A0307
Title: Robust inference for non-Gaussian linear simultaneous equations models
Authors: Adam Lee - BI Norwegian Business School (Norway) [presenting]
Geert Mesters - Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Spain)
Abstract: All parameters in linear simultaneous equations models can be identified (up to permutation and scale) if the underlying structural shocks are independent and if, at most one of them is Gaussian. Unfortunately, existing inference methods that exploit such identifying assumptions suffer from size distortions when the true distributions of the shocks are close to Gaussian. To address this weak non-Gaussian problem, we develop a robust semi-parametric inference method that yields valid confidence intervals for the structural parameters of interest regardless of the distance to Gaussianity. We treat the densities of the structural shocks non-parametrically and construct identification robust tests based on the efficient score function. The finite sample properties of the methodology are illustrated in a large simulation study and an empirical study for production function estimation.
