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A Primer on Unit Root Testing

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Abstract

The immense literature and diversity of unit root tests can at times be confusing even to the specialist and presents a truly daunting prospect to the uninitiated. In consequence, much empirical work still makes use of the simplest testing procedures because it is unclear from the literature and from recent reviews which tests if any are superior. This paper presents a survey of unit root theory with an emphasis on testing principles and recent developments. The general framework adopted makes it possible to consider tests of stochastic trends against trend stationarity and trend breaks of a general type. The main tests are listed, and asymptotic distributions are given in a simple form that emphasizes commonalities in the theory. Some simulation results are reported, and an extensive list of references and an annotated bibliography are provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter C.B. Phillips & Zhijie Xiao, 1998. "A Primer on Unit Root Testing," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1189, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    • Handle: RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:1189
    Note: CFP 972.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Autoregressive unit root; Brownian motion; functional central limit theorem; integrated process; LM principle; model selection; moving average unit root; nonstationarity; quasi-differencing; stationarity; stochastic trend;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes

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