Volumes 45a and 45b of Advances in Econometrics honor Professor Joon Y. Park, who has made numerous and substantive contributions to the field of econometrics over a career spanning four decades since the 1980s and counting.

Including contributions spanning a variety of theoretical and applied topics in econometrics, this volume of Advances in Econometrics is published in honour of Cheng Hsiao.

Volume 36 of Advances in Econometrics recognizes Aman Ullah's significant contributions in many areas of econometrics and celebrates his long productive career.

It is the editor’s distinct privilege to gather this collection of papers that honors Subhal Kumbhakar’s many accomplishments, drawing further attention to the various areas of scholarship that he has touched.

There have been major developments in the field of statistics over the last quarter century, spurred by the rapid advances in computing and data-measurement technologies. These developments have revolutionized the field and have greatly influenced research directions in theory and methodology. Increased computing power has spawned entirely new areas of research in computationally-intensive methods, allowing us to move away from narrowly applicable parametric techniques based on restrictive assumptions to much more flexible and realistic models and methods. These computational advances have also led to the extensive use of simulation and Monte Carlo techniques in statistical inference. All of these developments have, in turn, stimulated new research in theoretical statistics.This volume provides an up-to-date overview of recent advances in statistical modeling and inference. Written by renowned researchers from across the world, it discusses flexible models, semi-parametric methods and transformation models, nonparametric regression and mixture models, survival and reliability analysis, and re-sampling techniques. With its coverage of methodology and theory as well as applications, the book is an essential reference for researchers, graduate students, and practitioners.

Back in the good old days on the fourth floor of the Altbau of Bonn's Ju ridicum, Werner Hildenbrand put an end to a debate about a festschrift in honor of an economist on the occasion of his turning 60 with a laconic: "Much too early." Remembering his position five years ago, we did not dare to think about one for him. But now he has turned 65. If consulted, he would most likely still answer: "Much too early." However, he has to take his official re tirement, and we believe that this is the right moment for such an endeavor. No doubt Werner Hildenbrand will not really retire. As professor emeritus, free from the constraints of a rigid teaching schedule and the burden of com mittee meetings, he will be able to indulge his passions. We expect him to pursue, with undiminished enthusiasm, his research, travel, golfing, the arts, and culinary pleasures - escaping real retirement.

The collection of chapters in Volume 43 Part A of Advances in Econometrics serves as a tribute to one of the most innovative, influential, and productive econometricians of his generation, Professor M. Hashem Pesaran.