In this paper I derive the asymptotics of the exact, Euler, and Milstein ML estimators for diffusion models, including general nonstationary diffusions. Though there have been many estimators for the diffusion model, their asymptotic properties were generally unknown. This is especially true for the nonstationary processes, even though they are usually far from the standard ones. Using a new asymptotics with respect to both the time span T and the sampling interval ¢, I find the asymptotics of the estimators and also derive the conditions for the consistency. With this new asymptotic result, I could show that this result can explain the properties of the estimators more correctly than the existing asymptotics with respect only to the sample size n. I also show that there are many possibilities to get a better estimator utilizing this asymptotic result with a couple of examples, and in the second part of the paper, I derive the higher order asymptotics which can be used in the bootstrap analysis.

Why do we observe such dramatic differences in labour productivity across countries in the macro data? This thesis argues that the growth empirics literature oversimplifies the complexity of the production process across countries and neglects data cross-section and time-series properties, leading to bias in the empirical estimates. Chapter 1 presents two general empirical frameworks for cross-country productivity analysis and demonstrates that they encompass the growth empirics literature of the past decades. We introduce our central argument of cross-country heterogeneity in the impact of observables and unobservables on output and develop this against the background of the pertinent time-series and cross-section properties of macro panel data. Chapter 2 uses data from 48 countries to estimate manufacturing production functions. We discuss standard and novel estimators, focusing on their treatment of parameter heterogeneity and data time-series and cross-section properties. We develop the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimator and show its similarity to the Pesaran (2006) Common Correlated Effects (CCE) approach. Our results confirm parameter heterogeneity across countries in the impact of observable inputs on output. We check the robustness of this finding and highlight its implications for empirical measures of TFP. Chapter 3 investigates the heterogeneity of agricultural production technology using data for 128 countries. We develop an extension to the CCE estimators which allows us to suggest that TFP is structured such that countries with similar agro-climatic environment are influenced by the same unobserved factors. This finding offers a possible explanation for the failure of technology-transfer from advanced countries of the temperate 'North' to developing countries of the arid/equatorial 'South'. Our Monte Carlo simulations in Chapter 4 investigate the performance of the AMG, CCE and standard (micro-)panel estimators. Failure to account for cross-section dependence is shown to result in serious distortion of the empirical estimates. We highlight scenarios in which the AMG is biased and offer simple remedies.

Nonstationary signals are widely observed in many real-world applications, e.g., radar, sonar, radio astronomy, communication, acoustics, and vibration applications. Joint time-frequency (TF) domain representations provide a time-varying spectrum for their analyses, discrimination, and classifications. Nonstationary signals commonly exhibit sparse occupancy in the TF domain. In this dissertation, we incorporate such sparsity to enable robust TF analysis in impaired observing environments. In practice, missing data samples frequently occur during signal reception due to various reasons, e.g., propagation fading, measurement obstruction, removal of impulsive noise or narrowband interference, and intentional undersampling. Missing data samples in the time domain lend themselves to be missing entries in the instantaneous autocorrelation function (IAF) and induce artifacts in the TF representation (TFR). Compared to random missing samples, a more realistic and more challenging problem is the existence of burst missing data samples. Unlike the effects of random missing samples, which cause the artifacts to be uniformly spread over the entire TF domain, the artifacts due to burst missing samples are highly localized around the true instantaneous frequencies, rendering extremely challenging TF analyses for which many existing methods become ineffective. In this dissertation, our objective is to develop novel signal processing techniques that offer effective TF analysis capability in the presence of burst missing samples. We propose two mutually related methods that recover missing entries in the IAF and reconstruct high-fidelity TFRs, which approach full-data results with negligible performance loss. In the first method, an IAF slice corresponding to the time or lag is converted to a Hankel matrix, and its missing entries are recovered via atomic norm minimization. The second method generalizes this approach to reduce the effects of TF crossterms. It considers an IAF patch, which is reformulated as a low-rank block Hankel matrix, and the annihilating filter-based approach is used to interpolate the IAF and recover the missing entries. Both methods are insensitive to signal magnitude differences. Furthermore, we develop a novel machine learning-based approach that offers crossterm-free TFRs with effective autoterm preservation. The superiority and usefulness of the proposed methods are demonstrated using simulated and real-world signals. / Electrical and Computer Engineering

