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Regularized Estimation of Structural Instability in Factor Models: The US Macroeconomy and the Great Moderation

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  • Laurent Callot

    (University of Amsterdam and CREATES)

  • Johannes Tang Kristensen

    (University of Southern Denmark and CREATES)

Abstract

This paper shows that the parsimoniously time-varying methodology of Callot and Kristensen (2015) can be applied to factormodels.We apply this method to study macroeconomic instability in the US from 1959:1 to 2006:4 with a particular focus on the Great Moderation. Models with parsimoniously time-varying parameters are models with an unknown number of break points at unknown locations. The parameters are assumed to follow a random walk with a positive probability that an increment is exactly equal to zero so that the parameters do not vary at every point in time. The vector of increments, which is high dimensional by construction and sparse by assumption, is estimated using the Lasso. We apply this method to the estimation of static factor models and factor augmented autoregressions using a set of 190 quarterly observations of 144 US macroeconomic series from Stock andWatson (2009).We find that the parameters of both models exhibit a higher degree of instability in the period from 1970:1 to 1984:4 relative to the following 15 years. In our setting the Great Moderation appears as the gradual ending of a period of high structural instability that took place in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurent Callot & Johannes Tang Kristensen, 2015. "Regularized Estimation of Structural Instability in Factor Models: The US Macroeconomy and the Great Moderation," CREATES Research Papers 2015-29, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    • Handle: RePEc:aah:create:2015-29
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Parsimoniously time-varying parameters; factor models; structural break; Lasso;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C01 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Econometrics
    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • C38 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Classification Methdos; Cluster Analysis; Principal Components; Factor Analysis
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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