Journal of Economic and Social Measurement - Volume 25, issue 2

Authors: McCullough, B.D. | Renfro, Charles G.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper addresses the evaluation of nonlinear methods in econometric software, taking GARCH procedures as a case study. In particular, it analyzes seven widely used packages, utilizing a recently developed benchmark. Four of the packages are found to be unsuitable, …in most cases because the developer either does not specifically indicate which of the many possible GARCH models is being estimated, or does not accommodate the most common model specified in the applied literature, or both. A principal finding is that implementation of the GARCH procedure varies so widely that two packages ostensibly doing the same thing actually may be estimating substantively different models. This lack of standardization raises several questions concerning the evaluation of software. These include the issues normally associated with the creation of benchmarks, but also the critical role that software plays, and can play, in the development of modern econometrics. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-1999-0160

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 59-71, 1998

Authors: Chiswick, Barry R. | Miller, Paul W.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper analyzes the questions on dominant languages and minority languages included in the 1990 U.S. Census and the 1991 Canadian Census. These questions have served as the basis of much research on the determinants and socioeconomic consequences of language …usage and proficiency among immigrants and linguistic minorities. The questions and coding procedures for both countries are presented and discussed. The socioeconomic correlates of the language variables are discussed for both countries, indicating the strengths and weaknesses of the various language questions for policy analysis. An alternative set of language questions that would enhance the quality of social science research on the determinants and consequences of language proficiency is presented and evaluated. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-1999-0161

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 73-95, 1998

Authors: Bassi, Francesca

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The paper focuses on one of the main longitudinal surveys conducted by the US Bureau of the Census, the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP); specifically it regards the problem of estimating gross flows in the labour market when …data are affected by classification errors. Some data analysis presented in the paper show that typical sources of errors in longitudinal data, like time-in-sample effect, do not affect SIPP observed gross flows dramatically. The so-called seam effect dominates on other phenomena that potentially bias gross flows observed by means of longitudinal surveys. On the basis of this evidence, a strategy to correct labour force flows observed with SIPP from classification errors is proposed. The strategy is an ad hoc specification of latent class analysis. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-1999-0162

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 97-110, 1998