A Monte Carlo Study of Tests of Blockwise Weak Separability

Separability assumptions on functional structure have received a great deal of attention from econometricians and economic theorists because (a) separability provides the fundamental linkage between aggregation over goods and the maximization principles in economic theory, (b) separability provides the theoretical basis for partitioning the economy's structure into sectors, and (c) separability provides a theoretical hypothesis, which can produce parameter restrictions, permitting great simplification in estimation of large demand systems. The power of the various available tests for separability has never been determined, however. We conduct Monte Carlo studies to examine the capability of currently available methods to provide correct inferences about separability.     

Exact Estimation of Demand Functions under Block-Rate Pricing

This article proposes an exact estimation of demand functions under block-rate pricing by focusing on increasing block-rate pricing. This is the first study that explicitly considers the separability condition which has been ignored in previous literature. Under this pricing structure, the price changes when consumption exceeds a certain threshold and the consumer faces a utility maximization problem subject to a piecewise-linear budget constraint. Solving this maximization problem leads to a statistical model in which model parameters are strongly restricted by the separability condition. In this article, by taking a hierarchical Bayesian approach, we implement a Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation to properly estimate the demand function. We find, however, that the convergence of the distribution of simulated samples to the posterior distribution is slow, requiring an additional scale transformation step for parameters to the Gibbs sampler. These proposed methods are then applied to estimate the Japanese residential water demand function.     

Longitudinal conditional models with intermittent missingness: SAS code and applications

This work provides a set of macros performed with SAS (Statistical Analysis System) for Windows, which can be used to fit conditional models under intermittent missingness in longitudinal data. A formalized transition model, including random effects for individuals and measurement error, is presented. Model fitting is based on the missing completely at random or missing at random assumptions, and the separability condition. The problem translates to maximization of the marginal observed data density only, which for Gaussian data is again Gaussian, meaning that the likelihood can be expressed in terms of the mean and covariance matrix of the observed data vector. A simulation study is presented and misspecification issues are considered. A practical application is also given, where conditional models are fitted to the data from a clinical trial that assessed the effect of a Cuban medicine on a disease of the respiratory system.     

The Bias in Price Elasticity Estimates Under Homothetic Separability: Implications for Analysis of Peak-Load Electricity Pricing

This article demonstrates that the assumption of a homothetically separable utility function places a priori restrictions on the parameters of the demand system. If these restrictions are unwarranted, an open question if they are not explicitly tested, they will lead to biased price elasticity estimates. In particular, we show that the uncompensated own-price elasticities must be smaller than the negative of the expenditure shares; that is, the price elasticity of peak electricity demand must be less than the negative of the share of expenditure devoted to peak electricity. This finding is probably not new to economists familiar with consumer demand analysis. Nevertheless, many recent studies of consumer demand for electricity under time-of-day rates explicitly impose this restriction. The resulting price elasticity estimates are usually quite large in absolute value (.5 to .8); but they are the product of restrictive a priori assumptions as well as information embodied in the sample data. The results of two analyses of time-of-day experiments, where the researchers imposed the untested assumption of homothetic separability, are examined more closely. We find that the reported price elasticities are strongly influenced by that a priori assumption. A Monte Carlo experiment demonstrates that using this model will lead to the reported price elasticities even if the consumption data are perfectly random with respect to price.     

Testing axial symmetry and separability of lattice processes

Data collected on a rectangular lattice are common in many areas, and models used often make simplifying assumptions. These assumptions include axial symmetry in the spatial process and separability. Some different methods for testing axial symmetry and separability are considered. Using the sample periodogram is shown to provide some simple satisfactory tests of both hypotheses, but tests for separability given axial symmetry have low power for small lattices.     

Predictive Accuracy Gain From Disaggregate Sampling in ARIMA Models

We compare the forecast accuracy of autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models based on data observed with high and low frequency, respectively. We discuss how, for instance, a quarterly model can be used to predict one quarter ahead even if only annual data are available, and we compare the variance of the prediction error in this case with the variance if quarterly observations were indeed available. Results on the expected information gain are presented for a number of ARIMA models including models that describe the seasonally adjusted gross national product (GNP) series in the Netherlands. Disaggregation from annual to quarterly GNP data has reduced the variance of short-run forecast errors considerably, but further disaggregation from quarterly to monthly data is found to hardly improve the accuracy of monthly forecasts.     

