This volume focuses on recent developments in the use of structural econometric models in empirical economics. The first part looks at recent developments in the estimation of dynamic discrete choice models. The second part looks at recent advances in the area empirical matching models.

Econometric models are widely used in the creation and evaluation of economic policy in the public and private sectors. But these models are useful only if they adequately account for the phenomena in question, and they can be quite misleading if they do not. In response, econometricians have developed tests and other checks for model adequacy. All of these methods, however, take as given the specification of the model to be tested. In this book, John Geweke addresses the critical earlier stage of model development, the point at which potential models are inherently incomplete. Summarizing and extending recent advances in Bayesian econometrics, Geweke shows how simple modern simulation methods can complement the creative process of model formulation. These methods, which are accessible to economics PhD students as well as to practicing applied econometricians, streamline the processes of model development and specification checking. Complete with illustrations from a wide variety of applications, this is an important contribution to econometrics that will interest economists and PhD students alike.

Many relationships in economics, and also in other fields, are both dynamic and nonlinear. A major advance in econometrics over the last fifteen years has been the development of a theory of estimation and inference for dy namic nonlinear models. This advance was accompanied by improvements in computer technology that facilitate the practical implementation of such estimation methods. In two articles in Econometric Reviews, i.e., Pötscher and Prucha {1991a,b), we provided -an expository discussion of the basic structure of the asymptotic theory of M-estimators in dynamic nonlinear models and a review of the literature up to the beginning of this decade. Among others, the class of M-estimators contains least mean distance estimators (includ ing maximum likelihood estimators) and generalized method of moment estimators. The present book expands and revises the discussion in those articles. It is geared towards the professional econometrician or statistician. Besides reviewing the literature we also presented in the above men tioned articles a number of then new results. One example is a consis tency result for the case where the identifiable uniqueness condition fails.

This book proposes a new methodology for the selection of one (model) from among a set of alternative econometric models. Let us recall that a model is an abstract representation of reality which brings out what is relevant to a particular economic issue. An econometric model is also an analytical characterization of the joint probability distribution of some random variables of interest, which yields some information on how the actual economy works. This information will be useful only if it is accurate and precise; that is, the information must be far from ambiguous and close to what we observe in the real world Thus, model selection should be performed on the basis of statistics which summarize the degree of accuracy and precision of each model. A model is accurate if it predicts right; it is precise if it produces tight confidence intervals. A first general approach to model selection includes those procedures based on both characteristics, precision and accuracy. A particularly interesting example of this approach is that of Hildebrand, Laing and Rosenthal (1980). See also Hendry and Richard (1982). A second general approach includes those procedures that use only one of the two dimensions to discriminate among models. In general, most of the tests we are going to examine correspond to this category.

Econometric Modeling provides a new and stimulating introduction to econometrics, focusing on modeling. The key issue confronting empirical economics is to establish sustainable relationships that are both supported by data and interpretable from economic theory. The unified likelihood-based approach of this book gives students the required statistical foundations of estimation and inference, and leads to a thorough understanding of econometric techniques. David Hendry and Bent Nielsen introduce modeling for a range of situations, including binary data sets, multiple regression, and cointegrated systems. In each setting, a statistical model is constructed to explain the observed variation in the data, with estimation and inference based on the likelihood function. Substantive issues are always addressed, showing how both statistical and economic assumptions can be tested and empirical results interpreted. Important empirical problems such as structural breaks, forecasting, and model selection are covered, and Monte Carlo simulation is explained and applied. Econometric Modeling is a self-contained introduction for advanced undergraduate or graduate students. Throughout, data illustrate and motivate the approach, and are available for computer-based teaching. Technical issues from probability theory and statistical theory are introduced only as needed. Nevertheless, the approach is rigorous, emphasizing the coherent formulation, estimation, and evaluation of econometric models relevant for empirical research.

Foundations for specification; Detailed specification of a macro-model of the economy; Examples of specification and testing: some actual econometric models; Uses and applications of the econometric macro-model.

Spatial econometrics deals with spatial dependence and spatial heterogeneity, critical aspects of the data used by regional scientists. These characteristics may cause standard econometric techniques to become inappropriate. In this book, I combine several recent research results to construct a comprehensive approach to the incorporation of spatial effects in econometrics. My primary focus is to demonstrate how these spatial effects can be considered as special cases of general frameworks in standard econometrics, and to outline how they necessitate a separate set of methods and techniques, encompassed within the field of spatial econometrics. My viewpoint differs from that taken in the discussion of spatial autocorrelation in spatial statistics - e.g., most recently by Cliff and Ord (1981) and Upton and Fingleton (1985) - in that I am mostly concerned with the relevance of spatial effects on model specification, estimation and other inference, in what I caIl a model-driven approach, as opposed to a data-driven approach in spatial statistics. I attempt to combine a rigorous econometric perspective with a comprehensive treatment of methodological issues in spatial analysis.