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Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Confidence set

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Identification-Robust Subvector Inference, Donald W.K. Andrews Sep 2017

Identification-Robust Subvector Inference, Donald W.K. Andrews

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper introduces identification-robust subvector tests and confidence sets (CS’s) that have asymptotic size equal to their nominal size and are asymptotically efficient under strong identification. Hence, inference is as good asymptotically as standard methods under standard regularity conditions, but also is identification robust. The results do not require special structure on the models under consideration, or strong identification of the nuisance parameters, as many existing methods do. We provide general results under high-level conditions that can be applied to moment condition, likelihood, and minimum distance models, among others. We verify these conditions under primitive conditions for moment condition models. …


Inference Based On Many Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi Jul 2015

Inference Based On Many Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

In this paper, we construct confidence sets for models defined by many conditional moment inequalities/equalities. The conditional moment restrictions in the models can be finite, countably infinite, or uncountably infinite. To deal with the complication brought about by the vast number of moment restrictions, we exploit the manageability (Pollard (1990)) of the class of moment functions. We verify the manageability condition in five examples from the recent partial identification literature. The proposed confidence sets are shown to have correct asymptotic size in a uniform sense and to exclude parameter values outside the identified set with probability approaching one. Monte Carlo …


Inference Based On Many Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi Jul 2015

Inference Based On Many Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

In this paper, we construct confidence sets for models defined by many conditional moment inequalities/equalities. The conditional moment restrictions in the models can be finite, countably in finite, or uncountably in finite. To deal with the complication brought about by the vast number of moment restrictions, we exploit the manageability (Pollard (1990)) of the class of moment functions. We verify the manageability condition in five examples from the recent partial identification literature. The proposed confidence sets are shown to have correct asymptotic size in a uniform sense and to exclude parameter values outside the identified set with probability approaching one. …


Identification- And Singularity-Robust Inference For Moment Condition Models, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger Jan 2015

Identification- And Singularity-Robust Inference For Moment Condition Models, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper introduces a new identification- and singularity-robust conditional quasi-likelihood ratio (SR-CQLR) test and a new identification- and singularity-robust Anderson and Rubin (1949) (SR-AR) test for linear and nonlinear moment condition models. Both tests are very fast to compute. The paper shows that the tests have correct asymptotic size and are asymptotically similar (in a uniform sense) under very weak conditions. For example, in i.i.d. scenarios, all that is required is that the moment functions and their derivatives have 2 + γ bounded moments for some γ > 0: No conditions are placed on the expected Jacobian of the moment functions, …


Asymptotic Size Of Kleibergen's Lm And Conditional Lr Tests For Moment Condition Models, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger Dec 2014

Asymptotic Size Of Kleibergen's Lm And Conditional Lr Tests For Moment Condition Models, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

An influential paper by Kleibergen (2005) introduces Lagrange multiplier (LM) and conditional likelihood ratio-like (CLR) tests for nonlinear moment condition models. These procedures aim to have good size performance even when the parameters are unidentified or poorly identified. However, the asymptotic size and similarity (in a uniform sense) of these procedures has not been determined in the literature. This paper does so. This paper shows that the LM test has correct asymptotic size and is asymptotically similar for a suitably chosen parameter space of null distributions. It shows that the CLR tests also have these properties when the dimension p …


Gmm Estimation And Uniform Subvector Inference With Possible Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng Oct 2011

Gmm Estimation And Uniform Subvector Inference With Possible Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper determines the properties of standard generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators, tests, and confidence sets (CS’s) in moment condition models in which some parameters are unidentified or weakly identified in part of the parameter space. The asymptotic distributions of GMM estimators are established under a full range of drifting sequences of true parameters and distributions. The asymptotic sizes (in a uniform sense) of standard GMM tests and CS’s are established. The paper also establishes the correct asymptotic sizes of “robust” GMM-based Wald, t , and quasi-likelihood ratio tests and CS’s whose critical values are designed to yield robustness …


Maximum Likelihood Estimation And Uniform Inference With Sporadic Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng Oct 2011

Maximum Likelihood Estimation And Uniform Inference With Sporadic Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper analyzes the properties of a class of estimators, tests, and confidence sets (CS’s) when the parameters are not identified in parts of the parameter space. Specifically, we consider estimator criterion functions that are sample averages and are smooth functions of a parameter theta. This includes log likelihood, quasi-log likelihood, and least squares criterion functions. We determine the asymptotic distributions of estimators under lack of identification and under weak, semi-strong, and strong identification. We determine the asymptotic size (in a uniform sense) of standard t and quasi-likelihood ratio (QLR) tests and CS’s. We provide methods of constructing QLR tests …


