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Searching for the Causal Structure of a Vector Autoregression

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Author Info
Hoover, Kevin (U of California, Davis)
Demiralp, Selva (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System)

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Abstract

Vector autoregressions (VARs) are economically interpretable only when identified by being transformed into a structural form (the SVAR) in which the contemporaneous variables stand in a well-defined causal order. These identifying transformations are not unique. It is widely believed that practitioners must choose among them using a priori theory or other criteria not rooted in the data under analysis. We show how to apply graph-theoretic methods of searching for causal structure based on relations of conditional independence to select among the possible causal orders--or at least to reduce the admissible causal orders to a narrow equivalence class. The graph-theoretic approaches were developed by computer scientists and philosophers (Pearl, Glymour, Spirtes among others) and applied to cross-sectional data. We provide an accessible introduction to this work. Then building on the work of Swanson and Granger (1997), we show how to apply it to searching for the causal order of an SVAR. We present simulation results to show how the efficacy of the search method algorithm varies with signal strength for realistic sample lengths. Our findings suggest that graph-theoretic methods may prove to be a useful tool in the analysis of SVARs.

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Paper provided by University of California at Davis, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 03-3.

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Date of creation: Mar 2003
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Handle: RePEc:ecl:ucdeco:03-3

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C15 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General - - - Statistical Simulation Methods
C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions
C49 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Other
C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation

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  1. Sims, Christopher A, 1980. "Macroeconomics and Reality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(1), pages 1-48, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Christopher A. Sims, 1986. "Are forecasting models usable for policy analysis?," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Win, pages 2-16. [Downloadable!]
  3. Leamer, Edward E., 1985. "Vector autoregressions for causal inference?," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 255-304, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Cooley, Thomas F. & Leroy, Stephen F., 1985. "Atheoretical macroeconometrics: A critique," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 283-308, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. David A. Bessler & Seongpyo Lee, 2002. "Money and prices: U.S. Data 1869-1914 (A study with directed graphs)," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 427-446. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Alessio Moneta, 2008. "Graphical causal models and VARs: an empirical assessment of the real business cycles hypothesis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 275-300, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Alessio Moneta, 2005. "Causality in macroeconometrics: some considerations about reductionism and realism," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 433-453, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Alessio Moneta, 2003. "Graphical Models for Structural Vector Autoregressions," LEM Papers Series 2003/07, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  5. Alessio Moneta & Peter Spirtes, 2005. "Graph-Based Search Procedure for Vector Autoregressive Models," LEM Papers Series 2005/14, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  6. Jorda, Oscar, 2007. "Inference for Impulse Responses," Working Papers 07-7, University of California at Davis, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  7. Hoover, Kevin D., 2005. "Economic Theory and Causal Inference," Working Papers 06-4, University of California at Davis, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  8. Oscar Jorda, 2004. "Model-Free Impulse Responses," Macroeconomics 0403016, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Yu, Tun-Hsiang Edward & Bessler, David A. & Fuller, Stephen, 2006. "Cointegration and Causality Analysis of World Vegetable Oil and Crude Oil Prices," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21439, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
  10. Park, Moonsoo & Jin, Yanhong H & Bessler, David A., 2008. "The Impacts of Animal Disease Crises on the Korean Meat Market," 2008 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2008, Orlando, Florida 6365, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
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  11. Hans-Martin Krolzig, 2003. "General-to-Specific Model Selection Procedures for Structural Vector Autoregressions," Economics Papers 2003-W15, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Jin Zhang & David A. Bessler & David J. Leatham, 2006. "Does consumer debt cause economic recession? Evidence using directed acyclic graphs," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 13(7), pages 401-407, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Jian Yang & Hui Guo & Zijun Wang, 2004. "International transmission of inflation among G-7 countries: a data-determined VAR analysis," Working Papers 2004-028, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Bryant, Henry L. & Bessler, David A. & Haigh, Michael S., 2003. "Causality In Futures Markets," Working Papers 28574, University of Maryland, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. [Downloadable!]
  15. Vitale, Jeffrey & Bessler, David, 2006. "The 2004 Niger Food Crisis: What Role Can Price Discovery Play in Famine Early Warning Systems?," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21316, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
  16. Bryant, Henry L. & Bessler, David A. & Haigh, Michael S., 2006. "Disproving Causal Relationships Using Observational Data," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21166, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
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