written as Xn
0
p X or plim X
n
X
Definition 45 [Almost sure convergence] Let Xn be a sequence of random vari
ables, and let X be a random variable. Let A
Xn
: limn
Xn
X . Then
converges almost surely to X if
P A
1
X (ordinary convergence of the two functions) except on
a s
A such that P C
0 Almost sure convergence is written as Xn
X
In other words, Xn
a set C
236
or Xn
X a s One can show that
Xn
as
p X
Xn
Definition 46 [Convergence in distribution] Let the r.v. Xn have distribution function
Fn and the r.v. Xn have distribution function F If Fn
F at every continuity point of
F then Xn converges in distribution to X
Convergence in distribution is written as Xn
d X It can be shown that convergence in
probability implies convergence in distribution.
Stochastic functions
a s 0
Simple laws of large numbers (LLNs) allow us to directly conclude that n
in
the OLS example, since
n
and
X
n
X
X
n
X
n
a s0 by a SLLN. Note that this term is not a function of the parameter
This easy proof is a result of the linearity of the model, which allows us to express
the estimator in a way that separates parameters from random functions. In general,
this is not possible. We often deal with the more complicated situation where the
stochastic sequence depends on parameters in a manner that is not reducible to a simple
sequence of random variables. In this case, we have a sequence of random functions
that depend on : Xn
where each Xn is a random variable with respect to
a probability space F P and the parameter belongs to a parameter space
Definition 47 [Uniform almost sure convergence] Xn
237
converges uniformly al-
most surely in to X if
lim sup Xn
X
0 (a.s.)
Implicit is the assumption that all Xn and X are random variables w.r.t.
F P for all
Well indicate uniform almost sure convergence by
up
uniform convergence in probability by
uas
and
An equivalent definition, based on the fact that almost sure means with probability one is
lim sup Xn
Pr
X
This has a form similar to that of the definition of a.s. convergence - the essential
difference is the addition of the sup.
15.3 Rates of convergence and asymptotic equality
Its often useful to have notation for the relative magnitudes of quantities. Quantities
that are small relative to others can often be ignored, which simplifies analysis.
Definition 48 [Little-o] Let f n and g n be two real-valued functions. The notation
f n
o g n means limn
f n
gn
0
Definition 49 [Big-O] Let f n and g n be two real-valued functions. The notation
f n
O g n means there exists some N such that for n
f n
gn
K where K is
a finite constant.
This definition doesnt require that
f n
gn
have a limit (it may fluctuate boundedly).
If fn and gn are sequences of random variables analogous definitions are
238
Definition 50 The notation f n
f n
gn
o p g n means
p 0
Example 51 The least squares estimator
1X
X
X
XX
Since plim
1X
X
X
0 we can write X
X
1
1X
X
X
1X
1X
X 0
o p 1 and
0 o p 1 Asymptotically, the term o p 1 is negligible. This is just a way of
indicating that the LS estimator is consistent.
Definition 52 The notation f n
0 and all n
O p g n means there exists some N such that for
f n
g n
where K is a finite constant.
Example 53 If Xn
O p 1 since, given there is always some K
N 0 1 then Xn
K
such that P Xn
Useful rules:
O p n p O p nq
o p n p o p nq
Op np
op np
Example 54 Consider a random sample of iid r.v.s with mean 0 and variance 2 .
The estimator of the mean
n1 2
N 0 2 So n1 2
1 n ni 1 xi is asymptotically normally distributed, e.g.,
O p 1 so
Op n
1 2
Before we had
o p 1 now
we have have the stronger result that relates the rate of convergence to the sample size.
Example 55 Now consider a random sample of iid r.v.s with mean and variance 2 .
The estimator of the mean
n1
2
A
N 0 2 So n1
1 n ni 1 xi is asymptotically normally distributed, e.g.,
2
O p 1 so
239
Op n
1 2
so
O p 1
These two examples show that averages of centered (mean zero) quantities typically have plim 0, while averages of uncentered quantities have finite nonzero plims.
Note that the definition of O p does not mean that f n and g n are of the same order.
Asymptotic equality ensures that this is the case.
Definition 56 Two sequences of random variables f n and gn are asymptotically
equal (written fn
gn if
f n
plim
g n
Finally, analogous almost sure versions of o p and O p are defined in the obvious
way.
240
16 Asymptotic properties of extremum estimators
Readings: Gourieroux and Monfort (1995), Vol. 2, Ch. 24 ; Amemiya, Ch. 4 section
4.1 ; Davidson and MacKinnon, pp. 591-96; Gallant, Ch. 3; Newey and McFadden
(1994), Large Sample Estimation and Hypothesis Testing, in Handbook of Econometrics, Vol. 4, Ch. 36.
16.1 Extremum estimators
In Definition 29 we defined an extremum estimator as the optimizing element of an
objective function sn over a set . Let the objective function sn Zn depend upon
z
a n p random matrix Zn
z2
zn
where the zt are p-vectors and p is
finite.
Example 57 Given the model yi
xi
i with n observations, define zi
yi xi
The OLS estimator minimizes
n
1 n yi
s n Zn
xi
2
i 1
1 n Y
X
where Y and X are defined similarly to Z
16.2 Consistency
The following theorem is patterned on a proof in Gallant (1987) (the article, ref. later),
which well see in its original form later in the course. It is interesting to compare
the following proof with Amemiyas Theorem 4.1.1, which is done in terms of convergence in probability.
241
Theorem 58 [Consistency of e.e.] Suppose that n is obtained by maximizing sn
over
Assume
1. Compactness: The parameter space is an open subset of Euclidean space K
The closure of is compact.
2. Uniform Convergence: There is a nonstochastic function s that is continuous in on such that
lim sup sn
s
0 a.s.
3. Identification: s
s
has a unique global maximum at 0
i.e., s 0
0
a s 0
Then n
Proof: Select a
and hold it fixed. Then sn
is a fixed sequence of
functions. Suppose that is such that sn converges uniformly to s This happens with probability one by assumption (b). The sequence n lies in the compact
set by assumption (1) and the fact that maximixation is over . Since every se
quence from a compact set has at least one limit point (Davidson, Thm. 2.12), say that
is a limit point of n
There is a subsequence nm ( nm is simply a sequence of
increasing integers) with limm
nm
By uniform convergence and continuity
.
lim snm nm
242
s
To see this, first of all, select an element t from the sequence nm
Then uniform
convergence implies
lim snm t
Continuity of s
s t
implies that
lim s t
since the limit as t
s
of is .
So the above claim is true.
t
Next, by maximization
s nm 0
snm nm
which holds in the limit, so
lim snm nm
lim snm 0
However,
lim snm nm
s
as seen above, and
lim snm 0
s 0
by uniform convergence, so
s
s 0
But by assumption (3), there is a unique global maximum of s at 0 so we must
have s
s 0 and
0 Finally, all of the above limits hold almost surely,
since so far we have held fixed, but now we need to consider all
n has only one limit point, 0 except on a set C
243
with P C
. Therefore
0
Discussion of the proof:
This proof relies on the identification assumption of a unique global maximum
at 0 An equivalent way to state this is
(c) Identification: Any point in with s
s 0 must have
0
0
which matches the way we will write the assumption in the section on nonparametric
inference.
We assume that n is in fact a global maximum of sn It is not required to be
unique for n finite, though the identification assumption requires that the limiting
objective function have a unique maximizing argument. The next section on numeric optimization methods will show that actually finding the global maximum
of sn may be a non-trivial problem.
See Amemiyas Example 4.1.4 for a case where discontinuity leads to break-
down of consistency.
The assumption that 0 is in the interior of (part of the identification assumption) has not been used to prove consistency, so we could directly assume that
0 is simply an element of a compact set The reason that we assume its in
the interior here is that this is necessary for subsequent proof of asymptotic normality, and Id like to maintain a minimal set of simple assumptions, for clarity.
Parameters on the boundary of the parameter set cause theoretical difficulties
that we will not deal with in this course. Just note that conventional hypothesis
testing methods do not apply in this case.
Note that sn is not required to be continuous, though s is.
The following figures illustrate why uniform convergence is important.
244
With uniform convergence, the maximum of the sample
objective function eventually must be in the neighborhood
of the maximum of the limiting objective function
With pointwise convergence, the sample objective function
may have its maximum far away from that of the limiting
objective function
We need a uniform strong law of large numbers in order to verify assumption (2)
of Theorem 58. The following theorem is from Davidson, pg. 337.
245
Theorem 59 [Uniform Strong LLN] Let Gn
be a sequence of stochastic real
valued functions on a totally-bounded metric space Then
sup Gn
as
if and only if
(a) Gn
as
(b) Gn
0 for each
0 where 0 is a dense subset of and
is strongly stochastically equicontinuous..
The metric space we are interested in now is simply
K using the Euclidean
norm.
The pointwise almost sure convergence needed for assuption (a) comes from one
of the usual SLLNs.
Stronger assumptions that imply those of the theorem are:
the parameter space is compact (this has already been assumed)
the objective function is continuous and bounded with probability one on
the entire parameter space
a standard SLLN can be shown to apply to some point in the parameter
space
These are reasonable conditions in many cases, and henceforth when dealing
with specific estimators well simply assume that pointwise almost sure conver-
gence can be extended to uniform almost sure convergence in this way.
The more general theorem is useful in the case that the limiting objective func
tion can be continuous in even if sn is discontinuous. This can happen
246
because discontinuities may be smoothed out as we take expectations over the
data. In the section on simlation-based estimation we will se a case of a discontinuous objective function.
16.3 Example: Consistency of Least Squares
0 0 wt
We suppose that data is generated by random sampling of y w , where yt
t . wt t has the common distribution function w (w and are independent) with
support W
E Suppose that the variances 2w and 2 are finite. Let 0
for which is compact. Let xt
1 wt
0 0
xt
0 t The sample
so we can write yt
objective function for a sample size n is
n
1 n yt
sn
xt
t 1
n
1 n xt
0 t
2
i 1
1 n xt
0
2
2 n xt
0
t 1 n t2
t 1
t 1
xt
t 1
Considering the last term, by the SLLN,
n
1 n t2
as
2 d dE
W
2
W E
t 1
Considering the second term, since E
0 and w and are independent, the
SLLN implies that it converges to zero.
Finally, for the first term, for a given , we assume that a SLLN applies so that
n
1 n xt
0
2as
t 1
0
2 0
0
x
0
247
2
dW
wdW
E w
(17)
2
E w
0
w2 dW
Finally, the objective function is clearly continuous, and the parameter space is assumed to be compact, so the convergence is also uniform. Thus,
s
2
2 0
A minimizer of this is clearly
0
E w
E w2
0
Exercise 60 Show that in order for the above solution to be unique it is necessary
0 Discuss the relationship between this condition and the problem of
that E w2
colinearity of regressors.
This example shows that Theorem 58 can be used to prove strong consistency of
the OLS estimator. There are easier ways to show this, of course - this is only an
example of application of the theorem.
16.4 Asymptotic Normality
A consistent estimator is oftentimes not very useful unless we know how fast it is likely
to be converging to the true value, and the probability that it is far away from the true
value. Establishment of asymptotic normality with a known scaling factor solves these
two problems. The following theorem is similar to Amemiyas Theorem 4.1.3 (pg.
111).
Theorem 61 [Asymptotic normality of e.e.] In addition to the assumptions of Theorem 58, assume
(a) Jn
D2 sn exists and is continuous in an open, convex neighborhood of
0
(b) Jn n
as
J 0 a finite negative definite matrix, for any sequence n
that converges almost surely to 0
248
d N 0 I 0 where I 0 lim
n
d N 0 J 0 1 I 0 J 0 1
Then n 0
nD sn 0
(c)
nD sn 0
Var
Proof: By Taylor expansion:
D sn 0
D sn n
where
0 0
D2 sn
0
1
Note that will be in the neighborhood where D2 sn exists with probability
one as n becomes large, by consistency.
Now the l.h.s. of this equation is zero, at least asymptotically, since n is a
maximizer and the f.o.c. must hold exactly since the limiting objective function
is strictly concave in a neighborhood of 0
as
Also, since is between n and 0 and since n
0 , assumption (b) gives
D2 sn
as
J 0
So
D sn 0
J 0
o p 1
0
And
nD sn 0
J 0
n
o p 1
0
Now J 0 is a finite negative definite matrix, so the o p 1 term is asymptotically
irrelevant next to J 0 , so we can write
a
nD sn 0
J 0
249
n
0
J 0
nD sn 0
Because of assumption (c), and the formula for the variance of a linear combination of
r.v.s,
n
d N 0 J 0
I 0 J 0
1
Assumption (b) is not implied by the Slutsky theorem. The Slutsky theorem says
as
that g xn
g x if xn
x and g is continuous at x However, the function
cant depend on n to use this theorem. In our case Jn n is a function of n
A theorem which applies (Amemiya, Ch. 4) is
Theorem 62 If gn converges uniformly almost surely to a nonstochastic function
g uniformly on an open neighborhood of 0 then gn
a s 0
continuous at 0 and
as
g 0 if g 0 is
To apply this to the second derivatives, sufficient conditions would be that the
second derivatives be strongly stochastically equicontinuous on a neighborhood
of 0 and that an ordinary LLN applies to the derivatives when evaluated at
N 0
Stronger conditions that imply this are as above: continuous and bounded second
derivatives in a neighborhood of 0
Skip this in lecture. A note on the order of these matrices: Supposing that sn
is representable as an average of n terms, which is the case for all estimators we
consider, D2 sn is also an average of n matrices, the elements of which are not
centered (they do not have zero expectation). Supposing a SLLN applies, the
almost sure limit of D2 sn 0 J 0
250
O 1 as we saw in Example 55. On the
d N 0 I 0 means that
other hand, assumption (c): nD sn 0
nD sn 0
O p 1
where we use the result of Example 53. If we were to omit the
D sn 0
1
2
n wed have
O p 1
1
2
Op n
where we use the fact that O p nr O p nq
q
O p nr
The sequence D sn 0
is centered, so we need to scale by
n to avoid convergence to zero.
16.5 Example: Binary response models.
Binary response models arise in a variety of contexts. The referendum contingent valuation (CV) method of infering the social value of a project provides a simple example.
This example is a special case of more general discrete choice (or binary response)
models. Individuals are asked if the would pay an amount A for provision of a project.
Indirect utility in the base case (no project) is v0 m z
0 where m is income and z is
a vector of other variables such as prices, personal characteristics, etc. After provision,
utility is v1 m z
1 The random terms i i
1 2 reflect variations of preferences
in the population. With this, an individual agrees2 to pay A if
0
v1 m
A z
2 We
v0 m z
assume here that responses are truthful, that is there is no strategic behavior and that individuals
are able to order their preferences in this hypothetical situation.
251
1 let w collect m and z and let v w A
Define
Define y
1 if the consumer agrees to pay A for the change, y
v1 m
A z
v0 m z
0 otherwise. The
probability of agreement is
Pr y
F v w A
1
F v w A To make the example specific,
To simplify notation, define p w A
suppose that
v1 m z
v0 m z
m
and 0 and 1 are i.i.d. extreme value random variables. That is, utility depends only
on income, preferences in both states are homothetic, and a specific distributional assumption is made on the distribution of preferences in the population. With these assumptions (the details are unimportant here, see articles by D. McFadden for details)
it can be shown that
p A
A
where z is the logistic distribution function
z
1 exp
z
This is the simple logit model: the choice probability is the logit function of a linear in
parameters function.
252
Another simple example is a probit threshold-crossing model. Assume that
x
1y
0
N 0 1
Here, y is an unobserved (latent) continuous variable, and y is a binary variable that
indicates whether y is negative or positive. Then Pr y
Pr
1
x ,
x
where
x
1 2
2
exp
2
d
2
is the standard normal distribution function.
In general, a binary response model will require that the choice probability be
parameterized in some form. For a vector of explanatory variables x, the response
probability will be parameterized in some manner
If p x
p x
Pr y
1 x
x
we have a logit model. If p x
x
where
is the
standard normal distribution function, then we have a probit model.
Regardless of the parameterization, we are dealing with a Bernoulli density,
fYi yi xi
p xi
yi
p x
1 yi
so as long as the observations are independent, the maximum likelihood (ML) estima-
253
tor, is the maximizer of
1 n
yi ln p xi
ni 1
sn
yi ln 1
p xi
1 n
s y i xi
n i1
(18)
Following the above theoretical results, tends in probability to the 0 that maximizes
the uniform almost sure limit of sn
Noting that E yi
p x i 0
and following
a SLLN for i.i.d. processes, sn converges almost surely to the expectation of a
representative term s y x First one can take the expectation conditional on x to get
Ey x y ln p x
y ln 1
p x
p x 0 ln p x
p x 0 ln 1
p x
Next taking expectation over x we get the limiting objective function
s
p x 0 ln p x
p x 0 ln 1
p x x dx
(19)
where x is the (joint - the integral is understood to be multiple, and X is the support
of x) density function of the explanatory variables x. This is clearly continuous in
as long as p x is continuous, and if the parameter space is compact we therefore
have uniform almost sure convergence. Note that p x is continous for the logit and
probit models, for example. The maximizing element of s
solves the first
order conditions
p x 0
px
p x
This is clearly solved by
1
1
p x 0
px
p x
x dx
0 Provided the solution is unique, is consistent.
Question: whats needed to ensure that the solution is unique?
254
The asymptotic normality theorem tells us that
n
0
d N 0 J 0 1 I 0 J 0
In the case of i.i.d. observations I 0
nD sn 0 is simply the ex
limn
Var
pectation of a typical element of the outer product of the gradient.
Theres no need to subtract the mean, since its zero, following the f.o.c. in the
consistency proof above and the fact that observations are i.i.d.
The terms in n also drop out by the same argument:
lim Var nD sn 0
1
s 0
n t
lim Var nD
lim Var
1
D s 0
n
t
1
lim Var D s 0
n n
t
lim VarD s 0
VarD s 0
So we get
s y x 0
s y x 0
I 0
Likewise,
2
E
s y x 0
Expectations are jointly over y and x or equivalently, first over y conditional on x then
over x From above, a typical element of the objective function is
s y x 0
y ln p x 0
255
1
y ln 1
p x 0
Now suppose that we are dealing with a correctly specified logit model:
p x
1 exp
x
We can simplify the above results in this case. We have that
p x
1 exp
1 exp
x
x
exp x
x
1 exp x
p x x
p x
exp
x
p x 1
x
p x
x
So
s y x 0
2 0
s
p x 0 x
(20)
p x 0
p x 0
xx
xx
x dx
Taking expectations over y then x gives
EY y2 2p x 0 p x 0
I 0
p x 0
p x 0
xx
x dx
(22)
p x 0
(21)
p x 0 . Likewise,
EY y2
where we use the fact that EY y
J 0
p x 0
p x 0
xx
x dx
(23)
Note that we arrive at the expected result: the information matrix equality holds (that
256
is, J 0
I 0 . With this,
n
d N 0 J 0
I 0 J 0
1
simplifies to
n
d N 0 J 0
1
which can also be expressed as
n
0
d N 0 I 0
1
On a final note, the logit and standard normal CDFs are very similar - the logit distribution is a bit more fat-tailed. While coefficients will vary slightly between the two
models, functions of interest such as estimated probabilities p x will be virtually
identical for the two models.