Maximum Likelihood Estimation And Uniform Inference With Sporadic Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng Oct 2011

Maximum Likelihood Estimation And Uniform Inference With Sporadic Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper analyzes the properties of a class of estimators, tests, and confidence sets (CS’s) when the parameters are not identified in parts of the parameter space. Specifically, we consider estimator criterion functions that are sample averages and are smooth functions of a parameter theta. This includes log likelihood, quasi-log likelihood, and least squares criterion functions. We determine the asymptotic distributions of estimators under lack of identification and under weak, semi-strong, and strong identification. We determine the asymptotic size (in a uniform sense) of standard t and quasi-likelihood ratio (QLR) tests and CS’s. We provide methods of constructing QLR tests …


Gmm Estimation And Uniform Subvector Inference With Possible Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng Oct 2011

Gmm Estimation And Uniform Subvector Inference With Possible Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper determines the properties of standard generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators, tests, and confidence sets (CS’s) in moment condition models in which some parameters are unidentified or weakly identified in part of the parameter space. The asymptotic distributions of GMM estimators are established under a full range of drifting sequences of true parameters and distributions. The asymptotic sizes (in a uniform sense) of standard GMM tests and CS’s are established. The paper also establishes the correct asymptotic sizes of “robust” GMM-based Wald, t; and quasi-likelihood ratio tests and CS’s whose critical values are designed to yield robustness to …


Identification- And Singularity-Robust Inference For Moment Condition Models, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger Mar 2011

Identification- And Singularity-Robust Inference For Moment Condition Models, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper introduces two new identification- and singularity-robust conditional quasi-likelihood ratio (SR-CQLR) tests and a new identification- and singularity-robust Anderson and Rubin (1949) (SR-AR) test for linear and nonlinear moment condition models. The paper shows that the tests have correct asymptotic size and are asymptotically similar (in a uniform sense) under very weak conditions. For two of the three tests, all that is required is that the moment functions and their derivatives have 2 + γ bounded moments for some γ > 0 in i.i.d. scenarios. In stationary strong mixing time series cases, the same condition suffices, but the magnitude of …


Identification- And Singularity-Robust Inference For Moment Condition Models, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger Mar 2011

Identification- And Singularity-Robust Inference For Moment Condition Models, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper introduces a new identification- and singularity-robust conditional quasi-likelihood ratio (SR-CQLR) test and a new identification- and singularity-robust Anderson and Rubin (1949) (SR-AR) test for linear and nonlinear moment condition models. Both tests are very fast to compute. The paper shows that the tests have correct asymptotic size and are asymptotically similar (in a uniform sense) under very weak conditions. For example, in i.i.d. scenarios, all that is required is that the moment functions and their derivatives have 2+γ bounded moments for some γ>0. No conditions are placed on the expected Jacobian of the moment functions, on the …


Estimation And Inference With Weak, Semi-Strong, And Strong Identification, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng Oct 2010

Estimation And Inference With Weak, Semi-Strong, And Strong Identification, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper analyzes the properties of standard estimators, tests, and confidence sets (CS’s) in a class of models in which the parameters are unidentified or weakly identified in some parts of the parameter space. The paper also introduces methods to make the tests and CS’s robust to such identification problems. The results apply to a class of extremum estimators and corresponding tests and CS’s, including maximum likelihood (ML), least squares (LS), quantile, generalized method of moments (GMM), generalized empirical likelihood (GEL), minimum distance (MD), and semi-parametric estimators. The consistency/lack-of-consistency and asymptotic distributions of the estimators are established under a full …


Inference Based On Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi Jun 2010

Inference Based On Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

In this paper, we propose an instrumental variable approach to constructing confidence sets (CS’s) for the true parameter in models defined by conditional moment inequalities/equalities. We show that by properly choosing instrument functions, one can transform conditional moment inequalities/equalities into unconditional ones without losing identification power. Based on the unconditional moment inequalities/equalities, we construct CS’s by inverting Cramér-von Mises-type or Kolmogorov-Smirnov-type tests. Critical values are obtained using generalized moment selection (GMS) procedures. We show that the proposed CS’s have correct uniform asymptotic coverage probabilities. New methods are required to establish these results because an infinite-dimensional nuisance parameter affects the asymptotic …


Inference Based On Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi Jun 2010

