Université de Fribourg

Bayesian estimation of an extended local scale stochastic volatility model

Deschamps, Philippe J.

In: Journal of Econometrics

A new version of the local scale model of Shephard (1994) is presented. Its features are identically distributed evolution equation disturbances, the incorporation of in-the-mean effects, and the incorporation of variance regressors. A Bayesian posterior simulator and an exact simulation smoother are presented. The model is applied to simulated data and to publicly available exchange rate and...

Université de Fribourg

Comparing smooth transition and Markov switching autoregressive models of US unemployment

Deschamps, Philippe J.

In: Journal of Applied Econometrics

Logistic smooth transition and Markov switching autoregressive models of a logistic transform of the monthly US unemployment rate are estimated by Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The Markov switching model is identified by constraining the first autoregression coefficient to differ across regimes. The transition variable in the LSTAR model is the lagged seasonal difference of the unemployment...

Université de Fribourg

A flexible prior distribution for Markov switching autoregressions with Student-t errors

Deschamps, Philippe J.

In: Journal of Econometrics

This paper proposes an empirical Bayes approach for Markov switching autoregressions that can constrain some of the state-dependent parameters (regression coefficients and error variances) to be approximately equal across regimes. By flexibly reducing the dimension of the parameter space, this can help to ensure regime separation and to detect the Markov switching nature of the data. The...