16.6 Example: Linearization of a nonlinear model
Ref. Gourieroux and Monfort, section 8.3.4. White, Intnl Econ. Rev. 1980 is an
earlier reference.
Suppose we have a nonlinear model
yi
h x i 0
where
i
iid 0 2
257
The nonlinear least squares estimator solves
1 n
arg min yi
ni 1
h xi
Well study this more later, but for now it is clear that the foc for minimization will
require solving a set of nonlinear equations. A common approach to the problem seeks
to avoid this difficulty by linearizing the model. A first order Taylors series expansion
about the point x0 with remainder gives
yi
0
hx
xi
x0
h x0 0
x
where i encompasses both i and the Taylors series remainder. Note that i is no
longer a classical error - its mean is not zero. We should expect problems.
Define
h x0
h x0 0
x0
x
h x0 0
x
Given this, one might try to estimate and by applying OLS to
xi i
yi
Question, will and be consistent for and ?
The answer is no, as one can see by interpreting and as extremum estimators.
Let
arg min sn
1 n
yi
n i1
258
xi
The objective function converges to its expectation
uas
sn
s
EX EY X y x
and converges a s to the 0 that minimizes s :
arg min EX EY
x
Noting that
EX EY X y x
EX EY X h x 0
2 EX h x 0
x
x
2
2
since cross products involving drop out. 0 and 0 correspond to the hyperplane
that is closest to the true regression function h x 0 according to the mean squared
error criterion. This depends on both the shape of h
and the density function of the
conditioning variables.
Inconsistency of the linear approximation, even at
the approximation point
x
h(x,)
x
Tangent line
x
x
x
x
x_0
259
x
Fitted line
It is clear that the tangent line does not minimize MSE, since, for example, if
h x 0 is concave, all errors between the tangent line and the true function are
negative.
Note that the true underlying parameter 0 is not estimated consistently, either
(it may be of a different dimension than the dimension of the parameter of the
approximating model, which is 2 in this example).
Second order and higher-order approximations suffer from exactly the same
problem, though to a less severe degree, of course. For this reason, translog,
Generalized Leontiev and other flexible functional forms based upon secondorder approximations in general suffer from bias and inconsistency. The bias
may not be too important for analysis of conditional means, but it can be very
important for analyzing first and second derivatives. In production and consumer
analysis, first and second derivatives (e.g., elasticities of substitution) are often
of interest, so in this case, one should be cautious of unthinking application of
models that impose stong restrictions on second derivatives.
This sort of linearization about a long run equilibrium is a common practice in
dynamic macroeconomic models. It is justified for the purposes of theoretical
analysis of a model given the models parameters, but it is not justifiable for the
estimation of the parameters of the model using data. The section on simulationbased methods offers a means of obtaining consistent estimators of the parameters of dynamic macro models that are too complex for standard methods of
analysis.
260
17 Numeric optimization methods
Readings: Hamilton, ch. 5, section 7 (pp. 133-139) ; Gourieroux and Monfort, Vol.
1, ch. 13, pp. 443-60 ; Goffe, et. al. (1994).
There is a large literature on numeric optimization methods. Well consider a few
well-known techniques, and one fairly new technique that may allow one to solve
difficult problems.
The general problem we consider is how to find the maximizing element (a K
-vector) of a function s This function may not be continuous, and it may not be
differentiable. Even if it is twice continuously differentiable, it may not be globally
concave, so local maxima, minima and saddlepoints may all exist. Supposing s
were a quadratic function of e.g.,
s
a b
C
2
the first order conditions would be linear:
D s
b C
so the maximizing (minimizing) element would be
1 b
This is the sort of prob-
lem we have with linear models estimated by OLS. Its also the case for feasible GLS,
since conditional on the estimate of the varcov matrix, we have a quadratic objective
function in the remaining parameters.
More general problems will not have linear f.o.c., and we will not be able to solve
for the maximizer analytically. This is when we need a numeric optimization method.
261
17.1 Search
See Hamilton. Note, to check q values in each dimension of a K dimensional parameter
space, we need to check qK points. For example, if q
be 10010
100 and K
10 there would
1 00000 00000 00000 00000 points to check. If 1000 points can be checked
in a second, it would take 3 171
109 years to perform the calculations, which is
approximately the age of the earth. The search method is a very reasonable choice if
K is small, but it quickly becomes infeasible if K is moderate or large.
Search in two dimensions with refinement
The maximizing
point
17.2 Derivative-based methods
17.2.1 Introduction
Derivative-based methods are defined by
1. the method for choosing the initial value, 1
2. the iteration method for choosing k
262
given k (based upon derivatives)
3. the stopping criterion.
The iteration method can be broken into two problems: choosing the stepsize a k (a
scalar) and choosing the direction of movement, d k which is of the same dimension
of so that
k
ak d k
A locally increasing direction of search d is a direction such that
s ad
a:
a
for a positive but small. That is, if we go in direction d, we will improve on the
objective function, at least if we dont go too far in that direction.
As long as the gradient at is not zero there exist increasing directions, and
they can all be represented as Qk g k where Qk is a symmetric pd matrix and
g
a0
D s is the gradient at . To see this, take a T.S. expansion around
0
s ad
s 0d
s
0 g 0d
d o 1
ag
d o 1
For small enough a the o 1 term can be ignored. If d is to be an increasing
direction, we need g
d
0 Defining d
Qg where Q is positive definite,
we guarantee that
g
d
unless g
g
Qg
0 Every increasing direction can be represented in this way (p.d.
matrices are those such that the angle between g and Qg is less that 90 de263
grees.)
With this, the iteration rule becomes
k
1
k
ak Qk g k
and we keep going until the gradient becomes zero, so that there is no increasing
direction. The problem is how to choose a and Q
Conditional on Q, choosing a is fairly straightforward. A simple line search is
an attractive possibility, since a is a scalar.
The remaining problem is how to choose Q
Note also that this gives no guarantees to find a global maximum.
17.2.2 Steepest descent
Steepest descent (ascent if were maximizing) just sets Q to and identity matrix, since
the gradient provides the direction of maximum rate of change of the objective function.
Advantages: fast - doesnt require anything more than first derivatives.
Disadvantages: This doesnt always work too well however....Draw banana function.
17.2.3 Newton-Raphson
The Newton-Raphson method uses information about the slope and curvature of the
objective function to determine which direction and how far to move from an initial
264
point. Supposing were trying to maximize sn Take a second order Taylors series
approximation of sn about k (an initial guess).
sn sn k
g k
k
1 2
H k
k
To attempt to maximize sn we can maximize the portion of the right-hand side that
depends on e.g, we can maximize
s
g k
1 2
H k
k
with respect to This is a much easier problem, since it is a quadratic function in
so it has linear first order conditions. These are
D s
g k
H k
k
So the solution for the next round estimate is
k
H k 1 g k
However, its good to include a stepsize, since the approximation to s n may be
bad far away from the maximizer so the actual iteration formula is
ak H k
1
g k
A potential problem is that the Hessian may not be negative definite when were
far from the maximizing point. So
H k
1g
H k
may not be positive definite, and
k may not define an increasing direction of search. This can hap-
pen when the objective function has flat regions, in which case the Hessian ma265
trix is very ill-conditioned (e.g., is nearly singular), or when were in the vicinity
of a local minimum, H k is positive definite, and our direction is a decreasing direction of search. Matrix inverses by computers are subject to large errors
when the matrix is ill-conditioned. Also, we certainly dont want to go in the
direction of a minimum when were maximizing. To solve this problem, Quasi
Newton methods simply add a positive definite component to H to ensure that
the resulting matrix is positive definite, e.g., Q
H
bI where b is chosen
large enough so that Q is well-conditioned and positive definite. This has the
benefit that improvement in the objective function is guaranteed.
Another variation of quasi-Newton methods is to approximate the Hessian by
using successive gradient evaluations. This avoids actual calculation of the Hessian, which is an order of magnitude (in the dimension of the parameter vector)
more costly than calculation of the gradient. They can be done to ensure that the
approximation is p.d. DFP and BFGS are two well-known examples.
Stopping criteria
The last thing we need is to decide when to stop. A digital computer is subject to
limited machine precision and round-off errors. For these reasons, it is unreasonable
to hope that a program can exactly find the point that maximizes a function, and in
fact, more than about 6-10 decimals of precision is usually infeasible. Some stopping
criteria are:
Negligable change in parameters:
kj
kj
266
1
Negligable relative change:
kj
kj
2
kj 1
1
Negligable change of function:
s k
s k
3
Gradient negligibly different from zero:
g j k
Or, even better, check all of these.
Also, if were maximizing, its good to check that the last round (real, not approximate) Hessian is negative definite.
Starting values
The Newton-Raphson and related algorithms work well if the objective function
is concave (when maximizing), but not so well if there are convex regions and local
minima or multiple local maxima. The algorithm may converge to a local minimum
or to a local maximum that is not optimal. The algorithm may also have difficulties
converging at all.
The usual way to ensure that a global maximum has been found is to use
many different starting values, and choose the solution that returns the highest
objective function value. THIS IS IMPORTANT in practice.
Calculating derivatives
267
The Newton-Raphson algorithm requires first and second derivatives. It is often
difficult to calculate derivatives (especially the Hessian) analytically if the function
sn
is complicated. Possible solutions are to calculate derivatives numerically, or to
use programs such as Mupad or Mathematica to calculate analytic derivatives. Example: Scientific WorkPlace can be used to find that
arctan
1
1 2
which I certainly didnt know before writing this example. H. Varian has a book that
discusses the use of Mathematica in this context in detail.
Numeric derivatives are less accurate than analytic derivatives, and are usually
more costly to evaluate. Both factors usually cause optimization programs to be
less successful when numeric derivatives are used.
One advantage of numeric derivatives is that you dont have to worry about having made an error in calculating the analytic derivative. When programming
analytic derivatives its a good idea to check that they are correct by using nu-
meric derivatives.
Numeric second derivatives are much more accurate if the data are scaled so that
the elements of the gradient are of the same order of magnitude. Example: if the
model is yt
h xt zt
1000 and D sn
t and estimation is by NLS, suppose that D sn
0 001 One could define
1000; xt
1000; zt
zt 1000 In this case, the gradients D sn
and D sn
1000xt ;
will both
be 1.
In general, estimation programs always work better if data is scaled in this way,
since roundoff errors are less likely to become important. This is important in
268
practice.
There are algorithms (such as BFGS and DFP) that use the sequential gradient evaluations to build up an approximation to the Hessian. The iterations are
faster for this reason since the actual Hessian isnt calculated, but more iterations
usually are required for convergence.
Switching between algorithms during iterations is sometimes useful.
17.3 Simulated Annealing
Simulated annealing is an algorithm which can find an optimum in the presence of
nonconcavities, discontinuities and multiple local minima/maxima. Basically, the algorithm randomly selects evaluation points, accepts all points that yield an increase in
the objective function, but also accepts some points that decrease the objective function. This allows the algorithm to escape from local minima. As more and more points
are tried, periodically the algorithm focuses on the best point so far, and reduces the
range over which random points are generated. Also, the probability that a negative
move is accepted reduces. The algorithm relies on many evaluations, as in the search
method, but focuses in on promising areas, which reduces function evaluations with
respect to the search method. It does not require derivatives to be evaluated. I have a
program to do this if youre interested.
269
18 Generalized method of moments (GMM)
Readings: Hamilton Ch. 14 ; Davidson and MacKinnon, Ch. 17 (see pg. 587 for
refs. to applications); Newey and McFadden (1994), Large Sample Estimation and
Hypothesis Testing, in Handbook of Econometrics, Vol. 4, Ch. 36.
18.1 Definition
Weve already seen one example of GMM in the introduction, based upon the 2 distribution. Consider the following example based upon the t-distribution. The density
function of a t-distributed r.v. Yt is
0 1
fYt yt
0
1 2
2
0 2
yt2
0
0 1 2
Given an iid sample of size n one could estimate 0 by maximizing the log-likelihood
function
n
ln fYt
arg max ln Ln
yt
t 1
This approach is attractive since ML estimators are asymptotically efficient. This
is because the ML estimator uses all of the available information (e.g., the distribution is fully specified up to a parameter). Recalling that a distribution is
completely characterized by its moments, the ML estimator is interpretable as a
GMM estimator that uses all of the moments. The method of moments estimator
uses only K moments to estimate a K
dimensional parameter. Since informa-
tion is discarded, in general, by the MM estimator, efficiency is lost relative to
the ML estimator.
Continuing with the example, a t-distributed r.v. with density fYt yt 0 has
270
mean zero and variance V yt
2 (for 0
2
Using the notation introduced previously, define a moment condition m 1t
2
yt2 and m1
1 n tn 1 m1t
1 n tn 1 yt2 As be
2
fore, when evaluated at the true parameter value 0 both E0 m1t 0
E 0 m 1 0
0 and
0
Choosing to set m1
0 yields a MM estimator:
2
1
(24)
n
i y2i
This estimator is based on only one moment of the distribution - it uses less information
than the ML estimator, so it is intuitively clear that the MM estimator will be inefficient
relative to the ML estimator.
An alternative MM estimator could be based upon the fourth moment of the
t-distribution. The fourth moment of a t-distributed r.v. is
2
3 0
0 2 0
E yt4
provided 0
4 We can define a second moment condition
m2
3 2
2 4
4
1 n 4
y
n t1 t
A second, different MM estimator chooses to set m2
0 If you solve this
youll see that the estimate is different from that in equation ??.
This estimator isnt efficient either, since it uses only one moment. A GMM estimator
would use the two moment conditions together to estimate the single parameter. The
271
GMM estimator is overidentified, which leads to an estimator which is efficient relative
to the just identified MM estimators (more on efficiency later).
As before, set mn
m1 m2
sample size. Note that m 0
Op n
random variables, whereas m
The n subscript is used to indicate the
1 2
O p 1
since it is an average of centered
0 where expectations are taken
using the true distribution with parameter 0 This is the fundamental reason that
GMM is consistent.
A GMM estimator requires defining a measure of distance, d m . A popular
choice (for reasons noted below) is to set d m
sn
m
Wn m and we minimize
m
Wn m We assume Wn converges to a finite positive definite ma-
trix.
In general, assume we have g moment conditions, so m is a g -vector and W
is a g g matrix.
For the purposes of this course, the following definition of the GMM estimator is
sufficiently general:
Definition 63 The GMM estimator of the K -dimensional parameter vector 0
arg min sn
with E m 0
mn
Wn mn where mn
1 n
n t 1 mt
is a g -vector, g
K
0 and Wn converges almost surely to a finite g g symmetric positive
definite matrix W .
Whats the reason for using GMM if MLE is asymptotically efficient?
Robustness: GMM is based upon a limited set of moment conditions. For
consistency, only these moment conditions need to be correctly specified,
whereas MLE in effect requires correct specification of every conceivable
272
moment condition. GMM is robust with respect to distributional misspecification. The price for robustness is loss of efficiency with respect to the
MLE estimator. Keep in mind that the true distribution is not known so if
we erroneously specify a distribution and estimate by MLE, the estimator
will be inconsistent in general (not always).
Feasibility: in some cases the MLE estimator is not available, because we
are not able to deduce the likelihood function. More on this in the section
on simulation-based estimation. The GMM estimator may still be feasible
even though MLE is not possible.
18.2 Consistency
We simply assume that the assumptions of Theorem 58 hold, so the GMM estimator
is strongly consistent. The only assumption that warrants additional comments is that
of identification. In Theorem 58, the third assumption reads: (c) Identification: s
has a unique global maximum at 0 i.e., s 0
a quadratic objective function sn
s
Applying a uniform law of large numbers, we get mn
Since E mn 0
Since s 0
0 by assumption, m 0
m 0
W m 0
0 Taking the case of
mn
Wn mn first consider mn
as
m
0
0 in order for asymptotic identification,
0 for 0 for at least some element of the vector. This
a s
and the assumption that Wn
W a finite positive g g definite g g matrix
we need that m
guarantee that 0 is asymptotically identified.
Note that asymptotic identification does not rule out the possibility of lack of
identification for a given data set - there may be multiple minimizing solutions
273
in finite samples.
18.3 Asymptotic normality
We also simply assume that the conditions of Theorem 61 hold, so we will have asymptotic normality. However, we do need to find the structure of the asymptotic variancecovariance matrix of the estimator. From Theorem 61, we have
n
d N 0 J 0
where J 0 is the almost sure limit of
2
sn
I 0 J 0
and I 0
1
limn
Var
sn 0
n
We need to determine the form of these matrices given the objective function s n
mn
Wn mn
Now using the product rule from the introduction,
s
Define the K
m W m
n
g matrix
Dn
mn
so
s
2D W m
(25)
(Note that Dn Wn and mn all depend on the sample size n but we will often
simplify the notation to D W and m).
274
To take second derivatives, let Di be the i
s
th row of D Using the product rule,
2Di Wn m
2DiW D
When evaluating the term
i
D
D
2m
W
at 0 assume that
2m
W
D i
satisfies a LLN, so that it converges almost surely to a finite
limit. In this case, we have
2m 0
W
since m 0
D
as
i
0
W .
as
o p 1 W
Stacking these results over the K rows of D we get
lim
2
sn 0
where we define lim D
J 0
2DW D
a s
D a s and limW
W a.s. (we assume a LLN holds).
With regard to I 0 , following equation ??, and noting that the scores have mean
zero at 0 (since E m 0
I 0
0 by assumption), we have
lim Var n
0
sn
lim E 4nDnWn m 0 m
Wn Dn
lim E 4DnWn
nm 0
nm
Wn Dn
Now, given that m 0 is an average of centered (mean-zero) quantities, it is reasonable
275
to expect a CLT to apply, after multiplication by
d N 0
nm 0
n. Assuming this,
where
lim E nm 0 m 0
Using this, and the last equation, we get
I 0
4DW W D
Using these results, the asymptotic normality theorem gives us
n
d N 0 D W D
DW W D
DW D
the asymptotic distribution of the GMM estimator for arbitrary weighting matrix Wn
Note that for J to be positive definite, D must have full row rank, D
k.
18.4 Choosing the weighting matrix
W is a weighting matrix, which determines the relative importance of violations of
the individual moment conditions. For example, if we are much more sure of the first
moment condition, which is based upon the variance, than of the second, which is
based upon the fourth moment, we could set
a 0
0 b
276
with a much larger than b In this case, errors in the second moment condition have
less weight in the objective function.
Since moments are not independent, in general, we should expect that there be a
correlation between the moment conditions, so it may not be desirable to set the
off-diagonal elements to 0. W may be a random, data dependent matrix.
We have already seen that the choice of W will influence the asymptotic distribution of the GMM estimator. Since the GMM estimator is already inefficient
w.r.t MLE, we might like to choose the W matrix to make the GMM estimator
efficient within the class of GMM estimators.
x
where
To provide a little intuition, consider the linear model y
N 0 That is, he have heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation.
Let P be the Cholesky factorization of
Then the model Py
P
1
PX P satisfies the classical assumptions of homoscedas
PV P
ticity and nonautocorrelation, since V P
PP
e.g, P
P
In (Note: we use AB
PP
1A 1
P P
P
1P
for A B both nonsingu
lar). This means that the transformed model is efficient.