A discrete/continuous choice model on a nonconvex budget set

Decreasing block rate pricing is a nonlinear price system often used for public utility services. Residential gas services in Japan and the United Kingdom are provided under this price schedule. The discrete/continuous choice approach is used to analyze the demand under decreasing block rate pricing. However, the nonlinearity problem, which has not been examined in previous studies, arises because a consumer’s budget set (a set of affordable consumption amounts) is nonconvex, and hence, the resulting model includes highly nonlinear functions. To address this problem, we propose a feasible, efficient method of demand estimation on the nonconvex budget. The advantages of our method are as follows: (i) the construction of an Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm with an efficient blanket based on the Hermite–Hadamard integral inequality and the power-mean inequality, (ii) the explicit consideration of the (highly nonlinear) separability condition, which often makes numerical likelihood maximization difficult, and (iii) the introduction of normal disturbance into the discrete/continuous choice model on the nonconvex budget set. The proposed method is applied to estimate the Japanese residential gas demand function and evaluate the effect of price schedule changes as a policy experiment.     

我国通货膨胀预期和通货膨胀粘性

 本文在蕴含微观经济基础的结构菲利普斯曲线框架内研究我国通货膨胀预期的结构和性质。基于最大熵自举的模型估计和推断显示：微观企业平均每三个季度调整一次价格;我国季度数据不支持通货膨胀粘性假设;在微观企业的定价过程中,理性预期所起的作用要强于适应性预期;但由于通货膨胀非粘性,真实经济中通胀持续性反而具有主导作用。经验研究结论表明,货币当局在通货膨胀预期管理中应加强货币政策的前瞻性、持续性和透明度。     

1996－2008年中国货币需求非线性实证分析

 货币需求分析对于货币政策制定有着非常重要的意义。本文应用STR模型对1996－2008年期间中国的货币需求函数进行了非线性检验。实证结果表明：中国货币需求函数确实存在非线性特征,进而反映了中国央行货币政策实施效果的非对称性以及中国“相机抉择”货币政策的局限性;当价格和实际国民收入作为货币当局控制变量时,中国货币政策的效果存在4个季度的产出时滞和4个季度的价格时滞。     

中国货币需求函数与货币缺口统计研究

 本文深入研究了货币需求的影响因素,并结合1998年以来中国经济金融发展变化情况,利用1998-2010年的经济金融季度时序数据构建了中国货币需求函数的协整模型。根据中国货币需求函数模型和货币缺口的波动情况,本文还深入分析了1998年以来影响中国货币需求的主要因素及其内在原因,揭示了中国在不同阶段的货币供需状况。     

Money-Demand Variability: A Demand-Systems Approach

This article tests the Fourier flexible form on quarterly U.S. monetary data. The data have been prescreened for consistency with the general axiom of revealed preference, and subindexes are formed using the Divisia approach. In this article, the global Fourier model fits well, although there is a potential problem of overfitting and certain data points exhibit behavior inconsistent with the model. The elasticities are variable over time, particularly around business-cycle troughs. It appears that financial asset demand surfaces are highly nonlinear and the many unsuccessful existing attempts to estimate money demand may not have worked well for this reason.     

Specification and Identification of Stochastic Demand Models

This paper is concerned with stochastic demand systems for continuous choices that arise from structural random utility models. It examines under which nonparametric conditions on the structural random utility specification the implied reduced form model is nonsingular and invertible. For parametric members within this class of random utility models, the paper provides conditions for local identification from the reduced form under moment assumptions.     

Specification and Identification of Stochastic Demand Models

This paper is concerned with stochastic demand systems for continuous choices that arise from structural random utility models. It examines under which nonparametric conditions on the structural random utility specification the implied reduced form model is nonsingular and invertible. For parametric members within this class of random utility models, the paper provides conditions for local identification from the reduced form under moment assumptions.     

