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Testing competing models for non-negative data with many zeros

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  • Silva, João M. C. Santos
  • Tenreyro, Silvana
  • Windmeijer, Frank

Abstract

In economic applications it is often the case that the variate of interest is non-negative and its distribution has a mass-point at zero. Many regression strategies have been proposed to deal with data of this type but, although there has been a long debate in the literature on the appropriateness of different models, formal statistical tests to choose between the competing specifications are not often used in practice. We use the non-nested hypothesis testing framework of Davidson and MacKinnon (Davidson and MacKinnon 1981. “Several Tests for Model Specification in the Presence of Alternative Hypotheses.” Econometrica 49: 781–793.) to develop a novel and simple regression-based specification test that can be used to discriminate between these models.

Suggested Citation

  • Silva, João M. C. Santos & Tenreyro, Silvana & Windmeijer, Frank, 2015. "Testing competing models for non-negative data with many zeros," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 63663, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:63663
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    health economics; international trade; non-nested hypotheses; C test; P test;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C12 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Hypothesis Testing: General
    • C52 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Evaluation, Validation, and Selection

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