The OLS estimator of the model Py
tion y
X
PX P minimizes the objective func
X Interpreting y
X
as moment conditions
(note that they do have zero expectation when evaluated at 0 ), the optimal
weighting matrix is seen to be the inverse of the covariance matrix of the moment
conditions. This result carries over to GMM estimation. (Note: this presentation
of GLS is not a GMM estimator, because the number of moment conditions here
is equal to the sample size, n Later well see that GLS can be put into the GMM
framework defined above).
277
Theorem 64 If is a GMM estimator that minimizes mn
Wn mn the asymptotic
a s
variance of will be minimized by choosing Wn so that Wn W
limn
nm 0 m 0
1 where
1 the asymptotic variance
Proof: For W
DW D
simplifies to D 1 D
DW D
DW W D
Now, for any choice such that W
difference of the inverses of the variances when W
1 consider the
versus when W is some
arbitrary positive definite matrix:
D 1 D
D 1
DW D
1 2
W D
DW W D
DW W D
DW D
1 2
1 2 D
DW
as can be verified by multiplication. The term in brackets is idempotent, which is also
easy to check by multiplication, and is therefore positive semidefinite. A quadratic
form in a positive semidefinite matrix is also positive semidefinite. The difference of
the inverses of the variances is positive semidefinite, which implies that the difference
of the variances is negative semidefinite, which proves the theorem.
The result
n
d N 0 D 1 D
allows us to treat
0
D 1 D
278
(26)
where the
means approximately distributed as. To operationalize this we need
estimators of D and
mn
The obvious estimator of D is simply
mn
sistency of assuming that
which is consistent by the con-
is continuous in Stochastic equicontinuity
mn
results can give us this result even if
is not continuous. We now turn to
estimation of
18.5 Estimation of the variance-covariance matrix
(See Hamilton Ch. 10, pp. 261-2 and 280-84) .
In the case that we wish to use the optimal weighting matrix, we need an estimate
of the limiting variance-covariance matrix of
nmn 0 . While one could esti-
mate parametrically, we in general have little information upon which to base a
parametric specification. In general, we expect that:
E mt mt
mt will be autocorrelated (ts
0). Note that this autocovariance
s
will not depend on t if the moment conditions are covariance stationary.
contemporaneously correlated, since the individual moment conditions will not
in general be independent of one another (E mit m jt
and have different variances (E m2it
0).
2it ).
Since we need to estimate so many components if we are to take the parametric approach, it is unlikely that we would arrive at a correct parametric specification. For
this reason, research has focused on consistent nonparametric estimators of
Henceforth we assume that mt is covariance stationary (the covariance between mt
and mt
tions v
does not depend on t Define the v th autocovariance of the moment condi
E mt mt
s
Note that E mt mt
s
279
v
Recall that mt and m are functions of
so for now assume that we have some consistent estimator of 0 so that m t
mt
Now
E nm m
E n 1 n mt
1 n mt
t 1
mt
t 1
1
t 1
mt
E 1 n
t 1
1 1
2
2 2
1
n
n
1
A natural, consistent estimator of v is
n
1 n
m t m t
v
t v 1
(you might use n
v in the denominator instead). So, a natural, but inconsistent,
estimator of would be
0
1
1 1
n
n 1
v 1
v
2
2 2
v v
1
This estimator is inconsistent in general, since the number of parameters to estimate is
more than the number of observations, and increases more rapidly than n, so information does not build up as n
On the other hand, supposing that v tends to zero sufficiently rapidly as v tends to
a modified estimator
qn
v v
v 1
where q n
The term
p as n will be consistent, provided q n grows sufficiently slowly.
n v
n
can be dropped because q n must be o p n This allows information
280
to accumulate at a rate that satisfies a LLN. A disadvantage of this estimator is that it
may not be positive definite. This could cause one to calculate a negative 2 statistic,
for example!
requires an estimate of m 0 which in turn requires
Note: the formula for
an estimate of which is based upon an estimate of ! The solution to this
circularity is to set the weighting matrix W arbitrarily (for example to an identity matrix), obtain a first consistent but inefficient estimate of 0 then use this
then re-estimate 0 The process can be iterated until neither
estimate to form
nor change appreciably between iterations.
18.5.1 Newey-West covariance estimator
The Newey-West estimator (Econometrica, 1987) solves the problem of possible nonpositive definiteness of the above estimator. Their estimator is
qn
v 1
1
v
q 1
v v
This estimator is p.d. by construction. The condition for consistency is that n
1 4q
0 Note that this is a very slow rate of growth for q This estimator is nonparametric weve placed no parametric restrictions on the form of It is an example of a kernel
estimator.
In a more recent paper, Newey and West (Review of Economic Studies, 1994) use
pre-whitening before applying the kernel estimator. The idea is to fit a VAR model
to the moment conditions. It is expected that the residuals of the VAR model will be
more nearly white noise, so that the Newey-West covariance estimator might perform
better with short lag lengths..
281
The VAR model is
1 m t
m t
p m t
ut
This is estimated, giving the residuals ut Then the Newey-West covariance estimator is
applied to these pre-whitened residuals, and the covariance is estimated combining
the fitted VAR
m t
1 m t
p m t
with the kernel estimate of the covariance of the ut See Newey-West for details.
I have a program that does this if youre interested.
18.6 Estimation using conditional moments
If the above VAR model does succeed in removing unmodeled heteroscedasticity and
autocorrelation, might this imply that this information is not being used efficiently
in estimation? In other words, since the performance of GMM depends on which
moment conditions are used, if the set of selected moments exhibits heteroscedasticity
and autocorrelation, cant we use this information, a la GLS, to guide us in selecting
a better set of moment conditions to improve efficiency? The answer to this may not
be so clear when moments are defined unconditionally, but it can be analyzed more
carefully when the moments used in estimation are derived from conditional moments.
So far, the moment conditions have been presented as unconditional expectations.
One common way of defining unconditional moment conditions is based upon conditional moment conditions.
Suppose that a random variable Y has zero expectation conditional on the random
282
variable X
Y f Y X dY
EY X Y
0
Then the unconditional expectation of the product of Y and a function g X of X is
also zero. The unconditional expectation is
E Y g X
Y g X f Y X dY dX
This can be factored into a conditional expectation and an expectation w.r.t. the
marginal density of X :
EY g X
Y g X f Y X dY
f X dX
Since g X doesnt depend on Y it can be pulled out of the integral
EY g X
Y f Y X dY g X f X dX
But the term in parentheses on the rhs is zero by assumption, so
EY g X
as claimed.
This is important econometrically, since models often imply restrictions on condi
tional moments. Suppose a model tells us that the function K yt xt has expectation,
conditional on the information set It equal to k xt
E K yt xt It
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k xt
For example, in the context of the classical linear model yt
set K yt xt
yt so that k xt
xt
t we can
xt
.
With this, the function
ht
K yt xt
k xt
has conditional expectation equal to zero
E ht It
0
This is a scalar moment condition,which wouldnt be sufficient to identify a K K
1
dimensional parameter However, the above result allows us to form various unconditional expectations
mt
Z wt ht
where Z wt is a gx1-vector valued function of wt and wt is a set of variables drawn
from the information set It The Z wt are instrumental variables. We now have g
moment conditions, so as long as g
K the necessary condition for identification
holds.
284
One can form the n g matrix
Zn
Z1 w 1
Z2 w 1
Zg w 1
Z2 w 2
Zg w 2
..
.
Z2 w n
Z1 w 2
..
.
Z1 w n
Zg w n
Z1
Z2
Zn
With this we can form the g moment conditions
h1
mn
1
Z
n n
h2
..
.
hn
1
Zn
hn
n
1 n
Zt ht
nt 1
1 n
mt
nt 1
where Z t
is the t th row of Zn This fits the previous treatment. An interesting ques
tion that arises is how one should choose the instrumental variables Z wt to achieve
maximum efficiency.
Note that with this choice of moment conditions, we have that Dn
285
(a
g matrix) is
1
Zn
hn
n
1
h
Zn
n n
Dn
which we can define to be
1
Hn Zn
n
Dn
where Hn is a K n matrix that has the derivatives of the individual moment conditions
as its columns. Likewise, define the var-cov. of the moment conditions
1n Z h
n
n
Zn
E
where we have defined n
E nmn 0 mn 0
Zn
0 h n 0
Zn
1 0 0
hn hn
n
n
Zn
n
Zn
Varhn 0 Note that matrix is growing with the sample
size and is not consistently estimable without additional assumptions.
The asymptotic normality theorem above says that the GMM estimator using the
optimal weighting matrix is distributed as
n
where
V
lim
Hn Zn
n
0
d N 0 V
Zn
n Zn
n
Zn
Hn
n
(27)
Using an argument similar to that used to prove that 1 is the efficient weighting
286
matrix, we can show that putting
Zn
n 1 Hn
causes the above var-cov matrix to simplify to
lim
Hn n 1 Hn
(28)
and furthermore, this matrix is smaller that the limiting var-cov for any other choice
of instrumental variables. (To prove this, examine the difference of the inverses of the
var-cov matrices with the optimal intruments and with non-optimal instruments. As
above, you can show that the difference is positive semi-definite).
Note that both Hn which we should write more properly as Hn 0 since it
depends on 0 and must be consistently estimated to apply this.
Usually, estimation of Hn is straightforward - one just uses
h
n
where is some initial consistent estimator based on non-optimal instruments.
Estimation of n may not be possible. It is an n n matrix, so it has more unique
elements than n the sample size, so without restrictions on the parameters it
cant be estimated consistently. Basically, you need to provide a parametric
specification of the covariances of the ht in order to be able to use optimal
instruments. A solution is to approximate this matrix parametrically to define
the instruments. Note that the simplified var-cov matrix in equation 28 will not
apply if approximately optimal instruments are used - it will be necessary to use
287
Zn n Zn
n
an estimator based upon equation 27, where the term
must be estimated
consistently apart, for example by the Newey-West procedure.
18.7 Estimation using dynamic moment conditions
Note that dynamic moment conditions simplify the var-cov matrix, but are often harder
to formulate. The will be added in future editions. For now, the Hansen application
below is enough.
18.8 A specification test
The first order conditions for minimization, using the an estimate of the optimal weighting matrix, are
s
m
mn
0
or
1 mn
D
0
Consider a Taylor expansion of m :
m
Multiplying by D
1 m
D
m n 0
Dn
0
0
o p 1
(29)
we obtain
1 mn 0
D
1 D 0
D
288
0
o p 1
tends to , we can write
The lhs is zero, and since tends to 0 and
D 1 mn 0
D 1 D
or
n D 1 D
D 1 mn 0
With this, and taking into account the original expansion (equation ??), we get
nm
nmn 0
1
nD
D D
D 1 mn 0
This last can be written as
nm
1 2
n
1
D
D D
D 1
2
1 2 mn 0
Or
n 1 2 m
D D
1 2 D
n Ig
D 1
2
1 2 mn 0
Now
n 1 2 mn 0
d N 0 I
g
and one can easily verify that
1
D D
1 2 D
is idempotent of rank g
Ig
D 1
2
K (recall that the rank of an idempotent matrix is equal to
289
its trace) so
n 1 2 m
n 1 2 m
nm
1 m
d 2 g K
converges to we also have
Since
d 2 g K
1 m
nm
or
n sn
d 2 g K
supposing the model is correctly specified. This is a convenient test since we just
multiply the optimized value of the objective function by n and compare with a 2 g
K critical value. The test is a general test of whether or not the moments used to
estimate are correctly specified.
This wont work when the estimator is just identified. The f.o.c. are
1 m 0
D
D sn
are square and invertible (at least
But with exact identification, both D and
asymptotically, assuming that asymptotic normality hold), so
m 0
So the moment conditions are zero regardless of the weighting matrix used. As
such, we might as well use an identity matrix and save trouble. Also s n
so the test breaks down.
290
0,
A note: this sort of test often over-rejects in finite samples. If the sample size is
small, it might be better to use bootstrap critical values. That is, draw artificial
samples of size n by sampling from the data with replacement. For R bootstrap
samples, optimize and calculate the test statistic n s j
1 2 R Define
the bootstrap critical value Cb such that 100 percent of the s j exceed the
value. Of course, R must be a very large number if g
K is large, in order to
determine the critical value with precision. This sort of test has been found to
have quite good small sample properties.
18.9 Other estimators interpreted as GMM estimators
18.9.1 OLS with heteroscedasticity of unknown form
Example 65 Whites heteroscedastic consistent varcov estimator for OLS.
Suppose y
X0 where
N 0 a diagonal matrix.
The typical approach is to parameterize
where is a finite dimen
sional parameter vector, and to estimate and jointly (feasible GLS). This
will work well if the parameterization of is correct.
If were not confident about parameterizing we can still estimate consis
tently by OLS. However, the typical covariance estimator V
X
X
will be biased and inconsistent, and will lead to invalid inferences.
By exogeneity of the regressors xt (a K
1 column vector) we have E xt t
suggests the moment condition
mt
xt yt
291
xt
0 which
In this case, we have exact identification ( K parameters and K moment conditions).
We have
1 n mt
m
1 n xt yt
1 n xt xt
For any choice of W m will be identically zero at the minimum, due to exact iden
tification. That is, since the number of moment conditions is identical to the number
of parameters, the foc imply that m
0 regardless of W There is no need to use the
optimal weighting matrix in this case, an identity matrix works just as well for the
purpose of estimation. Therefore
xt xt
xt yt
X
X
X
y
which is the usual OLS estimator.
The GMM estimator of the asymptotic varcov matrix is D 1 D
that D is simply
Recall
In this case
1 n xt xt
D
X
X n
Recall that a possible estimator of is
n 1
v v
v 1
This is in general inconsistent, but in the present case of nonautocorrelation, it simplifies to
which has a constant number of elements to estimate, so information will accumulate,
292
and consistency obtains. In the present case
m t m t
1 n
t 1
xt xt
1 n
yt
xt
t 1
xt xt
t2
1 n
t 1
X
EX
n
where E is an n n diagonal matrix with t2 in the position t t.
Therefore, the GMM varcov. estimator, which is consistent, is
V
n
X
X
n
X
X
n
X
EX
n
X
EX
n
X
X
n
X
X
n
This is the varcov estimator that White (1980) arrived at in an influential article. This
estimator is consistent under heteroscedasticity of an unknown form. If there is autocorrelation, the Newey-West estimator can be used to estimate - the rest is the
same.
18.9.2 Weighted Least Squares
Consider the previous example of a linear model with heteroscedasticity of unknown
form:
X0
N 0
293
where is a diagonal matrix.
Now, suppose that the form of is known, so that 0 is a correct parametric
specification (which may also depend upon X In this case, the GLS estimator is
1
y
This estimator can be interpreted as the solution to the K moment conditions
m
1 n
xt yt
t 0
1 n
xt xt
0
t 0
That is, the GLS estimator in this case has an obvious representation as a GMM estimator. With autocorrelation, the representation exists but it is a little more complicated.
Nevertheless, the idea is the same. There are a few points:
The (feasible) GLS estimator is known to be asymptotically efficient in the class
of linear asymptotically unbiased estimators (Gauss-Markov).
This means that it is more efficient than the above example of OLS with Whites
heteroscedastic consistent covariance, which is an alternative GMM estimator.
This means that the choice of the moment conditions is important to achieve
efficiency.
18.9.3 2SLS
Consider the linear model
yt
zt
t
or
294
using the usual construction, where is K
1 and t is i.i.d. Suppose that this equation
is one of a system of simultaneous equations, so that zt contains both endogenous and
exogenous variables. Suppose that xt is the vector of all exogenous and predetermined
variables that are uncorrelated with t (suppose that xt is r 1
Define Z as the vector of predictions of Z when regressed upon X, e.g., Z
X X
X
X
Z
X X
X
X
Z
is a linear combination of the exogenous variables x z t must be unSince Z
correlated with This suggests the K-dimensional moment condition mt
z t yt
zt
and so
1 n z t yt
m
zt
Since we have K parameters and K moment conditions, the GMM estimator will
set m identically equal to zero, regardless of W so we have
zt zt
z t yt
Z
Z
1
y
Z
This is the standard formula for 2SLS. We use the exogenous variables and the reduced
form predictions of the endogenous variables as instruments, and apply IV estimation.
See Hamilton pp. 420-21 for the varcov formula (which is the standard formula for
2SLS), and for how to deal with t heterogeneous and dependent (basically, just use the
Newey-West or some other consistent estimator of and apply the usual formula).
Note that t dependent causes lagged endogenous variables to loose their status as
legitimate instruments.
295
18.9.4 Nonlinear simultaneous equations
GMM provides a convenient way to estimate nonlinear systems of simultaneous equations. We have a system of equations of the form
y1t
f1 zt 01
y2t
f2 zt 02
1t
2t
..
.
fG zt 0G
yGt
Gt
or in compact notation
f zt 0
yt
where f
is a G -vector valued function, and 0
We need to find an Ai
10
20
0
G
1 vector of instruments xit for each equation, that are
uncorrelated with it Typical instruments would be low order monomials in the exogenous variables in zt with their lagged values. Then we can define the G
i 1 Ai
orthogonality conditions
mt
y2t
yGt
f1 zt 1 x1t
y1t
f2 zt 2 x2t
..
.
fG zt G xGt
A note on identification: selection of instruments that ensure identification is a
non-trivial problem.
A note on efficiency: the selected set of instruments has important effects on the
efficiency of estimation. Unfortunately there is little theory offering guidance on
296
what is the optimal set. More on this later.
18.9.5 Maximum likelihood
In the introduction we argued that ML will in general be more efficient than GMM
since ML implicitly uses all of the moments of the distribution while GMM uses
a limited number of moments. Actually, a distribution with P parameters can be
uniquely characterized by P moment conditions. However, some sets of P moment
conditions may contain more information than others, since the moment conditions
could be highly correlated. A GMM estimator that chose an optimal set of P moment
conditions would be fully efficient. Here well see that the optimal moment conditions
are simply the scores of the ML estimator.