经济新常态下货币政策中介目标的改进与评估

货币政策实施是否有效,关键在于选择合适的中介目标。经济新常态下,传统的货币供应量指标由于缺乏对各层次货币资产流动性差异的考量,与实体经济指标的相关性不断减弱。基于消费理论,通过引入中国人民银行存贷款综合抽样利率,计量各层次货币资产流动性选择的机会成本,并借鉴Divisia指数构建方法,尝试编制中国Divisia货币供应量。评估结果显示:新的Divisia货币供应量对货币资产结构变动引起的流动性改变反应更加敏锐,且稳定性、可控性良好,可以作为经济新常态下货币政策中介目标的参考指标。     

风险偏好与新农保缴费档次选择

假定参保者手中有足够缴纳新农保高档次费用的资金,选择新农保缴费档次时,其考虑的是新农保与其他资产组成的投资组合的效用。根据广东省新农保参保者的问卷调查和有序logit模型研究发现,越偏好风险的农民越情愿选择新农保较低缴费档次和按年分期缴费,而将剩余资金投资于别的风险较高的资产,寻求投资组合的效用最大化。另外,家庭资产规模越大的农民,越倾向于选择较高缴费档次和一次性缴清费用。     

An Empirical Analysis of Backlog,Inventory, Production,and Price Adjustments: An Application of Recursive Systems of Log-Linear Models

This article presents an empirical analysis of firms' order backlogs, inventories, production, and price adjustments to unanticipated demand shocks. The data are obtained from quarterly INSEE Business Survey Tests on firms' realizations, expectations, and appraisals of some various economic variables. The analysis is based on the formulation and the estimation of a recursive system of conditional log-linear probability models.     

我国通货膨胀决定因素的计量分析

本文对我国总需求因素、货币因素和生产成本因素对通货膨胀的影响进行计量研究。通过测算菲利普斯曲线的动态变化,本文认为产出缺口对我国通货膨胀的影响呈现稳定下降的趋势,这说明总需求对我国通货膨胀的拉动效应在减小。本文选择了对通货膨胀具有重要影响的货币因素和产品购进价格因素,利用NBER方法分别计算合成指数,并将得到的合成指数与反映工资成本的指标共同引入扩展的菲利普斯曲线中,模型计算结果表明,货币因素和生产成本对物价具有显著的推动效应。因此,本文认为,在当前我国紧缩的货币政策背景下,产品购进价格尤其是工资成本的上升是通货膨胀率居高不下的决定性原因。     

生命不确定性的跨期最优消费行为研究

 本文首先根据中国收入分配制度的特点将消费者的生命周期区分为退休前和退休后，分别设置新古典经济学生命周期消费(Life-Cycles)理论的跨期预算约束；在生命不确定性的假设下，推导出了消费者的最优消费路径。而且，依据1988年1月-2008年12月天津市的城市住户调查数据，利用动态伪面板数据模型的实证分析为理论结果提供了经验证据。另外，实证研究发现，（1）对于户主出生于1965年前的家庭，他们依然延续了传统的消费习惯，完善社会保障机制、转变他们的消费观念是拉动内需的必由之路；（2）跨期替代弹性接近于零（0.008），即城镇居民更倾向于即期消费；（3）期望通过货币政策的利率工具刺激城镇居民消费的作用很有限。     

New Indices of Money Supply and the Flexible Laurent Demand System

The article begins by surveying the existing results on the new Divisia monetary aggregates. Charts display the differences in behavior between the Divisia aggregates and the Federal Reserve's official simple-sum monetary aggregates. The article then compares system-wide fit for the simple-sum and Divisia monetary aggregates when used as data in the joint estimation of a system of demand equations. The demand system is derived from a new Laurent expansion approximation to the reciprocal indirect utility function. The Laurent expansion provides a better-behaved remainder term than that of the more commonly used Taylor series. The results favor the Divisia aggregates.     

中国经济发展的水泥消费量及地域需求模型研究

基于1980-2005年31个省区的时空数据,分析了中国水泥消费量与经济发展的关系及地域需求模型,结果发现：25年来中国水泥消费量随着人口和人均GDP的增长而呈同步增长态势,水泥消费总量是人口总量与人均GDP及固定资产投资的Cobb-Douglas函数,水泥消费量与固定资产投资总额呈双对数关系;依据1996年、2000年、2005年三个时段截面数据的分析,发现31个省区水泥消费量与人口总量、人均GDP（或人均固定资产投资额）具有Cobb-Douglas函数双因素驱动特征,给出了3个时段的模拟结果,并进行了有关弹性特征的分析,为中国水泥生产和地区布局规划提供了科学依据。