
Inference for VARs identified with sign restrictions
Author(s) -
Granziera Eleonora,
Moon Hyungsik Roger,
Schorfheide Frank
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
quantitative economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.062
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1759-7331
pISSN - 1759-7323
DOI - 10.3982/qe978
Subject(s) - inference , sign (mathematics) , econometrics , computer science , economics , mathematics , artificial intelligence , mathematical analysis
There is a fast growing literature that set‐identifies structural vector autoregressions (SVARs) by imposing sign restrictions on the responses of a subset of the endogenous variables to a particular structural shock (sign‐restricted SVARs). Most methods that have been used to construct pointwise coverage bands for impulse responses of sign‐restricted SVARs are justified only from a Bayesian perspective. This paper demonstrates how to formulate the inference problem for sign‐restricted SVARs within a moment‐inequality framework. In particular, it develops methods of constructing confidence bands for impulse response functions of sign‐restricted SVARs that are valid from a frequentist perspective. The paper also provides a comparison of frequentist and Bayesian coverage bands in the context of an empirical application—the former can be substantially wider than the latter.