Let yt be a G -vector of variables, and let Yt
y1
y2
yt
Then at time t Yt
has been observed (refer to it as the information set, since we assume the conditioning
variables have been selected to take advantage of all useful information). The likelihood function is the joint density of the sample:
L
f y 1 y2
yn
which can be factored as
L
f yn Yn
1
f Yn
1
and we can repeat this to get
L
f yn Yn
1
f yn
297
Yn
2
f y1
The log-likelihood function is therefore
n
ln f
ln L
yt Yt
1
t 1
Define
mt Yt D ln f yt Yt
1
as the score of the t th observation. It can be shown that, under the regularity conditions, that the scores have conditional mean zero when evaluated at 0 (see notes to
Introduction to Econometrics):
E mt Yt 0 Yt
0
so one could interpret these as moment conditions to use to define a just-identified
GMM estimator ( if there are K parameters there are K score equations). The GMM
estimator sets
n
1 n mt Yt
t 1
1 n D ln f yt Yt
1
0
t 1
which are precisely the first order conditions of MLE. Therefore, MLE can be inter
preted as a GMM estimator. The GMM varcov formula is V
1D
1
Consistent estimates of variance components are as follows
D
m Yt
1 n D2 ln f yt Yt
1
t 1
It is important to note that mt and mt
s
298
0 are both conditionally and uncondi-
tionally uncorrelated. Conditional uncorrelation follows from the fact that mt
is a function of Yt
which is in the information set at time t. Unconditional
uncorrelation follows from the fact that conditional uncorrelation hold regardless of the realization of Yt
so marginalizing with respect to Yt
preserves
uncorrelation (see the section on ML estimation, above). The fact that the scores
are serially uncorrelated implies that can be estimated by the estimator of the
0th autocovariance of the moment conditions:
n
1 n mt Yt mt Yt
1 n D ln f yt Yt
t 1
D ln f yt Yt
1
t 1
Recall from study of ML estimation that the information matrix equality (equation ??)
states that
D ln f yt Yt
1
0
D ln f yt Yt
1
0
E D2 ln f yt Yt
1
0
This result implies the well known (and already seeen) result that we can estimate V
in any of three ways:
The sandwich version:
tn 1 D2 ln f yt Yt 1
f yt Yt 1 D ln f yt Yt 1
1
n
tn
D ln
tn 1 D2 ln
f yt Yt
1
or the inverse of the negative of the Hessian (since the middle and last term
cancel, except for a minus sign):
1 n
D2 ln
t 1
299
1
f yt Yt
1
or the inverse of the outer product of the gradient (since the middle and last
cancel except for a minus sign, and the first term converges to minus the inverse
of the middle term, which is still inside the overall inverse)
1 n D ln f yt Yt
1
1
D ln f yt Yt
1
t 1
This simplification is a special result for the MLE estimator - it doesnt apply to GMM
estimators in general.
Asymptotically, if the model is correctly specified, all of these forms converge to
the same limit. In small samples they will differ. In particular, there is evidence that the
outer product of the gradient formula does not perform very well in small samples (see
Davidson and MacKinnon, pg. 477). Whites Information matrix test (Econometrica,
1982) is based upon comparing the two ways to estimate the information matrix: outer
product of gradient or negative of the Hessian. If they differ by too much, this is
evidence of misspecification of the model.
18.10 Application: Nonlinear rational expectations
Readings: Hansen and Singleton, 1982 ; Tauchen, 1986
Though GMM estimation has many applications, application to rational expectations models is elegant, since theory directly suggests the moment conditions. Hansen
and Singletons 1982 paper is also a classic worth studying in itself. Though I strongly
recommend reading the paper, Ill use a simplified model with similar notation to
Hamiltons.
We assume a representative consumer maximizes expected discounted utility over
an infinite horizon. Utility is temporally additive, and the expected utility hypothesis
holds. The future consumption stream is the stochastic sequence ct
300
t 0
The objec-
tive function at time t is the discounted expected utility
s E
u ct
It
s
(30)
s 0
The parameter is between 0 and 1, and reflects discounting.
It is the information set at time t and includes the all realizations of random
variables indexed t and earlier.
The choice variable is ct - current consumption, which is constained to be less
than or equal to current wealth wt
Suppose the consumer can invest in a risky asset. A dollar invested in the asset
yields a gross return
1 rt
1
pt
dt
pt
where pt is the price and dt is the dividend in period t The price of ct is normalized to 1
Current wealth wt
1 rt it
1,
where it
is investment in period t
1. So the
problem is to allocate current wealth between current consumption and investment to finance future consumption: wt
Future net rates of return rt
s
ct it .
0 are not known in period t: the asset is risky.
A partial set of necessary conditions for utility maximization have the form:
u
ct
1 rt
1
u
ct
1
It
(31)
To see that the condition is necessary, suppose that the lhs < rhs. Then by reduc
ing current consumption marginally would cause equation 30 to drop by u
ct since
301
there is no discounting of the current period. At the same time, the marginal reduc
tion in consumption finances investment, which has gross return 1 rt
1
which
could finance consumption in period t 1 This increase in consumption would cause
the objective function to increase by E
1 rt
1
u
ct
1
It
Therefore, unless the
condition holds, the expected discounted utility function is not maximized.
To use this we need to choose the functional form of utility. A constant relative
risk aversion form is
ct
u ct
where 1
is the coefficient of relative risk aversion (
1 . With this form,
u
ct
ct
so the foc are
1
ct
1
1 It
1 rt
1
ct
While it is true that
E ct
1 rt
1
1
1
ct
It
so that we could use this to define moment conditions, it is unlikely that ct is stationary,
even though it is in real terms, and our theory requires stationarity. To solve this, divide
1
though by ct
E 1-
1 rt
ct 1
ct
1
It
(note that ct can be passed though the conditional expectation since ct is chosen based
only upon information available in time t
Suppose that xt is a vector of variables drawn from the information set It We can
302
use the necessary conditions to form the expressions
1
1 rt
1
ct 1
ct
1
mt
xt
represents and
Therefore, the above expression may be interpreted as a moment condition which
can be used for GMM estimation of the parameters 0
Note that at time t mt
has been observed, and is therefore an element of the infor-
mation set. By rational expectations, the autocovariances of the moment conditions
other than 0 should be zero. The optimal weighting matrix is therefore the inverse of
the variance of the moment conditions:
lim E nm 0 m 0
which can be consistently estimated by
1 n mt mt
t 1
As before, this estimate depends on an initial consistent estimate of which can be
obtained by setting the weighting matrix W arbitrarily (to an identity matrix, for example). After obtaining we then minimize
s
1m
m
This process can be iterated, e.g., use the new estimate to re-estimate use this to
estimate 0 and repeat until the estimates dont change.
This whole approach relies on the very strong assumption that equation 31 holds
303
without error. Supposing agents were heterogeneous, this wouldnt be reasonable. If there were an error term here, it could potentially be autocorrelated,
which would no longer allow any variable in the information set to be used as an
instrument..
In principle, we could use a very large number of moment conditions in estimation, since any current or lagged variable could be used in xt Since use of more
moment conditions will lead to a more (asymptotically) efficient estimator, one
might be tempted to use many instrumental variables. We will do a compter lab
that will show that this may not be a good idea with finite samples. This issue has
been studied using Monte Carlos (Tauchen, JBES, 1986). The reason for poor
performance when using many instruments is that the estimate of becomes
very imprecise.
Empirical papers that use this approach often have serious problems in obtaining
precise estimates of the parameters. Note that we are basing everything on a
single parial first order condition. Probably this f.o.c. is simply not informative
enough. Simulation-based estimation methods (discussed below) are one means
of trying to use more informative moment conditions to estimate this sort of
model.
18.11 Problems
1. Perform GMM estimation of the rational expectations model described above
using the data in the file gmmdata, located , on the volcano server. The columns
of this data file are c p and d in that order. There are 95 observations (source:
Tauchen, JBES 1986). Use as instruments lags of c and 1 r
Use lags of orders 1, 2, 3 and 4.
304
Iterate the estimation of
and to convergence.
Comment on the results. Are the results sensitive to the set of instruments
as well as Are these good instruments? Are the instruused? (Look at
ments highly correlated with one another?
305
19 Quasi-ML
Quasi-ML is the estimator one obtains when a misspecified probability model is used
to calculate an ML estimator.
Given a sample of size n of a random vector y and a vector of conditioning variables
x suppose the joint density of Y
y1
yn
conditional on X
is a member of the parametric family pY Y X
x1
xn
The true joint density is as-
sociated with the vector 0 :
pY Y X 0
As long as the marginal density of X doesnt depend on 0 this conditional density
fully characterizes the random characteristics of samples: e.g., it fully describes the
probabilistically important features of the d.g.p. The likelihood function is just this
density evaluated at other values
L Y X
pY Y X
Let Yt
y1
yt
,Y
0 and let Xt
x1
xt
The like-
lihood function, taking into account possible dependence of observations, can
be written as
pt
L Y X
t 1
n
yt Yt
pt
t 1
306
1
Xt
The average log-likelihood function is:
1 n
ln pt
nt 1
1
ln L Y X
n
sn
Suppose that we do not have knowledge of the family of densities pt Mistakenly, we may assume that the conditional density of yt is a member of the family
pt yt Yt
Xt
ft yt Yt
where there is no 0 such that ft yt Yt
Xt 0
1
Xt 0
t (this is what we mean by misspecified).
This setup allows for heterogeneous time series data, with dynamic misspecification.
The QML estimator is the argument that maximizes the misspecified average log likelihood, which we refer to as the quasi-log likelihood function. This objective function
is
1 n
ln ft yt Yt
nt 1
sn
1
Xt 0
1 n
ln ft
nt 1
and the QML is
n
arg max sn
A SLLN for dependent sequences applies (we assume), so that
sn
as
1 n
lim E ln ft
n n
t 1
s
We assume that this can be strengthened to uniform convergence, a.s., following the
307
previous arguments. The pseudo-true value of is the value that maximizes s :
arg max s
Given assumptions so that theorem 58 is applicable, we obtain
lim n
0 a.s.
An example of sufficient conditions for consistency are
is compact
sn is continuous and converges pointwise almost surely to s (this
means that s will be continuous, and this combined with compactness
of means s is uniformly continuous).
0 is a unique global maximizer. A stronger version of this assumption
that allows for asymptotic normality is that D2 s exists and is negative
definite in a neighborhood of 0
Applying the asymptotic normality theorem,
n
0
d N 0 J 0
I 0 J 0
where
J 0
lim E D2 sn 0
and
I 0
lim Var nD sn 0
308
1
Note that asymptotic normality only requires that the additional assumptions
regarding J and I hold in a neighborhood of 0 for J and at 0 for I not
throughout In this sense, asymptotic normality is a local property.
19.0.1 Consistent Estimation of Variance Components
Consistent estimation of J 0 is straightforward. Assumption (b) of Theorem 61
implies that
Jn n
1 n 2
D ln ft n
nt 1
as
lim E
1 n 2
D ln ft 0
nt 1
J 0
That is, just calculate the Hessian using the estimate n in place of 0
Consistent estimation of I 0 is more difficult, and may be impossible.
Notation: Let gt
D ft 0
We need to estimate
I 0
lim Var nD sn 0
lim Var n
1 n
D ln ft 0
nt 1
1
lim Var gt
n
t 1
n
1
lim E
n n
gt
n
E gt
t 1
t 1
gt
E gt
This is going to contain a term
1 n
E gt E gt
n
t 1
lim
which will not tend to zero, in general. This term is not consistently estimable in
309
general, since it requires calculating an expectation using the true density under the
d.g.p., which is unknown.
There are important cases where I 0 is consistently estimable. For example,
suppose that the data come from a random sample (i.e., they are iid). This would
be the case with cross sectional data, for example. (Note: we have that the
joint distribution of yt xt is identical. This does not imply that the conditional
density f yt xt is identical).
With random sampling, the limiting objective function is simply
EX E0 ln f y x 0
s 0
where E0 means expectation of y x and EX means expectation respect to the
marginal density of x
By the requirement that the limiting objective function be maximized at 0 we
have
D EX E0 ln f y x 0
D s 0
The dominated convergence theorem allows switching the order of expectation
and differentiation, so
D EX E0 ln f y x 0
EX E0 D ln f y x 0
The CLT implies that
1 n
D ln f y x 0
nt 1
310
d N 0 I 0
That is, its not necessary to subtract the individual means, since they are zero.
Given this, and due to independent observations, a consistent estimator is
1 n
D ln ft D ln ft
nt 1
This is an important case where consistent estimation of the covariance matrix is possible. Other cases exist, even for dynamically misspecified time series models.
311
20 Nonlinear least squares (NLS)
Readings: Davidson and MacKinnon, Ch. 2 and 5 ; Gallant, Ch. 1
20.1 Introduction and definition
Nonlinear least squares (NLS) is a means of estimating the parameter of the model
f xt 0
yt
t
In general, t will be heteroscedastic and autocorrelated, and possibly nonnormally distributed. However, dealing with this is exactly as in the case of linear
models, so well just treat the iid case here,
iid 0 2
If we stack the observations vertically, defining
y1 y2 yn
f x1 f x 1
f x1
and
1 2 n
we can write the n observations as
f
312
Using this notation, the NLS estimator can be defined as
1
y
n
arg min sn
f
y
1
n
f
y
f
The estimator minimizes the weighted sum of squared errors, which is the same
as minimizing the Euclidean distance between y and f
The objective function can be written as
1
y
y
n
sn
2y
f
f
f
which gives the first order conditions
f y f f
0
Define the n K matrix
D f
F
(32)
In shorthand, use F in place of F Using this, the first order conditions can be written
as
F
y F
f 0
or
F
y
f
0
(33)
This bears a good deal of similarity to the f.o.c. for the linear model - the derivative of
the prediction is orthogonal to the prediction error. If f
so the f.o.c. (with spherical errors) simplify to
X
y
X
X
313
0
X then F is simply X
the usual 0LS f.o.c.
We can interpret this geometrically: INSERT drawings of geometrical depiction of
OLS and NLS (see Davidson and MacKinnon, pgs. 8,13 and 46).
Note that the nonlinearity of the manifold leads to potential multiple local max
ima, minima and saddlepoints: the objective function sn is not necessarily
well-behaved and may be difficult to minimize.
20.2 Identification
As before, identification can be considered conditional on the sample, and asymp
totically. The condition for asymptotic identification is that sn tend to a limiting
function s such that s 0
s
0 This will be the case if s 0 is
strictly convex at 0 which requires that D2 s 0 be positive definite. Consider the
objective function:
1 n
yt
n t1
sn
f xt 2
1 n
f xt 0
nt 1
ft xt
2
1 n
ft 0
nt 1
ft
2
2
ft 0
nt 1
1 n
t
n t1
ft t
As in example 16.3, which illustrated the consistency of extremum estimators
using OLS, we conclude that the second term will converge to a constant which
does not depend upon
A LLN can be applied to the third term to conclude that it converges pointwise
to 0, as long as f and are uncorrelated.
314
Next, pointwise convergence needs to be stregnthened to uniform almost sure
convergence. There are a number of possible assumptions one could use. Here,
well just assume it holds.
Turning to the first term, well assume a pointwise law of large numbers applies,
so
1 n
ft 0
nt 1
ft
2as
f z 0
f z
d z
(34)
where x is the distribution function of x In many cases, f x will be bounded
and continuous, for all
so strengthening to uniform almost sure con
vergence is immediate. For example if f x
1 exp
x
f : K
1
0 1 a bounded range, and the function is continuous in
Given these results, it is clear that a minimizer is 0 When considering identification
(asymptotic), the question is whether or not there may be some other minimizer. A
local condition for identification is that
2
2
s
f x 0
f x
2
d x
be positive definite at 0 Evaluating this derivative, we obtain (after a little work)
f x 0
f x
2
2
d x
D f z 0
D f z 0
d z
the expectation of the outer product of the gradient of the regression function evaluated
at 0 (Note: the uniform boundedness we have already assumed allows passing the
derivative through the integral, by the dominated convergence theorem.) This matrix
will be positive definite (wp1) as long as the gradient vector is of full rank (wp1). The
tangent space to the regression manifold must span a K -dimensional space if we are
315
to consistently estimate a K -dimensional parameter vector. This is analogous to the
requirement that there be no perfect colinearity in a linear model. This is a necessary
condition for identification. Note that the LLN implies that the above expectation is
equal to
2 lim E
J 0
F
F
n
20.3 Consistency
We simply assume that the conditions of Theorem 58 hold, so the estimator is consistent. Given that the strong stochastic equicontinuity conditions hold, as discussed
above, and given the above identification conditions an a compact estimation space (the
closure of the parameter space the consistency proofs assumptions are satisfied.
20.4 Asymptotic normality
As in the case of GMM, we also simply assume that the conditions for asymptotic
normality as in Theorem 61 hold. The only remaining problem is to determine the form
of the asymptotic variance-covariance matrix. Recall that the result of the asymptotic
normality theorem is
n
0
d N 0 J 0 1 I 0 J 0
where J 0 is the almost sure limit of
n D sn 0
2
sn
D sn 0
316
evaluated at 0 and
a s
I 0
The objective function is
1 n
yt
n t1
sn
f xt 2
So
2 n
yt
n t1
D sn
f xt D f xt
Evaluating at 0
2 n
t D f xt 0
nt 1
D sn 0
With this we obtain
n D sn 0
D sn 0
4
n
t D f xt 0
t 1
t 1
Noting that
n
t D f
0
f
xt 0
t 1
we can write the above as
n D sn 0
D sn 0
4
F
F
n
This converges almost surely to its expectation, following a LLN
I 0
42 lim E
317
F
F
n
t D f xt 0
Weve already seen that
2 lim E
J 0
F
F
n
where the expectation is with respect to the joint density of x and Combining these
expressions for J 0 and I 0 and the result of the asymptotic normality theorem,
we get
n
0
d N 0 lim E F
F
2
We can consistently estimate the variance covariance matrix using
F
F
n
(35)
where F is defined as in equation 32 and
y
f
f
the obvious estimator. Note the close correspondence to the results for the linear
model.
20.5 Example: The Poisson model for count data
Suppose that yt conditional on xt is independently distributed Poisson. A Poisson
random variable is a count data variable, which means it can take the values {0,1,2,...}.
This sort of model has been used to study visits to doctors per year, number of patents
registered by businesses per year, etc.
The Poisson density is
f yt
exp
t t t
yt
yt !
318
0 1 2
The mean of yt is t as is the variance. Note that t must be positive. Suppose that the
true mean is
t0
exp xt
0
which enforces the positivity of t Suppose we estimate 0 by nonlinear least squares:
1 n
yt
T t1
arg min sn
exp xt
2
We can write
sn
1 n
exp xt
0 t
Tt 1
exp xt
1 n
exp xt
0
Tt 1
exp xt
1 n 2
1 n
2
t exp xt
0
t
Tt 1
Tt 1
exp xt
The last term has expectation zero since the assumption that E yt xt
implies that E t xt
exp xt
0
0 which in turn implies that functions of xt are uncorrelated
with t Applying a strong LLN, and noting that the objective function is continuous
on a compact parameter space, we get
s
Ex exp x
0 exp x
Ex exp x
0
where the last term comes from the fact that the conditional variance of is the same
as the variance of y This function is clearly minimized at
0 so the NLS estimator
is consistent as long as identification holds.
Exercise 66 Determine the limiting distribution of
n
0
This means finding
the the specific forms of
sn , J 0
2
sn
needed, no need to verify that it can be applied.
319
and I 0 Again, use a CLT as
20.6 The Gauss-Newton algorithm
Readings: Davidson and MacKinnon, Chapter 6, pgs. 201-207 .
The Gauss-Newton optimization technique is specifically designed for nonlinear
least squares. The idea is to linearize the nonlinear model, rather than the objective
function. The model is
f 0
At some in the parameter space, not equal to 0 we have
f
where is a combination of the fundamental error term and the error due to evaluating the regression function at rather than the true value 0 Take a first order Taylors
series approximation around a point 1 :
f 1
D f 1
1
approximationerror.
This can be written as
z
where, as above, F 1
F 1 b ,
D f 1 is the n K matrix of derivatives of the regres-
sion function, evaluated at 1 and is plus approximation error from the truncated
Taylors series.
