In this paper we survey some recent developments of nonparametric econometrics in the following areas: (i) Nonparametric estimation of regression models with mixed discrete and continuous data; (ii) Nonparametric models with nonstationary data; (iii) Nonparametric models with instrumental variables; (iv) Nonparametric estimation of conditional quantile functions. In each of the above areas we also point out some open research problems. Forthcoming in Advances in Econometrics * We thank the referees for their careful reading of the manuscript and for their helpful comments. We also thank the Econometric Seminar audiences at the University of Guelph, and the participants in the Advances in Econometrics conference for helpful comments on this paper.
Logistics theory suggests that transportation and inventory policies are jointly considered by managers because these costs have offsetting properties. For example, when inventory is ordered less frequently, total transportation costs are likely to be lower due to economies of scale; yet inventory carrying costs are likely to be higher. This research analyzes aggregate transportation and inventory costs in the United States from 1960 to 2013, finding that, in the US economy as a whole, inventory and transportation costs are in long-term equilibrium. Furthermore, inventory seems to be adjusted for changes in transportation costs; however, transportation costs are not adjusted for changes in inventory costs.
In this study we examine the price process of eBay online auctions. We pool sparse and unevenly-spaced bidding histories of individual auctions, resulting in an unbalanced panel of bids. Since the price processes of online auctions are monotonically increasing within individual auctions and exhibit a substantial degree of heterogeneity, we propose a monotone series estimator for panel data with auction-specific slopes for a common relative price growth curve. We generalize Ramsay (1998)'s monotone series estimator to fit our panel model of the price process. We apply the proposed model and estimator to eBay auctions of a popular handheld device (a Palm PDA). The results are shown to capture closely the overall pattern of observed price dynamics. In particular, the early bidding, mid-auction bidding drought, and end-auction bid sniping are well approximated by the estimated price curve.
Economic intuition suggests that increased competition generates lower prices. However, recent theoretical work shows that a monopolist may charge a lower price than a firm facing a competitor selling a differentiated product. The direction of the price change when competition is introduced is dependent upon the joint distribution of buyer values for the two products. We explore this relationship using controlled laboratory experiments. Our results indicate that the distribution of buyer values does affect prices in a manner consistent with the theoretical predictions, although price increasing competition is rare due in part to overly intense competition regardless of the distribution of buyer values. We also explore pricing dynamics and find that sellers are more sensitive to their rivals when buyer values are positively correlated.
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