Inference Based On Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

In this paper, we propose an instrumental variable approach to constructing confidence sets (CS’s) for the true parameter in models defined by conditional moment inequalities/equalities. We show that by properly choosing instrument functions, one can transform conditional moment inequalities/equalities into unconditional ones without losing identification power. Based on the unconditional moment inequalities/equalities, we construct CS’s by inverting Cramér–von Mises-type or Kolmogorov–Smirnov-type tests. Critical values are obtained using generalized moment selection (GMS) procedures. We show that the proposed CS’s have correct uniform asymptotic coverage probabilities. New methods are required to establish these results because an infinite-dimensional nuisance parameter affects the asymptotic …


Inference Based On Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi Jun 2010

Inference Based On Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

In this paper, we propose an instrumental variable approach to constructing confidence sets (CS’s) for the true parameter in models defined by conditional moment inequalities/equalities. We show that by properly choosing instrument functions, one can transform conditional moment inequalities/equalities into unconditional ones without losing identification power. Based on the unconditional moment inequalities/equalities, we construct CS’s by inverting Cramér-von Mises-type or Kolmogorov-Smirnov-type tests. Critical values are obtained using generalized moment selection (GMS) procedures. We show that the proposed CS’s have correct uniform asymptotic coverage probabilities. New methods are required to establish these results because an infinite-dimensional nuisance parameter affects the asymptotic …


Estimation And Inference With Weak, Semi-Strong, And Strong Identification, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng Jun 2010

Estimation And Inference With Weak, Semi-Strong, And Strong Identification, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper analyzes the properties of standard estimators, tests, and confidence sets (CS’s) for parameters that are unidentified or weakly identified in some parts of the parameter space. The paper also introduces methods to make the tests and CS’s robust to such identification problems. The results apply to a class of extremum estimators and corresponding tests and CS’s that are based on criterion functions that satisfy certain asymptotic stochastic quadratic expansions and that depend on the parameter that determines the strength of identification. This covers a class of models estimated using maximum likelihood (ML), least squares (LS), quantile, generalized method …


Inference For Parameters Defined By Moment Inequalities: A Recommended Moment Selection Procedure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Panle Jai Barwick Sep 2008

Inference For Parameters Defined By Moment Inequalities: A Recommended Moment Selection Procedure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Panle Jai Barwick

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper is concerned with tests and confidence intervals for parameters that are not necessarily identified and are defined by moment inequalities. In the literature, different test statistics, critical value methods, and implementation methods (i.e., the asymptotic distribution versus the bootstrap) have been proposed. In this paper, we compare these methods. We provide a recommended test statistic, moment selection critical value method, and implementation method. We provide data-dependent procedures for choosing the key moment selection tuning parameter kappa and a size-correction factor eta.


Inference For Parameters Defined By Moment Inequalities: A Recommended Moment Selection Procedure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Panle Jai Barwick Sep 2008

Inference For Parameters Defined By Moment Inequalities: A Recommended Moment Selection Procedure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Panle Jai Barwick

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper is concerned with tests and confidence intervals for partially-identified parameters that are defined by moment inequalities and equalities. In the literature, different test statistics, critical value methods, and implementation methods (i.e., asymptotic distribution versus the bootstrap) have been proposed. In this paper, we compare a wide variety of these methods. We provide a recommended test statistic, moment selection critical value method, and implementation method. In addition, we provide a data-dependent procedure for choosing the key moment selection tuning parameter and a data-dependent size-correction factor.


Inference For Parameters Defined By Moment Inequalities Using Generalized Moment Selection, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger Oct 2007

Inference For Parameters Defined By Moment Inequalities Using Generalized Moment Selection, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

The topic of this paper is inference in models in which parameters are defined by moment inequalities and/or equalities. The parameters may or may not be identified. This paper introduces a new class of confidence sets and tests based on generalized moment selection (GMS). GMS procedures are shown to have correct asymptotic size in a uniform sense and are shown not to be asymptotically conservative. The power of GMS tests is compared to that of subsampling, m out of n bootstrap, and “plug-in asymptotic” (PA) tests. The latter three procedures are the only general procedures in the literature that have …


Validity Of Subsampling And ‘Plug-In Asymptotic’ Inference For Parameters Defined By Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger Jul 2007

Validity Of Subsampling And ‘Plug-In Asymptotic’ Inference For Parameters Defined By Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper considers inference for parameters defined by moment inequalities and equalities. The parameters need not be identified. For a specified class of test statistics, this paper establishes the uniform asymptotic validity of subsampling, m out of n bootstrap, and “plug-in asymptotic” tests and confidence intervals for such parameters. Establishing uniform asymptotic validity is crucial in moment inequality problems because the test statistics of interest have discontinuities in their pointwise asymptotic distributions. The size results are quite general because they hold without specifying the particular form of the moment conditions — only 2 + δ moments finite are required. The …