Note that F is known, given 1
Similarly, z y
f 1 which is also known.
The other new element here is b
320
1
Note that one could estimate b
simply by performing OLS on the above equation.
Given b we calculate a new round estimate of 0 as 2
b 1 With this, take
a new Taylors series expansion around 2 and repeat the process. Stop when
b
0 (to within a specified tolerance).
To see why this might work, consider the above approximation, but evaluated at the
NLS estimator:
y
The OLS estimate of b
f
F
is
b
F
F
1
F
y
f
This must be zero, since
F
y
f
0
by definition of the NLS estimator (these are the normal equations as in equation 33,
Since b 0 when we evaluate at updating would stop.
The Gauss-Newton method doesnt require second derivatives, as does the Newton-
Raphson method, so its faster.
The varcov estimator, as in equation 35 is simple to calculate, since we have F
as a by-product of the estimation process (i.e., its just the last round regressor
matrix). In fact, a normal OLS program will give the NLS varcov estimator
directly, since its just the OLS varcov estimator from the last iteration.
The method can suffer from convergence problems since F
F may be very
nearly singular, even with an asymptotically identified model, especially if is
321
Consider the example
very far from .
1 2 xt 3 t
y
When evaluated at 2
0 3 has virtually no effect on the NLS objective func
tion, so F will have rank that is essentially 2, rather than 3. In this case, F
F
will be nearly singular, so F
F
will be subject to large roundoff errors.
20.7 Application: Limited dependent variables and sample selection
Readings: Davidson and MacKinnon, Ch. 15 (a quick reading is sufficient), J. Heckman, Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error, Econometrica, 1979 (This is a
classic article, not required for reading, and which is a bit out-dated. Nevertheless its
a good place to start if you encounter sample selection problems in your research).
Sample selection is a common problem in applied research. The problem occurs
when observations used in estimation are sampled non-randomly, according to some
selection scheme.
20.7.1 Example: Labor Supply
Labor supply of a person is a positive number of hours per unit time supposing the
offer wage is higher than the reservation wage, which is the wage at which the person
prefers not to work. The model (very simple, with t subscripts suppressed):
Characteristics of individual: x
Latent labor supply: s
Offer wage: wo
z
322
Reservation wage: wr
Write the wage differential as
q
We have the set of equations
x
r
Assume that
N
0
We assume that the offer wage and the reservation wage, as well as the latent variable
s are unobservable. What is observed is
1w
ws
0
In other words, we observe whether or not a person is working. If the person is work
ing, we observe labor supply, which is equal to latent labor supply, s
s
Otherwise,
s Note that we are using a simplifying assumption that individuals can freely
choose their weekly hours of work.
Suppose we estimated the model
x
residual
323
0 The problem is that these observations are
using only observations for which s
those for which w
0 or equivalently,
r
and
0
r
since and are dependent. Furthermore, this expectation will in general depend on x
since elements of x can enter in r Because of these two facts, least squares estimation
is biased and inconsistent.
Consider more carefully E
r
Given the joint normality of and we
can write (see for example Spanos Statistical Foundations of Econometric Modelling,
pg. 122)
where has mean zero and is independent of . With this we can write
x
If we condition this equation on
r
we get
x
E
r
A useful result is that for
z
N 0 1
E zz
z
z
z
where
and
are the standard normal density and distribution function,
324
respectively. The quantity on the RHS above is known as the inverse Mills ratio:
z
z
IMR z
With this we can write
x
r
r
r
r
where
(36)
(37)
The error term has conditional mean zero, and is uncorrelated with
the regressors x
r
r
At this point, we can estimate the equation by NLS.
Heckman showed how one can estimate this in a two step procedure where first
is estimated, then equation 37 is estimated by least squares using the estimated
value of to form the regressors. This is inefficient and estimation of the covariance is a tricky issue. It is probably easier (and more efficient) just to do
MLE.
The model presented above depends strongly on joint normality. There exist
many alternative models which weaken the maintained assumptions. It is possible to estimate consistently without distributional assumptions. See Ahn and
Powell, Journal of Econometrics, 1994.
325
21 Examples: demand for health care
Demand for health care is usually thought of a a derived demand: health care is an
input to a home production function that produces health, and health is an argument
of the utility function. Grossman (1972), for example, models health as a capital stock
that is subject to depreciation (e.g., the effects of ageing). Health care visits restore the
stock. Under the home production framework, individuals decide when to make health
care visits to maintain their health stock, or to deal with negative shocks to the stock
in the form of accidents or illnesses. As such, individual demand will be a function of
the parameters of the individuals utility functions.
21.1 The MEPS data
The file health.mat (on the class web page) contains 500 observations on six measures
of health care usage. The data is from the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
(MEPS). You can get more information at http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/. The six
measures of use are are office-based visits (OBDV), outpatient visits (OPV), inpatient visits (IPV), emergency room visits (ERV), dental visits (VDV), and number of
prescription drugs taken (PRESCR). The conditioning variables are private insurance
(PRIV), public insurance (PUBLIC), age (AGE), sex (SEX), income (INCOME) and
years of education (EDUC). PRIV and PUBLIC are 0/1 binary variables, where a 1
indicates that the person has access to public or private insurance coverage. SEX is
also 0/1, where 1 indicates that the person is female.
326
Here are descriptive statistics for the measures of usage:
mean
variance
mean/var
max
% zeros
OBDV
3.4120
37.446
0.091117
68.000
0.32000
OPV
0.20400
1.0944
0.18641
20.000
0.88800
ERV
0.18400
0.30614
0.60102
6.0000
0.86400
IPV
0.076000
0.14222
0.53437
5.0000
0.94600
DV
1.0360
3.1107
0.33304
16.000
0.55800
PRESCR
8.0500
214.39
0.037549
107.00
0.29000
Since health care visits are count data, a simple approach to modeling demand
could be based upon the Poisson model. Recall that the Poisson model is
fY y
exp
y
y!
exp x
Here, well let the x vector be
1 PU BLIC PRIV SEX AGE EDUC INC
Recall that the Poisson model imposes that the conditional mean equals the conditional variance (equidispersion). We see from the above descriptive statistics that the
data are all unconditionally overdispersed, since the unconditional variance is greater
than the unconditional mean. To achieve conditional equidispersion, the model would
have to fit quite well.
327
Here are results for OBDV:
**************************************************************************
MEPS data, OBDV
poisson results
Strong convergence
Observations = 500
Function value
-3.8679
params
t(OPG)
t(Sand.)
t(Hess)
constant
-0.51541
-8.5242
-1.0992
-3.2325
pub_ins
0.61054
16.999
3.0582
7.6966
priv_ins
0.18459
5.1354
1.1697
2.4819
sex
0.35452
21.396
2.1007
7.0053
age
0.022112
24.396
4.3966
10.795
educ
0.027979
8.6896
0.93269
2.9554
inc
0.0070852
2.2891
0.30328
0.87485
Information Criteria
Consistent Akaike
3918.4
Schwartz
3911.4
Hannan-Quinn
3893.5
Akaike
3881.9
**************************************************************************
The insurance variables have the expected sign, but PRIV is not significant.
328
Women and older people make more visits. Income appears not to affect de-
mand for office based visits.
Note that the t-stats differ quite a bit according to the covariance matrix estimator. This big difference is an indicator of possible misspecification. If there is
misspecification, then only the sandwich form is valid (since we have a QML
estimator in this case, and the information matrix equality doesnt hold). The
information matrix test is based on this principle.
329
Here are results for ERV.
**************************************************************************
MEPS data, ERV
poisson results
Strong convergence
Observations = 500
Function value
-0.49978
params
t(OPG)
t(Sand.)
t(Hess)
constant
-1.1669
-2.0607
-1.6099
-1.8912
pub_ins
0.65307
2.3722
1.7257
2.3114
priv_ins
-0.26764
-0.93634
-0.83555
-0.90040
sex
-0.57001
-2.7777
-2.0050
-2.6389
age
0.0037963
0.60114
0.32714
0.45393
educ
0.0010258
0.026424
0.024977
0.026173
inc
-0.12531
-2.2085
-2.2781
-2.3102
Information Criteria
Consistent Akaike
550.29
Schwartz
543.29
Hannan-Quinn
525.36
Akaike
513.78
**************************************************************************
330
In this case, private insurance has a negative impact.
Women are less likely to make emergency room visits compared to men.
Richer people make fewer visits, and the effect seems to be significant. Perhaps
poor people do not have good insurance coverage and use emergency visits as a
substitute for preventive care?
There is less difference between the three forms of the t-statistics. Is this an
indication that the Poisson model might work better for ERV than for OBDV?
To check the plausibility of the Poisson model, we can compare the sample unconditional variance with the estimated unconditional variance according to the Poisson
model: V y
tn
1 t
. For OBDV and ERV, we get We see that even after condi-
Table 1: Marginal Variances, Sample and Estimated (Poisson)
OBDV
ERV
Sample
37.446 0.30614
Estimated 3.4540 0.19060
tioning, the overdispersion is not captured in either case. There is huge problem with
OBDV, and a significant problem with ERV. In both cases the Poisson model does not
appear to be plausible.
21.2 Infinite mixture models
Reference: Cameron and Trivedi (1998) Regression analysis of count data, chapter 4.
The two measures seem to exhibit extra-Poisson variation. To capture unobserved
heterogeneity, a possibility is the random parameters approach. Consider the possibil-
331
ity that the constant term in a Poisson model were random:
exp
fY y x
y
y!
exp x
exp x exp
where
exp x ) and
exp . Now captures the randomness in the constant.
The problem is that we dont observe , so we will need to marginalize it to get a
usable density
fY y x
y
f z dz
y!
exp
This density can be used directly, perhaps using numberical integration to evaluate the
likelihood function. In some cases, though, the integral will have an analytic solution.
For example, if follows a certain one parameter gamma density, then
y
y 1
fY y
where
(38)
For this density, E y x
. appear since it is the parameter of the gamma density.
. We again parameterize
exp x
The variance depends upon how is parameterized.
If
, where
0, then V y x
. Note that is a function
of x, so that the variance is too. This is referred to as the NB-I model.
If
1 , where
0, then V y x
NB-II model.
332
2 . This is referred to as the
So both forms of the NB model allow for overdispersion, with the NB-II model allowing for a more radical form.
Testing reduction of a NB model to a Poisson model cannot be done by testing
0 using standard Wald or LR procedures. The critical values need to be
adjusted to account for the fact that
space.
333
0 is on the boundary of the parameter
Here are NB-I estimation results for OBDV
MEPS data, OBDV
negbin results
Strong convergence
Observations = 500
Function value
-2.2656
t-Stats
params
t(OPG)
t(Sand.)
-0.055766
-0.16793
-0.17418
-0.17215
pub_ins
0.47936
2.9406
2.8296
2.9122
priv_ins
0.20673
1.3847
1.4201
1.4086
sex
0.34916
3.2466
3.4148
3.3434
age
0.015116
3.3569
3.8055
3.5974
educ
0.014637
0.78661
0.67910
0.73757
inc
0.012581
0.60022
0.93782
0.76330
1.7389
23.669
11.295
16.660
constant
ln_alpha
Information Criteria
Consistent Akaike
2323.3
Schwartz
2315.3
Hannan-Quinn
2294.8
Akaike
2281.6
334
t(Hess)
Here are NB-II results for OBDV
**************************************************************************
MEPS data, OBDV
negbin results
Strong convergence
Observations = 500
Function value
-2.2616
t-Stats
params
t(OPG)
t(Sand.)
constant
-0.65981
-1.8913
-1.4717
-1.6977
pub_ins
0.68928
2.9991
3.1825
3.1436
priv_ins
0.22171
1.1515
1.2057
1.1917
sex
0.44610
3.8752
2.9768
3.5164
age
0.024221
3.8193
4.5236
4.3239
educ
0.020608
0.94844
0.74627
0.86004
inc
0.020040
0.87374
0.72569
0.86579
0.47421
5.6622
4.6278
5.6281
ln_alpha
Information Criteria
Consistent Akaike
2319.3
Schwartz
2311.3
Hannan-Quinn
2290.8
Akaike
2277.6
335
t(Hess)
**************************************************************************
For the OBDV model, the NB-II model does a better job, in terms of the average
log-likelihood and the information criteria.
Note that both versions of the NB model fit much better than does the Poisson
model.
The t-statistics are now similar for all three ways of calculating them, which
might indicate that the serious specification problems of the Poisson model for
the OBDV data are partially solved by moving to the NB model.
The estimated ln is highly significant.
To check the plausibility of the NB-II model, we can compare the sample unconditional variance with the estimated unconditional variance according to the NB-II
tn
model: V y
t
n
1 t
. For OBDV and ERV (estimation results not reported),
we get The overdispersion problem is significantly better than in the Poisson case, but
Table 2: Marginal Variances, Sample and Estimated (NB-II)
OBDV
ERV
Sample
37.446 0.30614
Estimated 26.962 0.27620
there is still some overdispersion that is not captured, for both OBDV and ERV.
21.3 Hurdle models
Returning to the Poisson model, lets look at actual and fitted count probabilities. Ac
tual frequencies are f y
ni
1 fY
j
i 1 y i
j n and fitted frequencies are f y
j
j xi n We see that for the OBDV measure, there are many more actual ze
336
Table 3: Actual and Poisson fitted frequencies
Count
OBDV
ERV
Count Actual Fitted Actual Fitted
0
0.32
0.06
0.86
0.83
1
0.18
0.15
0.10
0.14
2
0.11
0.19
0.02
0.02
3
0.10
0.18 0.004 0.002
4
0.052 0.15 0.002 0.0002
5
0.032 0.10
0
2.4e-5
ros than predicted. For ERV, there are somewhat more actual zeros than fitted, but the
difference is not too important.
Why might OBDV not fit the zeros well? What if people made the decision to
contact the doctor for a first visit, they are sick, then the doctor decides on whether or
not follow-up visits are needed. This is a principal/agent type situation, where the total
number of visits depends upon the decision of both the patient and the doctor. Since
different parameters may govern the two decision-makers choices, we might expect
that different parameters govern the probability of zeros versus the other counts. Let
p be the parameters of the patients demand for visits, and let d be the paramter of
the doctors demand for visits. The patient will initiate visits according to a discrete
choice model, for example, a logit model:
Pr Y
Pr Y
0
fY 0 p
1 1 exp
0
1 1 exp
p
p
The above probabilities are used to estimate the binary 0/1 hurdle process. Then, for
the observations where visits are positive, a truncated Poisson density is estimated.
337
This density is
fY y d y
fY y d
1 exp d
0
Since the hurdle and truncated components of the overall density for Y share no parameters, they may be estimated separately, which is computationally more efficient
than estimating the overall model. (Recall that the BFGS algorithm, for example, will
have to invert the approximated Hessian. The computational overhead is of order K 2
where K is the number of parameters to be estimated) . The expectation of Y is
E Y x
Pr Y
1
0 x E Y Y
1
exp
338
p 1
0 x
d
exp d
Here are hurdle Poisson estimation results for OBDV:
**************************************************************************
MEPS data, OBDV
logit results
Strong convergence
Observations = 500
Function value
-0.58939
t-Stats
params
t(OPG)
t(Sand.)
t(Hess)
constant
-1.5502
-2.5709
-2.5269
-2.5560
pub_ins
1.0519
3.0520
3.0027
3.0384
priv_ins
0.45867
1.7289
1.6924
1.7166
sex
0.63570
3.0873
3.1677
3.1366
age
0.018614
2.1547
2.1969
2.1807
educ
0.039606
1.0467
0.98710
1.0222
inc
0.077446
1.7655
2.1672
1.9601
Information Criteria
Consistent Akaike
639.89
Schwartz
632.89
Hannan-Quinn
614.96
Akaike
603.39
**************************************************************************
339
The results for the truncated part:
**************************************************************************
MEPS data, OBDV
tpoisson results
Strong convergence
Observations = 500
Function value
-2.7042
t-Stats
params
t(OPG)
t(Sand.)
constant
0.54254
7.4291
1.1747
3.2323
pub_ins
0.31001
6.5708
1.7573
3.7183
priv_ins
0.014382
0.29433
0.10438
0.18112
sex
0.19075
10.293
1.1890
3.6942
age
0.016683
16.148
3.5262
7.9814
educ
0.016286
4.2144
0.56547
1.6353
-0.0079016
-2.3186
-0.35309
-0.96078
inc
t(Hess)
Information Criteria
Consistent Akaike
2754.7
Schwartz
2747.7
Hannan-Quinn
2729.8
Akaike
2718.2
**************************************************************************
340
Fitted and actual probabilites (NB-II fits are provided as well) are:
Table 4: Actual and Hurdle Poisson fitted frequencies
Count
OBDV
Count Actual Fitted HP Fitted NB-II
0
0.32
0.32
0.34
1
0.18
0.035
0.16
2
0.11
0.071
0.11
3
0.10
0.10
0.08
4
0.052
0.11
0.06
5
0.032
0.10
0.05
Actual
0.86
0.10
0.02
0.004
0.002
0
ERV
Fitted HP Fitted NB-II
0.86
0.86
0.10
0.10
0.02
0.02
0.006
0.006
0.002
0.002
0.0005
0.001
For the Hurdle Poisson models, the ERV fit is very accurate. The OBDV fit is not
so good. Zeros are exact, but 1s and 2s are underestimated, and higher counts are
overestimated. For the NB-II fits, performance is at least as good as the hurdle Poisson
model, and one should recall that many fewer parameters are used. Hurdle version of
the negative binomial model are also widely used.
21.4 Finite mixture models
The finite mixture approach to fitting health care demand was introduced by Deb and
Trivedi (1997). The mixture approach has the intuitive appeal of allowing for subgroups of the population with different health status. If individuals are classified as
healthy or unhealthy then two subgroups are defined. A finer classification scheme
would lead to more subgroups. Many studies have incorporated objective and/or subjective indicators of health status in an effort to capture this heterogeneity. The available objective measures, such as limitations on activity, are not necessarily very informative about a persons overall health status. Subjective, self-reported measures may
suffer from the same problem, and may also not be exogenous
341
Finite mixture models are conceptually simple. The density is
fY y 1 p 1 p
p 1
i fY
1
i
y i
p
p fY y p
i 1
where i
0i
1 2 p, p
1
p 1
1 i ,
and i
that the i are ordered in some way, for example, 1
1 i
1. Identification requires
p and i
j i j.
This is simple to accomplish post-estimation by rearrangement and possible elimination of redundant component densities.
The properties of the mixture density follow in a straightforward way from those
of the components. In particular, the moment generating function is the same
mixture of the moment generating functions of the component densities, so, for
example, E Y x
th
1 i i x , where i x is the mean of the i component
density.
Mixture densities may suffer from overparameterization, since the total number of parameters grows rapidly with the number of component densities. It is
possible to constrained parameters across the mixtures.
Testing for the number of component densities is a tricky issue. For example,
testing for p
1 (a single component, which is to say, no mixture) versus p
(a mixture of two components) involves the restriction 1
boundary of the parameter space. Not that when 1
1, which is on the
1, the parameters of the
second component can take on any value without affecting the density. Usual
methods such as the likelihood ratio test are not applicable when parameters
are on the boundary under the null hypothesis. Information criteria means of
choosing the model (see below) are valid.
The following are results for a mixture of 2 negative binomial (NB-I) models, for the
342
OBDV data.
343
**************************************************************************
MEPS data, OBDV
mixnegbin results
Strong convergence
Observations = 500
Function value
-2.2312
t-Stats
params
t(OPG)
t(Sand.)
0.64852
1.3851
1.3226
1.4358
pub_ins
-0.062139
-0.23188
-0.13802
-0.18729
priv_ins
0.093396
0.46948
0.33046
0.40854
sex
0.39785
2.6121
2.2148
2.4882
age
0.015969
2.5173
2.5475
2.7151
educ
-0.049175
-1.8013
-1.7061
-1.8036
inc
0.015880
0.58386
0.76782
0.73281
ln_alpha
0.69961
2.3456
2.0396
2.4029
constant
-3.6130
-1.6126
-1.7365
-1.8411
pub_ins
2.3456
1.7527
3.7677
2.6519
priv_ins
0.77431
0.73854
1.1366
0.97338
sex
0.34886
0.80035
0.74016
0.81892
age
0.021425
1.1354
1.3032
1.3387
educ
0.22461
2.0922
1.7826
2.1470
inc
0.019227
0.20453
0.40854
0.36313
2.8419
6.2497
6.8702
7.6182
0.85186
1.7096
1.4827
1.7883
constant
ln_alpha
logit_inv_mix
Information Criteria
344
t(Hess)
Consistent Akaike
2353.8
Schwartz
2336.8
Hannan-Quinn
2293.3
Akaike
2265.2
**************************************************************************
Delta method for mix parameter st.
mix
se_mix
0.70096
0.12043
err.
The 95% confidence interval for the mix parameter is perilously close to 1, which
suggests that there may really be only one component density, rather than a
mixture. Again, this is not the way to test this - it is merely suggetive.
Education is interesting. For the subpopulation that is healthy, i.e., that makes
relatively few visits, education seems to have a positive effect on visits. For the
unhealthy group, education has a negative effect on visits. The other results
are more mixed. A larger sample could help clarify things.
The following are results for a 2 component constrained mixture negative binomial
model where all the slope parameters in j
ex j are the same across the two compo-
nents. The constants and the overdispersion parameters j are allowed to differ for the
two components.
345
**************************************************************************
MEPS data, OBDV
cmixnegbin results
Strong convergence
Observations = 500
Function value
-2.2441
t-Stats
params
t(OPG)
t(Sand.)
constant
-0.34153
-0.94203
-0.91456
-0.97943
pub_ins
0.45320
2.6206
2.5088
2.7067
priv_ins
0.20663
1.4258
1.3105
1.3895
sex
0.37714
3.1948
3.4929
3.5319
age
0.015822
3.1212
3.7806
3.7042
educ
0.011784
0.65887
0.50362
0.58331
inc
0.014088
0.69088
0.96831
0.83408
ln_alpha
1.1798
4.6140
7.2462
6.4293
const_2
1.2621
0.47525
2.5219
1.5060
lnalpha_2
2.7769
1.5539
6.4918
4.2243
logit_inv_mix
2.4888
0.60073
3.7224
1.9693
Information Criteria
Consistent Akaike
2323.5
Schwartz
2312.5
Hannan-Quinn
346
t(Hess)
2284.3
Akaike
2266.1
**************************************************************************
Delta method for mix parameter st.
mix
se_mix
0.92335
0.047318
err.
Now the mixture parameter is even closer to 1.
The slope parameter estimates are pretty close to what we got with the NB-I
model.
21.5 Comparing models using information criteria
A Poisson model cant be tested (using standard methods) as a restriction of a negative
binomial model. Testing for collapse of a finite mixture to a mixture of fewer components has the same problem. How can we determine which of competing models is the
best?
The information criteria approach is one possibility. Information criteria are functions of the log-likelihood, with a penalty for the number of parameters used. Three
popular information criteria are the Akaike (AIC), Bayes (BIC) and consistent Akaike
(CAIC). The formulae are
k ln n 1
k ln n
2k
2 ln L
BIC
AIC
2 ln L
CAIC
2 ln L
347
It can be shown that the CAIC and BIC will select the correctly specified model from a
group of models, asymptotically. This doesnt mean, of course, that the correct model
is necesarily in the group. The AIC is not consistent, and will asymptotically favor
an over-parameterized model over the correctly specified model. Here are information
criteria values for the models weve seen, for OBDV. According to the AIC, the best
Table 5: Information Criteria, OBDV
Model
Poisson
NB-I
Hurdle Poisson
MNB-I
CMNB-I
AIC
3822
2282
3333
2265
2266
BIC CAIC
3911 3918
2315 2323
3381 3395
2337 2354
2312 2323
is the MNB-I, which has relatively many parameters. The best according to the BIC is
CMNB-I, and according to CAIC, the best is NB-I. The Poisson-based models do not
do well.
22 Nonparametric inference
22.1 Possible pitfalls of parametric inference: estimation
Readings: H. White (1980) Using Least Squares to Approximate Unknown Regression Functions, International Economic Review, pp. 149-70.
In this section we consider a simple example, which illustrates both why nonparametric methods may in some cases be preferred to parametric methods.
We suppose that data is generated by random sampling of y x , where y
348
f x
, x is uniformly distributed on 0 2 and is a classical error. Suppose that
f x
3x
2
x
2
2
The problem of interest is to estimate the elasticity of f x with respect to x throughout
the range of x.
In general, the functional form of f x is unknown. One idea is to take a Taylors
series approximation to f x about some point x0 Flexible functional forms such as the
transcendental logarithmic (usually know as the translog) can be interpreted as second
order Taylors series approximations. Well work with a first order approximation, for
simplicity. Approximating about x0 :
h x
f x0
If the approximation point is x0
Dx f x0 x
0 we can write
h x
a bx
The coefficient a is the value of the function at x
the derivative at x
x0
0 and the slope is the value of
0 These are of course not known. One might try estimation by
ordinary least squares. The objective function is
n
1 n yt
s a b
h xt
t 1
The limiting objective function, following the argument we used to get equations 17
and 34 is
s a b
2
0
f x
349
h x
dx
The theorem regarding the consistency of extremum estimators (Theorem 58) tells
us that a and b will converge almost surely to the values that minimize the limiting
objective function. Solving the first order conditions3 reveals that s a b obtains its
7
6
minimum at a0
1
b0
The estimated approximating function h x therefore
tends almost surely to
h x
7 6 x
We may plot the true function and the limit of the approximation to see the asymptotic
bias as a function of x:
(The approximating model is the straight line, the true model has curvature.) Note
that the approximating model is in general inconsistent, even at the approximation
point. This shows that flexible functional forms based upon Taylors series approximations do not in general allow consistent estimation. The mathematical properties of
the Taylors series do not carry over when coefficients are estimated.
The approximating model seems to fit the true model fairly well, asymptotically.
However, we are interested in the elasticity of the function. Recall that an elasticity is
the marginal function divided by the average function:
x
x
x x
Good approximation of the elasticity over the range of x will require a good approxi
mation of both f x and f
x over the range of x The approximating elasticity is
x
3 All
xh
x h x
calculations were done using Scientific Workplace.
350
Plotting the true elasticity and the elasticity obtained from the limiting approximating
model
The true elasticity is the line that has negative slope for large x Visually we see
that the elasticity is not approximated so well. Root mean squared error in the approximation of the elasticity is
2
x
x dx
1 2
31546
Now suppose we use the leading terms of a trigonometric series as the approximating model. The reason for using a trigonometric series as an approximating model
is motivated by the asymptotic properties of the Fourier flexible functional form (Gallant, 1981, 1982), which we will study in more detail below. Normally with this type
of model the number of basis functions is an increasing function of the sample size.
Here we hold the set of basis function fixed. We will consider the asymptotic behavior
of a fixed model, which we interpret as an approximation to the estimators behavior
in finite samples. Consider the set of basis functions:
1
Z x
x cos x
sin x
cos 2x
sin 2x
The approximating model is
Z x
gK x
Maintaining these basis functions as the sample size increases, we find that the limiting
objective function is minimized at
a1
7
a2
6
1
a3
1
a4
2
0 a5
1
a6
42
0
Substituting these values into gK x we obtain the almost sure limit of the approxima351
tion
7 6 x
g x
cos x
1
2
sin x 0
cos 2x
1
42
sin 2x 0 (39)
Plotting the approximation and the true function:
Clearly the truncated trigonometric series model offers a better approximation,
asymptotically, than does the linear model. Plotting elasticities: On average, the fit
is better, though there is some implausible wavyness in the estimate.
Root mean squared error in the approximation of the elasticity is
2
0
x
x x
g x
1 2
dx
16213
about half that of the RMSE when the first order approximation is used. If the trigonometric series contained infinite terms, this error measure would be driven to zero, as
we shall see.
22.2 Possible pitfalls of parametric inference: hypothesis testing
What do we mean by the term nonparametric inference? Simply, this means inferences that are possible without restricting the functions of interest to belong to a
parametric family.
Consider means of testing for the hypothesis that consumers maximize utility. A
consequence of utility maximization is that the Slutsky matrix D2p h p U , where
h p U are the a set of compensated demand functions, must be negative semi
definite. One approach to testing for utility maximization would estimate a set
of normal demand functions x p m .
352
Estimation of these functions by normal parametric methods requires specification of the functional form of demand, for example
x p m
x p m 0
0
0
where x p m 0 is a function of known form and 0 is a finite dimensional
parameter.
After estimation, we could use x
x p m to calculate (by solving the integra
bility problem, which is non-trivial) D2p h
p U If we can statistically reject that
the matrix is negative semi-definite, we might conclude that consumers dont
maximize utility.
The problem with this is that the reason for rejection of the theoretical proposition may be that our choice of functional form is incorrect. In the introductory
section we saw that functional form misspecification leads to inconsistent esti-
mation of the function and its derivatives.
Testing using parametric models always means we are testing a compound hypothesis. The hypothesis that is tested is 1) the economic proposition we wish
to test, and 2) the model is correctly specified. Failure of either 1) or 2) can lead
to rejection. This is known as the model-induced augmenting hypothesis.
Varians WARP allows one to test for utility maximization without specifying the
form of the demand functions. The only assumptions used in the test are those
directly implied by theory, so rejection of the hypothesis calls into question the
theory.
Nonparametric inference allows direct testing of economic propositions, without
the model-induced augmenting hypothesis.
353
22.3 The Fourier functional form
Readings: Gallant, 1987 Identification and consistency in semi-nonparametric re
gression, in Advances in Econometrics, Fifth World Congress, V. 1, Truman Bewley,
ed., Cambridge.
Suppose we have a multivariate model
f x
where f x is of unknown form and x is a P dimensional vector. For simplicity,
assume that is a classical error. Let us take the estimation of the vector of
elasticities with typical element
xi f x
f x xi f x
xi
at an arbitrary point xi
The Fourier form, following Gallant (1982), but with a somewhat different parameterization, may be written as
gK x K
x
1 2x
Cx
1j 1
u j cos jk
x
v j sin jk
x
(40)
where the K-dimensional parameter vector
vec C
u11 v11 uJA vJA
(41)
We assume that the conditioning variables x have each been transformed to lie in
an interval that is shorter than 2 This is required to avoid periodic behavior of
354
the approximation, which is desirable since economic functions arent periodic.
For example, subtract sample means, divide by the maxima of the conditioning
variables, and multiply by 2 eps where eps is some positive number less than
2 in value.
The k are multi-indices which are simply P vectors formed of integers (neg
ative, positive and zero). The k ,
1 2 A are required to be linearly inde
pendent, and we follow the convention that the first non-zero element be positive.
For example
0
1 0 1
is a potential multi-index to be used, but
0
1
1 0 1
is not since its first nonzero element is negative. Nor is
0
2
2 0 2
a multi-index we would use, since it is a scalar multiple of the original multi-
index.
We parameterize the matrix C differently than does Gallant because it simplifies
things in practice. The cost of this is that we are no longer able to test a quadratic
specification using nested testing.
355
The vector of first partial derivatives is
Dx gK x K
Cx
1j 1
u j sin jk
x
v j cos jk
x
jk
(42)
and the matrix of second partial derivatives is
D2x gK x K
u j cos jk
x
1j 1
v j sin jk
x
j2 k k
(43)
To define a compact notation for partial derivatives, let be an N-dimensional
multi-index with no negative elements. Define
as the sum of the elements of .
If we have N arguments x of the (arbitrary) function h x , use D h x to indicate a
certain partial derivative:
D h x
x1 1 x2 2
xNN
h x
When is the zero vector, D h x
h x . Taking this definition and the last few
equations into account, we see that it is possible to define 1 K vector Z x so that
D gK x K
z x
K
(44)
Both the approximating model and the derivatives of the approximating model
are linear in the parameters.
For the approximating model to the function (not derivatives), write g K x K
z
K for simplicity
The following theorem can be used to prove the consistency of the Fourier form.
356
Theorem 67 [Gallant and Nychka, 1987] Suppose that h n is obtained by maximizing
a sample objective function sn h over HKn where HK is a subset of some function
space H on which is defined a norm h . Consider the following conditions:
(a) Compactness: The closure of H with respect to h is compact in the relative
topology defined by h .
(b) Denseness:
K HK ,
respect to h and HK
1 2 3 is a dense subset of the closure of H with
HK 1 .
(c) Uniform convergence: There is a point h in H and there is a function s h h
that is continuous in h with respect to h such that
lim sup sn h
s h h
almost surely.
(d) Identification: Any point h in the closure of H with s h h
s h h
must
have h
h
0.
Under these conditions limn
h
h n
0 almost surely, provided that limn
Kn
almost surely.
The modification of the original statement of the theorem that has been made is to
set the parameter space in Gallant and Nychkas (1987) Theorem 0 to a single point
and to state the theorem in terms of maximization rather than minimization.
This theorem is very similar in form to Theorem 58. The main differences are:
1. A generic norm
h
is used in place of the Euclidean norm. This norm may
be stronger than the Euclidean norm, so that convergence with respect to
h
implies convergence w.r.t the Euclidean norm. Typically we will want to make
sure that the norm is strong enough to imply convergence of all functions of
interest.
357
2. The estimation space H is a function space. It plays the role of the parameter
space in our discussion of parametric estimators. There is no restriction to a
parametric family, only a restriction to a space of functions that satisfy certain
conditions. This formulation is much less restrictive than the restriction to a
parametric family.
3. There is a denseness assumption that was not present in the other theorem.
We will not prove this theorem (the proof is quite similar to the proof of theorem [58],
see Gallant, 1987) but we will discuss its assumptions, in relation to the Fourier form
as the approximating model.
22.3.1 Sobolev norm
Since all of the assumptions involve the norm
, we need to make explicit what
norm we wish to use. We need a norm that guarantees that the errors in approximation
of the functions we are interested in are accounted for. Since we are interested in firstorder elasticities in the present case, we need close approximation of both the function
f x and its first derivative f
x throughout the range of x Let X be an open set that
contains all values of x that were interested in. The Sobolev norm is appropriate in
this case. It is defined, making use of our notation for partial derivatives, as:
h
max sup D h x
mX
m X
To see whether or not the function f x is well approximated by an approximating
model gK x K , we would evaluate
f x
gK x K
358
mX
We see that this norm takes into account errors in approximating the function and
partial derivatives up to order m If we want to estimate first order elasticities, as is the
1 Furthermore, since we examine
case in this example, the relevant m would be m
the sup over X convergence w.r.t. the Sobolev means uniform convergence, so that we
obtain consistent estimates for all values of x
22.3.2 Compactness
Verifying compactness with respect to this norm is quite technical and unenlightening. It is proven by Elbadawi, Gallant and Souza, Econometrica, 1983. The basic
requirement is that if we need consistency w.r.t. h
mX
then the functions of interest
must belong to a Sobolev space which takes into account derivatives of order m 1. A
Sobolev space is the set of functions
Wm X D
h x : h x
mX
where D is a finite constant. In plain words, the functions must have bounded partial
derivatives of one order higher than the derivatives we seek to estimate.
22.3.3 The estimation space and the estimation subspace
Since in our case were interested in consistent estimation of first-order elasticities,
well define the estimation space as follows:
Definition 68 [Estimation space] The estimation space H
W2 X D The estima
H
tion space is an open set, and we presume that h
With seminonparametric estimators, we dont actually optimize over the estimation
space. Rather, we optimize over a subspace, HKn defined as:
359
Definition 69 [Estimation subspace] The estimation subspace HK is defined as
HK
gK x K : gK x K
W2 Z D K
where gK x K is the Fourier form approximation as defined in Equation 40.
22.3.4 Denseness
The important point here is that HK is a space of functions that is indexed by a finite
dimensional parameter (K has K elements, as in equation ??). With n observations,
K this parameter is estimable. Note that the true function h is not necessarily
an element of HK so optimization over HK may not lead to a consistent estimator.
In order for optimization over HK to be equivalent to optimization over H at least
asymptotically, we need that:
1. The dimension of the parameter vector, dim Kn
as n This is achieved
by making A and J in equation 40 increasing functions of n the sample size. It
is clear that K will have to grow more slowly than n. The second requirement is:
2. We need that the HK be dense subsets of H
The estimation subspace HK , defined above, is a subset of the closure of the estimation
space, H . A set of subsets Aa of a set A is dense if the closure of the countable
union of the subsets is equal to the closure of A :
A
a 1 a
Use a picture here. The rest of the discussion of denseness is provided just for completeness: theres no need to study it in detail. To show that HK is a dense subset of
360
H with respect to h
1X
it is useful to apply Theorem 1 of Gallant (1982), who in
turn cites Edmunds and Moscatelli (1977). We reproduce the theorem as presented by
Gallant, with minor notational changes, for convenience of reference:
Theorem 70 [Edmunds and Moscatelli, 1977] Let the real-valued function h x be
continuously differentiable up to order m on an open set containing the closure of
X . Then it is possible to choose a triangular array of coefficients 1 2
such that for every q with 0
oK
m q
as K
m, and every
q
In the present application, q
1, and m
h x
hK x K
qX
2. By definition of the estimation space,
the elements of H are once continuously differentiable on X , which is open and contains the closure of X , so the theorem is applicable. Closely following Gallant and
Nychka (1987),
HK
is the countable union of the HK . The implication of Theorem
HK
70 is that there is a sequence of {hK } from
such that
lim
for all h
hK
1X
H . Therefore,
H
HK
However,
HK
HK
H
so
Therefore
HK
361
0
so
HK
is a dense subset of H , with respect to the norm h
1 X.
22.3.5 Uniform convergence
We now turn to the limiting objective function. We estimate by OLS. The sample
objective function stated in terms of maximization is
1 n
yt
n t1
sn K
gK xt K
With random sampling, as in the case of Equations 17 and 34, the limiting objective
function is
s g f
f x
g x 2 dx
(45)
where the true function f x takes the place of the generic function h in the presenta
HK .
tion of the theorem. Both g x and f x are elements of
The pointwise convergence of the objective function needs to be strengthened to
uniform convergence. We will simply assume that strong stochastic equicontinuity
applies, so that we have uniform almost sure convergence. We also have continuity of
the objective function in g with respect to the norm h
1X
s g 1 f
lim
g1 g0
g1
1X
lim
g0
1X
0 X
since
g1 x
s g 0 f
f x
2
g0 x
f x
2
dx
By the dominated convergence theorem (which applies since the finite bound D used
to define W2 Z D is dominated by an integrable function), the limit and the integral
can be interchanged, so by inspection, the limit is zero.
362
22.3.6 Identification
The identification condition requires that for any point g f in H
s f f
g
f
H s g f
0. This condition is clearly satisfied given that g and f are
1X
once continuously differentiable (by assumption).
22.3.7 Review of concepts
For the example of estimation of first-order elasticities, the relevant concepts are:
Estimation space H
W2 X D : the function space in the closure of which the
true function must lie.
Consistency norm
h
The closure of H is compact with respect to this
1X
norm.
Estimation subspace HK The estimation subspace is the subset of H that is
representable by a Fourier form with parameter K These are dense subsets of
H
Sample objective function sn K the negative of the sum of squares. By stan
dard arguments this converges uniformly to the
Limiting objective function s g f which is continuous in g and has a global
maximum in its first argument, over the closure of the infinite union of the esti-
mation subpaces, at g
f
As a result of this, first order elasticities
xi f x
f x xi f x
are consistently estimated for all x
X
363
22.3.8 Discussion
Consistency requires that the number of parameters used in the expansion increase
with the sample size, tending to infinity. If parameters are added at a high rate, the
bias tends relatively rapidly to zero. A basic problem is that a high rate of inclusion
of additional parameters causes the variance to tend more slowly to zero. The issue
of how to chose the rate at which parameters are added and which to add first is fairly
complex. A problem is that the allowable rates for asymptotic normality to obtain
(Andrews 1991; Gallant and Souza, 1991) are very strict. Supposing we stick to these
rates, our approximating model is:
gK x K
z
K
Define ZK as the n K matrix of regressors obtained by stacking observations.
The LS estimator is
K
where
ZK
ZK
ZK
y
is the Moore-Penrose generalized inverse.
This is used since ZK
ZK may be singular, as would be the case for K n
large enough when some dummy variables are included.
. The prediction, z
K of the unknown function f x is asymptotically normally
distributed:
n z
K
f x
d N 0 AV
where
AV
lim E z
ZK
ZK
n
z 2
Formally, this is exactly the same as if we were dealing with a parametric linear
364
model. I emphasize, though, that this is only valid if K grows very slowly as
n grows. If we cant stick to acceptable rates, we should probably use some
other method of approximating the small sample distribution. Bootstrapping is
a possibility. Well discuss this in the section on simulation.
22.4 Kernel regression estimators
Readings: Bierens, 1987, Kernel estimators of regression functions, in Advances in
Econometrics, Fifth World Congress, V. 1, Truman Bewley, ed., Cambridge.
An alternative method to the semi-nonparametric method is a fully nonparametric
method of estimation. Kernel regression estimation is an example (others are splines,
nearest neighbor, etc.). Well consider the Nadaraya-Watson kernel regression estimator in a simple case.
Suppose we have an iid sample from the joint density f x y where x is k
dimensional. The model is
yt
g xt
where
E t xt
0
The conditional expectation of y given x is g x By definition of the conditional
expectation, we have
g x
y f x y dy
h x
1
h x
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y f x y dy
where h x is the marginal density of x :
f x y dy
h x
This suggests that we could estimate g x by estimating h x and
y f x y dy
22.4.1 Estimation of the denominator
A kernel estimator for h x has the form
h x
1 n K x xt n
n t1
kn
where n is the sample size and k is the dimension of x
The function K
(the kernel) is absolutely integrable:
and K
K x dx
In this respect, K
integrates to 1 :
K x dx
1
is like a density function, but we do not necessarily restrict
to be nonnegative.
The window width parameter, n is a sequence of positive numbers that satisfies
lim n
lim nkn
n
n
So, the window width must tend to zero, but not too quickly.
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To show pointwise consistency of h x for h x first consider the expectation
of the estimator (since the estimator is an average of iid terms we only need to
consider the expectation of a representative term):
k K x z n h z dz
n
E h x
Change variables as z
z n so z
dz
dz
k K z h x n z k dz
n
n
E h x
n z and
kn we obtain
K z h x n z dz
Now, asymptotically,
lim E h x
K z h x n z dz
lim
lim K z h x n z dz
n
K z h x dz
K z dz
h x
h x
since n
0 and
K z dz
1 by assumption. (Note: that we can pass the
limit through the integral is a result of the dominated convergence theorem.. For
this to hold we need that h
be dominated by an absolutely integrable function.
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Next, considering the variance of h x we have, due to the iid assumption
h x
nknV
1
nkn 2
n
xt n
K x
kn
t 1
n
n k
1
V K x
nt 1
xt n
By the representative term argument, this is
nknV h x
nknV h x
E x
n k E
E x2
Also, since V x
n k V K x
z n
we have
K x
z n
n k E K x
2
z n
k K x z n 2 h z dz k k K x z n h z dz
n
n
n
k K x z n 2 h z dz k E h x
n
n
The second term converges to zero:
kn E h x
2
0
by the previous result regarding the expectation and the fact that n
0 There-
fore,
lim nknV h x
k K x z n 2 h z dz
n
lim
Using exactly the same change of variables as before, this can be shown to be
lim nknV h x
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h x
K z
dz
Since both
K z
dz and h x are bounded, this is bounded, and since nkn
by assumption, we have that
0
V h x
Since the bias and the variance both go to zero, we have pointwise consistency
(convergence in quadratic mean implies convergence in probability).
22.4.2 Estimation of the numerator
To estimate y f x y dy we need an estimator of f x y The estimator has the same
form as the estimator for h x only with one dimension more:
1 n K
n t1
f x y
xt n
The kernel K
yt n x
nk 1
is required to have mean zero:
yK y x dy
and to marginalize to the previous kernel for h x :
K y x dy
K x
With this kernel, we have
y f y x dy
1 n K x xt n
yt
n t1
kn
369
by marginalization of the kernel, so we obtain
g x
y f y x dy
1
h x
K x xt n
1 n
n t 1 yt
kn
x
x
K
1 n
t n
n t 1
kn
tn 1 yt K x xt n
tn 1 K x xt n
This is the Nadaraya-Watson kernel regression estimator.
22.4.3 Discussion
The kernel regression estimator for g xt is a weighted average of the y j j
1 2 n, where higher weights are associated with points that are closer to xt
The weights sum to 1.
The window width parameter n imposes smoothness. The estimator is increasingly flat as n
since in this case each weight tends to 1 n
A large window width reduces the variance (strong imposition of flatness), but
increases the bias.
A small window width reduces the bias, but makes very little use of information except points that are in a small neighborhood of xt Since relatively little
information is used, the variance is large when the window width is small.
The standard normal density is a popular choice for K
there are possibly better alternatives.
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and K y x though
22.4.4 Choice of the window width: Cross-validation
The selection of an appropriate window width is important. One popular method is
cross validation. This consists of splitting the sample into two parts (e.g., 50%-50%).
The first part is the in sample data, which is used for estimation, and the second part
is the out of sample data, used for evaluation of the fit though RMSE or some other
criterion. The steps are:
1. Split the data. The out of sample data is yout and xout
2. Choose a window width .
3. With the in sample data, fit ytout corresponding to each xtout This fitted value is
a function of the in sample data, as well as the evaluation point xtout , but it does
not involve ytout
4. Repeat for all out of sample points.
5. Calculate RMSE
6. Go to step 2 or to the next step if enough window widths have been tried.
7. Select the that minimizes RMSE( (Verify that a minimum has been found,
for example by plotting RMSE as a function of
8. Re-estimate using the best and all of the data.
This same principle can be used to choose A and J in a Fourier form model.
22.5 Kernel density estimation
The previous discussion suggests that a kernel density estimator may easily be constructed. We have already seen how joint densities may be estimated. If were interested
371
in a conditional density, for example of y conditional on x, then the kernel estimate of
the conditional density is simply
f x y
h x
fy x
y yt n x xt n
nk 1
1 n K x xt n
n t 1
kn
n
1 t 1 K y yt n x xt
n
tn 1 K x xt n
1 n K
n t 1
n
where we obtain the expressions for the joint and marginal densities from the section
on kernel regression.
22.6 Semi-nonparametric maximum likelihood
Readings: Gallant and Nychka, Econometrica, 1987. For a Fortran program to do this
and a useful discussion in the users guide, seehttp://www.econ.duke.edu/~get/snp.html.
See also Cameron and Johansson, Journal of Applied Econometrics, V. 12, 1997.
MLE is the estimation method of choice when we are confident about specifying
the density. Is is possible to obtain the benefits of MLE when were not so confident
about the specification? In part, yes.
Suppose were interested in the density of y conditional on x (both may be vectors).
Suppose that the density f y x is a reasonable starting approximation to the true
density. This density can be reshaped by multiplying it by a squared polynomial. The
new density is
g p y x
h2p y f y x
p x
where
h p y
k yk
k 0
372
and p x is a normalizing factor to make the density integrate (sum) to one.
Because
h2p
y p x is a homogenous function of it is necessary to impose a
normalization: 0 is set to 1.
Similarly to Cameron and Johannson (1997), we may develop a negative binomial
polynomial (NBP) density for count data. The negative binomial baseline density may
be written (see equation as
y
y 1
fY y
where
0 and
ex . When
binomial-I model (NB-I). When
we have the negative
1 we have the negative binomial-II (NP-II)
. In the case of the NB-II model, we have
model. For the NB-I density, V Y
0. The usual means of incorporating conditioning
variables x is the parameterization
V Y
2 . For both forms, E Y
To obtain a more flexible density, we may reshape the negative binomial density
using a squared polynomial
h p y
k yk
(46)
k 0
The new density, with normalization to sum to one, is
fY y
h p y 2 y
p y 1
y
(47)
The normalization factor p is calculated (following Cameron and Johansson)
373
using
E Y
yr fY
y
y 0
h p y 2
y
p fY y
y 0
yr fY
y k l yk yl p
y 0k 0l 0
k l
yr
fY y
y 0
k 0l 0
p p
k l
p
k l mk
p
l r
k 0l 0
By setting r
0 we get that the normalizing factor is
p
k l m k
p
(48)
k 0l 0
Recall that 0 is set to 1 to achieve identification. The mr in equation 48 are the
negative binomial raw moments, which may be obtained from the moment generating
function
MY t
et
(49)
To illustrate, here are the first through fourth raw moments of the NB density, calculated using Mathematica and then programmed in Ox. These are the moments you
would need to use a second order polynomial p
2 .
if(k_gam >= 1)
{
m[][0] = lambda;
m[][1] = (lambda .* (lambda + psi + lambda .* psi)) ./ psi;
}
374
if(k_gam >= 2)
{
m[][2] = (lambda .* (psi .^ 2 + 3 .* lambda .* psi .* (1 +
psi) + lambda .^
2 .* (2 + 3 .* psi + psi .^ 2))) ./ psi
.^ 2;
m[][3] = (lambda .* (psi .^ 3 + 7 .* lambda .* psi .^ 2 .*
(1 + psi) +
6 .* lambda .^ 2 .* psi .* (2 + 3 .* psi + psi .^ 2) +
lambda .^ 3 .* (6 + 11 .* psi + 6 .* psi .^ 2 + psi .^ 3)))
./ psi .^ 3;
}
After calculating the raw moments, the normalization factor is calculated using
equation 48, again with the help of Mathematica.
if(k_gam == 1)
{
norm_factor = 1 + gam[0][] .* (2 .* m[][0] + gam[0][] .* m[][1]);
}
else
if(k_gam == 2)
{
norm_factor = 1 + gam[0][] .^ 2 .* m[][1] + 2 .* gam[0][]
.* (m[][0] +
gam[1][] .* m[][2]) +
gam[1][] .* (2 .* m[][1] + gam[1][] .* m[][3]);
}
For p
6 the analogous formulae are impressively long. This is an example of a
model that would be difficult ot formulate without the help of a program like Mathe375
matica.
It is possible that there is conditional heterogeneity such that the appropriate reshaping should be more local. This can be accomodated by allowing the k parameters
to depend upon the conditioning variables, for example using polynomials.
Gallant and Nychka, Econometrica, 1987 prove that this sort of density can approximate a wide variety of densities arbitrarily well as the degree of the polynomial
increases with the sample size. This approach is not without its drawbacks: the sample
objective function can have an extremely large number of local maxima that can lead
to numeric difficulties. If someone could figure out how to do in a way such that the
sample objective function was nice and smooth, they would probably get the paper
published in a good journal. Any ideas?
Heres a plot of true and the limiting SNP approximations (with the order of the
polynomial fixed) to four different count data densities. The baseline model is a negative binomial density.
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Case 1
Case 2
.5
.4
.1
.3
.2
.05
.1
0
Case 3
10
15
20
.25
.2
.2
.15
.15
Case 4
10
15
20
25
.1
.1
.05
.05
1
377
2.5
7.5
10
12.5
15
23 Simulation-based estimation
Readings: In addition to the book mentioned previously, articles include Gallant and
Tauchen (1996), Which Moments to Match?, ECONOMETRIC THEORY, Vol. 12,
1996, pages 657-681;a Gourieroux, Monfort and Renault (1993), Indirect Inference,
J. Apl. Econometrics; Pakes and Pollard (1989) Econometrica; McFadden (1989)
Econometrica.
23.1 Motivation
Simulation methods are of interest when the DGP is fully characterized by a parameter
vector, but the likelihood function is not calculable. If it were available, we would
simply estimate by MLE, which is asymptotically fully efficient.
23.1.1 Example: Multinomial and/or dynamic discrete response models
Let yi be a latent random vector of dimension m Suppose that
yi
Xi i
N 0
where Xi is m K Suppose that
(50)
Henceforth drop the i subscript when it is not needed for clarity.
y is not observed. Rather, we observe a many-to-one mapping
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y
This mapping is such that each element of y is either zero or one (in some cases
only one element will be one).
Define
Ai
A yi
y yi
Suppose random sampling of yi Xi . In this case the elements of yi may not be
independent of one another (and clearly are not if is not diagonal). However,
yi is independent of y j , i
Let
vec
j
be the vector of parameters of the model. The contribu-
tion of the ith observation to the likelihood function is
pi
Ai
Xi dyi
n yi
where
n
M 2
2
1 2
exp
1
2
is the multivariate normal density of an M -dimensional random vector. The
log-likelihood function is
1 n
ln pi
ni 1
ln L
and the MLE solves the score equations
1 n
gi
n i1
1 n D pi
n i1 pi
0
The problem is that evaluation of Li and its derivative w.r.t. by standard
methods of numeric integration such as quadrature is computationally infeasi379
ble when m (the dimension of y is higher than 3 or 4 (as long as there are no
restrictions on
The mapping y
has not been made specific so far. This setup is quite general:
for different choices of y
it nests the case of dynamic binary discrete choice
models as well as the case of multinomial discrete choice (the choice of one out
of a finite set of alternatives).
Multinomial discrete choice is illustrated by a (very simple) job search
model. We have cross sectional data on individuals matching to a set of
m jobs that are available (one of which is unemployment). The utility of
alternative j is
uj
X j j
Utilities of jobs, stacked in the vector ui are not observed. Rather, we
observe the vector formed of elements
yj
1 uj
uk
mk
j
Only one of these elements is different than zero.
Dynamic discrete choice is illustrated by repeated choices over time between two alternatives. Let alternative j have utility
u jt
W jt
12
1 2 m
jt
380
Then
u2
u1
W2
W1 2
Now the mapping is (element-by-element)
that is yit
1y
0
1 if individual i chooses the second alternative in period t zero
otherwise.
23.1.2 Example: Marginalization of latent variables
Economic data often presents substantial heterogeneity that may be difficult to model.
A possibility is to introduce latent random variables. This can cause the problem that
there may be no known closed form for the distribution of observable variables after
marginalizing out the unobservable latent variables. For example, count data (that
takes values 0 1 2 3 is often modeled using the Poisson distribution
Pr y
i
exp
i
i!
The mean and variance of the Poisson distribution are both equal to :
E y
V y
381
Often, one parameterizes the conditional mean as
exp Xi
This ensures that the mean is positive (as it must be). Estimation by ML is straightforward.
Often, count data exhibits overdispersion which simply means that
E y
V y
If this is the case, a solution is to use the negative binomial distribution rather than the
Poisson. An alternative is to introduce a latent variable that reflects heterogeneity into
the specification:
i
exp Xi i
where i has some specified density with support S (this density may depend on addi
tional parameters). Let d i be the density of i In some cases, the marginal density
of y
Pr y
yi
exp
S
exp Xi i exp Xi i yi
d i
yi !
will have a closed-form solution (one can derive the negative binomial distribution in
the way if has an exponential distribution), but often this will not be possible. In
this case, simulation is a means of calculating Pr y
i which is then used to do ML
estimation. This would be an example of the Simulated Maximum Likelihood (SML)
estimation.
In this case, since there is only one latent variable, quadrature is probably a
better choice. However, a more flexible model with heterogeneity would allow
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all parameters (not just the constant) to vary. For example
Pr y
yi
exp
exp Xi i exp Xi i yi
d i
yi !
dim i -dimensional integral, which will not be evaluable by quadra-
entails a K
ture when K gets large.
23.1.3 Estimation of models specified in terms of stochastic differential equations
It is often convenient to formulate models in terms of continuous time using differential
equations. A realistic model should account for exogenous shocks to the system, which
can be done by assuming a random component. This leads to a model that is expressed
as a system of stochastic differential equations. Consider the process
g yt dt h yt dWt
dyt
which is assumed to be stationary. Wt is a standard Brownian motion (Weiner pro
cess), such that
W T
T
0
dWt
N 0 T
Brownian motion is a continuous-time stochastic process such that
W 0
0
W s
W t
W s
N 0s
t
W t and W j
W k are independent for s
non-overlapping segments are independent.
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k That is,
One can think of Brownian motion the accumulation of independent normally distributed shocks with infinitesimal variance.
The function g yt is the deterministic part.
h yt determines the variance of the shocks.
To estimate a model of this sort, we typically have data that are assumed to be observations of yt in discrete points y1 y2 yT That is, though yt is a continuous process it
is observed in discrete time.
To perform inference on direct ML or GMM estimation is not usually feasible,
because one cannot, in general, deduce the transition density f yt yt
1
This den-
sity is necessary to evaluate the likelihood function or to evaluate moment conditions
(which are based upon expectations with respect to this density).
A typical solution is to discretize the model, by which we mean to find a
discrete time approximation to the model. The discretized version of the model
is
yt
yt
g yt
N 0 1
1
h yt
1
The discretization induces a new parameter, (that is, the 0 which defines
the best approximation of the discretization to the actual (unknown) discrete
time version of the model is not equal to 0 which is the true parameter value).
This is an approximation, and as such ML estimation of (which is actually
quasi-maximum likelihood, QML) based upon this equation is in general biased
and inconsistent for the original parameter, . Nevertheless, the approximation
shouldnt be too bad, which will be useful, as we will see.
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The important point about these three examples is that computational difficulties
prevent direct application of ML, GMM, etc. Nevertheless the model is fully
specified in probabilistic terms up to a parameter vector. This means that the
model is simulable, conditional on the parameter vector.
23.2 Simulated maximum likelihood (SML)
For simplicity, consider cross-sectional data. An ML estimator solves
1 n
ln p yt Xt
nt 1
ML
arg max sn
where p yt Xt is the density function of the t th observation. When p yt Xt does
not have a known closed form, ML is an infeasible estimator. However, it may be
possible to define a random function such that
E f yt Xt
p yt Xt
where the density of is known. If this is the case, the simulator
1 H
f ts yt Xt
H s1
p yt Xt
is unbiased for p yt Xt
The SML simply substitutes p yt Xt in place of p yt Xt in the log-likelihood
function, that is
SML
arg max sn
1 n
ln p yt Xt
ni 1
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23.2.1 Example: multinomial probit
Recall that the utility of alternative j is
X j j
uj
and the vector y is formed of elements
1 uj
yj
The problem is that Pr y j
uk k
mk
j
1 cant be calculated when m is larger than 4 or 5. How-
ever, it is easy to simulate this probability.
Draw i from the distribution N 0
Xi i (where Xi is the matrix formed by stacking the Xi j
Calculate ui
Define yi j
1 ui j
uik k
mk
j
Repeat this H times and define
H
h 1 yi jh
H
i j
Define i as the m-vector formed of the i j . Each element of i is between 0 and
1, and the elements sum to one.
Now p yi Xi
yi
H1 H
s 1 ln i
The SML multinomial probit log-likelihood function is
ln L
1 n
yi
ln p yi Xi
ni 1
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This is to be maximized w.r.t. and
Notes:
The H draws of i are draw only once and are used repeatedly during the it The draws are different for each i If the i are
erations used to find and
re-drawn at every iteration the estimator will not converge.
The log-likelihood function with this simulator is a discontinuous function of
and This does not cause problems from a theoretical point of view since it
can be shown that ln L is stochastically equicontinuous. However, it does
cause problems if one attempts to use a gradient-based optimization method such
as Newton-Raphson.
It may be the case, particularly if few simulations, H, are used, that some elements of i are zero or one. In this case, taking the logarithm is going to cause
problems.
Solutions to discontinuity:
1) use an estimation method that doesnt require a continuous and differentiable objective function, for example, simulated annealing. This is computationally costly.
2) Smooth the simulated probabilities so that they are continuous functions
of the parameters. For example, apply a kernel transformation such as
yi j
A
u
ij
max uik
k 1
5
1 ui j
max uik
k 1
where A is a large positive number. This approximates a step function
such that yi j is very close to zero if ui j is not the maximum, and ui j
387
if it is the maximum. This makes yi j a continuous function of and
so that pi j and therefore ln L will be continuous and differentiable.
Consistency requires that A n
p so that the approximation to a step
function becomes arbitrarily close as the sample size increases. There are
alternative methods (e.g., Gibbs sampling) that may work better, but this is
too technical to discuss here.
To solve to log(0) problem, use the slog function distributed on the web page.
Also, increase H if this is a serious problem.
23.2.2 Properties
The properties of the SML estimator depend on how H is set. The following is taken
from Lee (1995) Asymptotic Bias in Simulated Maximum Likelihood Estimation of
Discrete Choice Models, Econometric Theory, 11, pp. 437-83.
Theorem 71 [Lee] 1) if limn
1 2
n SML
2) if limn
1 2
0 then
d N 0 I
1
0
a finite constant, then
n SML
0
d N B I
1
0
where B is a finite vector of constants.
This means that the SML estimator is asymptotically biased if H doesnt grow
faster than n1
2
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The varcov is the typical inverse of the information matrix, so that as long as H
grows fast enough the estimator is consistent and fully asymptotically efficient.
23.3 Method of simulated moments (MSM)
Suppose we have a DGP y x which is simulable given , but is such that the density
of y is not calculable.
Once could, in principle, base a GMM estimator upon the moment conditions
mt
K yt xt
k xt zt
where
K yt xt p y xt dy
k xt
zt is a vector of instruments in the information set and p y xt is the density of y
conditional on xt The problem is that this density is not available.
However k xt is readily simulated using
1 H h
K yt xt
H h1
k xt
By the law of large numbers, k xt
as
k xt
as H
which provides
a clear intuitive basis for the estimator, though in fact we obtain consistency
even for H finite, since a law of large numbers is also operating across the n
observations of real data, so errors introduced by simulation cancel themselves
out.
389
This allows us to form the moment conditions
mt
K yt xt
k xt zt
(51)
where zt is drawn from the information set. As before, form
1 n
mt
ni 1
m
1 n
K yt xt
ni 1
1 H h
k y xt
H h1 t
zt
(52)
with which we form the GMM criterion and estimate as usual. Note that the
unbiased simulator k yth xt appears linearly within the sums.
23.3.1 Properties
Suppose that the optimal weighting matrix is used. McFadden (ref. above) and Pakes
and Pollard (refs. above) show that the asymptotic distribution of the MSM estimator
is very similar to that of the infeasible GMM estimator. In particular, assuming that
the optimal weighting matrix is used, and for H finite,
n MSM
where D 1 D
0
H
d N 0 1 1
D 1 D
1
(53)
is the asymptotic variance of the infeasible GMM estimator.
That is, the asymptotic variance is inflated by a factor 1 1 H For this reason
the MSM estimator is not fully asymptotically efficient relative to the infeasible
GMM estimator, for H finite, but the efficiency loss is small and controllable, by
setting H reasonably large.
The estimator is asymptotically unbiased even for H
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1 This is an advantage
relative to SML.
If one doesnt use the optimal weighting matrix, the asymptotic varcov is just
the ordinary GMM varcov, inflated by 1 1 H
The above presentation is in terms of a specific moment condition based upon
the conditional mean. Simulated GMM can be applied to moment conditions of
any form.
23.3.2 Comments
Why is SML inconsistent if H is finite, while MSM is? The reason is that SML is
based upon an average of logarithms of an unbiased simulator (the densities of the
observations). To use the multinomial probit model as an example, the log-likelihood
function is
1 n
yi
ln pi
ni 1
ln L
The SML version is
1 n
yi
ln pi
ni 1
ln L
The problem is that
ln E pi
E ln pi
in spite of the fact that
E pi
due to the fact that ln
pi
is a nonlinear transformation. The only way for the two to be
equal (in the limit) is if H tends to infinite so that p
tends to p
The reason that MSM does not suffer from this problem is that in this case the
unbiased simulator appears linearly within every sum of terms, and it appears within a
391
sum over n (see equation [??]). Therefore the SLLN applies to cancel out simulation
errors, from which we get consistency. That is, using simple notation for the random
sampling case, the moment conditions
1 n
K yt xt
ni 1
m
1 H h
k y xt
H h1 t
1 n
k xt 0
ni 1
zt
(54)
1 H
k xt
H h1
ht zt
(55)
converge almost surely to
m
k x 0
k x z x d x
(note: zt is assume to be made up of functions of xt The objective function converges
to
s
m
1 m
which obviously has a minimum at 0 henceforth consistency.
If you look at equation ?? a bit, you will see why the variance inflation factor is
1
H
23.4 Efficient method of moments (EMM)
The choice of which moments upon which to base a GMM estimator can have very
pronounced effects upon the efficiency of the estimator.
A poor choice of moment conditions may lead to very inefficient estimators, and
can even cause identification problems (as weve seen with the GMM problem
set).
392
The drawback of the above approach MSM is that the moment conditions used
in estimation are selected arbitrarily. The asymptotic efficiency of the estimator
may be low.
The asymptotically optimal choice of moments would be the score vector of the
likelihood function,
mt
D ln pt It
As before, this choice is unavailable.
The efficient method of moments (EMM) (see Gallant and Tauchen (1996), Which
Moments to Match?, ECONOMETRIC THEORY, Vol. 12, 1996, pages 657-681)
seeks to provide moment conditions that closely mimic the score vector. If the approximation is very good, the resulting estimator will be very nearly fully efficient.
The DGP is characterized by random sampling from the density
p yt xt 0
pt 0
We can define an auxiliary model, called the score generator, which simply provides a (misspecified) parametric density
ft
f y xt
This density is known up to a parameter We assume that this density function
is calculable. Therefore quasi-ML estimation is possible. Specifically,
arg max sn
1 n
ln ft
nt 1
.
we can calculate the score functions D ln f yt xt
After determining
393
The important point is that even if the density is misspecified, there is a pseudotrue 0 for which the true expectation, taken with respect to the true but unknown
density of y p y xt 0 and then marginalized over x is zero:
0 : EX EY
D ln f y x 0
D ln f y x 0 p y x 0 dyd x
X Y X
p 0 ; this suggests using the moment
We have seen in the section on QML that
conditions
1 n
pt dy
D ln ft
nt 1
mn
(56)
These moment conditions are not calculable, since pt is not available, but
they are simulable using
1 n 1 H
D ln f yth xt
nt 1H h 1
mn
where yth is a draw from DGP holding xt fixed. By the LLN and the fact that
converges to 0 ,
m 0 0
0
This is not the case for other values of , assuming that 0 is identified.
The advantage of this procedure is that if f yt xt closely approximates p y xt
will closely approximate the optimal moment conditions which
then mn
characterize maximum likelihood estimation, which is fully efficient.
If one has prior information that a certain density approximates the data well, it
would be a good choice for f
If one has no density in mind, there exist good ways of approximating unknown
394
distributions parametrically: Philips ERAs (Econometrica, 1983) and Gallant
and Nychkas (Econometrica, 1987) SNP density estimator which we saw before. Since the SNP density is consistent, the efficiency of the indirect estimator
is the same as the infeasible ML estimator.
23.4.1 Optimal weighting matrix
I will present the theory for H finite, and possibly small. This is done because it is
sometimes impractical to estimate with H very large. Gallant and Tauchen give the
theory for the case of H so large that it may be treated as infinite (the difference being
irrelevant given the numerical precision of a computer). The theory for the case of of
infinite follows directly from the results presented here.
depends on the pseudo-ML estimate
We can
The moment condition m
apply Theorem 61 to conclude that
n
d N 0 J 0
1
I 0 J 0
(57)
would be the
were in fact the true density p y xt then
If the density f yt xt
1I
maximum likelihood estimator, and J 0
0 would be an identity matrix, due
to the information matrix equality. However, in the present case we assume that
is only an approximation to p y xt so there is no cancellation.
f yt xt
Recall that J 0
p lim
2
sn
0
Comparing the definition of sn with
the definition of the moment condition in Equation 56, we see that
J 0
D m 0 0
395
As in Theorem 61,
sn
lim E n
n
sn
In this case, this is simply the asymptotic variance covariance matrix of the moment
conditions, Now take a first order Taylors series approximation to
nmn 0
about 0 :
nm n 0
nm n 0 0
nD m 0 0
0
o p 1
First consider
nm n 0 0 . It is straightforward but somewhat tedious to show
1
H I
that the asymptotic variance of this term is
0 .
nD m 0 0
Next consider the second term
0 . Note that D m n 0 0
as
J 0 so we have
nD m 0 0
0
nJ 0
0
a s
But noting equation 57
nJ 0
N 0 I 0
Now, combining the results for the first and second terms,
nm n 0
N 0
1
H
I 0
Suppose that I 0 is a consistent estimator of the asymptotic variance-covariance
matrix of the moment conditions. This may be complicated if the score generator is
a poor approximator, since the individual score contributions may not have mean zero
396
in this case (see the section on QML) . Even if this is the case, the individuals means
can be calculated by simulation, so it is always possible to consistently estimate I 0
when the model is simulable. On the other hand, if the score generator is taken to
be correctly specified, the ordinary estimator of the information matrix is consistent.
Combining this with the result on the efficient GMM weighting matrix in Theorem 64,
we see that defining as
arg min mn
1
H
mn
is the GMM estimator with the efficient choice of weighting matrix.
If one has used the Gallant-Nychka ML estimator as the auxiliary model, the
appropriate weighting matrix is simply the information matrix of the auxiliary
model, since the scores are uncorrelated. (e.g., it really is ML estimation asymptotically, since the score generator can approximate the unknown density arbitrarily well).
23.4.2 Asymptotic distribution
Since we use the optimal weighting matrix, the asymptotic distribution is as in Equation ??, so we have (using the result in Equation 57):
n
0
d N 0 D
1
H
I 0
where
D
lim E D mn
0 0
397
This can be consistently estimated using
D mn
23.4.3 Diagnotic testing
The fact that
nmn 0
N 0
implies that
nmn
where q is dim
1
H
I
1
H
1
I 0
mn
2 q
dim since without dim moment conditions the model is
not identified, so testing is impossible. One test of the model is simply based on this
statistic: if it exceeds the 2 q critical point, something may be wrong (the small
sample performance of this sort of test would be a topic worth investigating).
Information about what is wrong can be gotten from the pseudo-t-statistics:
diag
1
H
I
1 2
nmn
can be used to test which moments are not well modeled. Since these moments
are related to parameters of the score generator, which are usually related to
certain features of the model, this information can be used to revise the model.
These arent actually distributed as N 0 1 since
have different distributions (that of
and
nmn 0
nmn
is somewhat more complicated).
nmn
It can be shown that the pseudo-t statistics are biased toward nonrejection. See
Gourieroux et. al. or Gallant and Long, 1995, for more details.
398
23.5 Application I: estimation of auction models
References: Laffont, Ossard and Vuong, The Econometrics of First Price Auctions,
Econometrica, 1995.
The above estimators open up interesting research possibilities in areas that are
relatively undeveloped empirically. An example is models of auctions, which are well
developed theoretically but much less so empirically. To see whether a theoretical
model is compatible with observed behavior, one needs an econometric model sufficiently rich so that it can embed the complicated interactions between values, strategic
behavior and attitudes toward risk. The following illustrates how a Sealed Bid First
Price auction could be modeled econometrically.
Assumptions:
B bidders (known before bidding).
ro : reservation price. If the highest bid is below r0 the good is not sold.
q : vector of characteristics of the auctioned good
Bidders seal their bids, and envelopes are opened after all bids collected.
Each bidder has private valuation vi q 0 i
1 2 B
Bidders know their own valuation and the distribution of valuations in the popu
lation, f v q 0
The bidders at time t are assumed to be drawn randomly from the population of
bidders.
Bidders do not know other bidders valuations.
Let 0
0
0
399
Bidders are risk neutral, and form their bids under the assumption that all bidders
play a symmetric Bayesian Nash strategy.
The problem for the econometrician is to estimate 0 which allows prediction of the
distribution of bids and of the selling price, as a function of q and B.
Under the above assumptions, the winning bid (for 2 or more bidders, and assuming the item is sold) is
E max v B
1:B
r0 v B:B
where v
v 2:B
1:B
v
B 1:B
B:B
are the order statistics of v1
vB
which are B random draws from f v q 0
Intuitively, a bidder will bid the value of the order statistic that is less than
his/her private value, since this bid is the lowest bid that can be expected to
win, conditional on the winning bid being below the private valuation.
Let p y r0 B q be the density of the winning bid. This density is ordinary
except at y
0 and y
r0 where there are concentrations of probability (atoms).
In general,
p y r0 B q
p y x
is not calculable.
However, p y x is easily simulable, given
Indirect inference would supply some tractable pseudo-density f y x as the
score generator in place of p y x
above.
400
and would form moment conditions as
The data necessary to estimate this model are simply the characteristics of the
good, the reservation price, and the winning bid. A more efficient (and complicated) model would use all of the bid information, were it available.
A potential application of this sort of model would be the supply of generation
of electrical power: generating companies in Norway and the UK bid daily for
the price at which power is supplied to the electrical network.
23.6 Application II: estimation of stochastic differential equations
It is often convenient to formulate theoretical models in terms of differential equations,
and when the observation frequency is high (e.g., weekly, daily, hourly or real-time) it
may be more natural to adopt this framework for econometric models of time series.
The most common approach to estimation of stochastic differential equations is to
discretize the model, as above, and estimate using the discretized version. However,
since the discretization is only an approximation to the true discrete-time version of
the model (which is not calculable), the resulting estimator is in general biased and
inconsistent.
An alternative is to use indirect inference: The discretized model is used as the
score generator. That is, one estimates by QML to obtain the scores of the discretized
approximation:
yt
yt
g yt
N 0 1
401
1
h yt
1
Indicate these scores by mn Then the system of stochastic differential equations
g yt dt h yt dWt
dyt
is simulated over , and the scores are calculated and averaged over the simulations
1 N
min
Ni 1
m n
is chosen to set the simulated scores to zero
m n 0
(since and are of the same dimension).
This method requires simulating the stochastic differential equation. There are
many ways of doing this. Basically, they involve doing very fine discretizations:
yt
yt g yt
h yt t
N 0
By setting very small, the sequence of t approximates a Brownian motion fairly
well.
This is only one method of using indirect inference for estimation of differential
equations. There are others (see Gallant and Long, 1995 and Gourieroux et. al.).
Use of a series approximation to the transitional density as in Gallant and Long is
an interesting possibility since the score generator may have a higher dimensional
parameter than the model, which allows for diagnostic testing. In the method described
402
above the score generators parameter is of the same dimension as is so diagnostic
testing is not possible.
23.7 Application III: estimation of a multinomial probit panel data
model
For selection of one alternative out of G let the vector y be G-dimensional (high
enough so that direct probit is not feasible). Only one element is equal to 1, indicating the alternative chosen, while the rest are zero. The choice depends upon the
characteristics of the alternatives, xi i
1 2 G While one can estimate a multi
nomial probit (MNP) model using SML or MSM, one looses the diagnostic testing
possibilities of indirect inference.
For example, the score generator could be a multinomial logit model (MNL) model,
characterized by choice probabilities of the form
Pr yi
1
exp xi
G
j 1 exp x
j
These are tractable for any dimension G The reason the multinomial probit is to be
preferred over the multinomial logit is that the MNL suffers from a problem of lack
of independence of irrelevant alternatives. For example, if we have a problem of
choice between travel to work by car and red bus, the probabilities of selection of
these modes of transit are PC and PRB According to the MNL model, if we add the
possibility of travel by blue bus, PC will drop, since the numerator doesnt change but
the denominator does. The MNP model is more satisfactory since the covariance matrix of the errors (see equation [??]) allows for complementarity and substitutability
of alternatives).
403
24 Thanks
The following is a list of people who have contributed to these notes in some form.
A number of IDEA students - typos and error corrections
Montserrat Farell - error corrections
25 The GPL
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How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs
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If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest possible use to
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<one line to give the programs name and a brief idea of what it does.> Copyright
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412
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This General Public License does not permit incorporating your program into proprietary programs. If your program is a subroutine library, you may consider it more
useful to permit linking proprietary applications with the library. If this is what you
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413
Index
classical linear model, 14
Cobb-Douglas model, 14
cross section, 12
estimator, linear, 20, 26
estimator, OLS, 15
Gauss Markov theorem, 26
likelihood function, 28
matrix, idempotent, 20
matrix, projection, 19
matrix, symmetric, 20
observations, influential, 20
outliers, 20
parameter space, 28
R- squared, uncentered, 22
R-squared, centered, 24
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