<p>This dissertation is a collection of four essays on nonstationary time series econometrics, which are grouped into four chapters. The first chapter investigates the inference in mildly explosive autoregressions under unconditional heteroskedasticity. The second chapter develops a new approach to forecasting a highly persistent time series that employs feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) estimation of the deterministic components in conjunction with Mallows model averaging. The third chapter proposes new bootstrap procedures for detecting multiple persistence shifts in a time series driven by nonstationary volatility. The last chapter studies the problem of testing partial parameter stability in cointegrated regression models.</p>

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The Hilbert transform is a widely used transform in signal processing. In this thesis we explore its use for three different applications: electrocardiography, the Hilbert-Huang transform and modulation. For electrocardiography, we examine how and why the Hilbert transform can be used for QRS complex detection. Also, what are the advantages and limitations of this method? The Hilbert-Huang transform is a very popular method for spectral analysis for nonlinear and/or nonstationary processes. We examine its connection with the Hilbert transform and show limitations of the method. Lastly, the connection between the Hilbert transform and single-sideband modulation is investigated.

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is a forecasted expectation of the future value of a customer to the firm. There are two customer behavioral components of CLV that represent a particular modeling challenge: 1) how many transactions we expect from a customer in the future, and 2) how likely it is the customer remains active. Existing CLV models like the Pareto/NBD are valuable managerial tools because they are able to provide forward-looking estimates of transaction patterns and customer churn when the event of a customer leaving is unobservable, which is typical for most noncontractual goods and services. The CLV model literature has for the most part maintained its original assumption that the number of customer transactions follows a stable transaction process. Yet there are many categories of noncontractual goods and services where the stable transaction rate assumption is violated, particularly seasonal purchase patterns. CLV model estimates are further biased when there is an excess of customers with no repeat transactions. To address these modeling challenges, within this thesis I develop a generalized CLV modeling framework that combines three elements necessary to reduce bias in model estimates: 1) the incorporation of time-varying covariates to model data with transaction rates that change over time, 2) a zero-inflated model specification for customers with no repeat transactions, and 3) generalizes to different transaction process distributions to better fit diverse customer transaction patterns. This CLV modeling framework provides firms better estimates of the future activity of their customers, a critical CRM application.

We study some Hölderian functional central limit theorems for the polygonal partial sum processes built on a first order nearly nonstationary autoregressive process and its least squares residuals Innovations are i.i.d. centered and at least square-integrable innovations. Two types of models are considered. For the first type model we prove that the limiting process depends on Ornstein – Uhlenbeck one. In the second type model, the convergence to Brownian motion is established in Hölder space in terms of the rate of coefficient and the integrability of the residuals. We also investigate some epidemic change in the innovations of the first order nearly nonstationary autoregressive process . We build the alpha-Hölderian uniform increments statistics based on the observations and on the least squares residuals to detect the short epidemic change in the process under consideration. Under the assumptions for innovations we find the limit of the statistics under null hypothesis, some conditions of consistency and we perform a test power analysis. / Disertacijoje nagrinėjami dalinių sumų laužčių procesai sudaryti iš pirmos eilės beveik nestacionaraus proceso bei jo mažiausių kvadratų liekanų. Inovacijos yra nepriklausomi, vienodai pasiskirstę ir bent kvadratu integruojami atsitiktiniai dydžiai su nuliniu vidurkiu. Įrodomos funkcinės ribinės teoremos šiems laužčių procesams Hiolderio erdvėje. Nagrinėjami du beveik nestacionaraus proceso atvejai. Vienu atveju įrodoma, kad ribinis procesas priklauso nuo Ornsteino–Uhlenbecko proceso. Kitu atveju, įrodomas konvergavimas į Brauno judesį Hiolderio erdvėje, atsižvelgiant į koeficiento divergavimo greitį bei inovacijų integruojamumą. Toliau nagrinėjamas epideminio pasikeitimo modelis beveik nestacionaraus pirmos eilės autoregresinio proceso inovacijoms. Nagrinėjami du modeliai. Iš stebėjimų bei liekanų konstruojama tolydžiųjų prieaugių alpha-Hiolderio statistika. Remiantis prielaidomis inovacijoms, randama statistikos ribinis procesas prie nulinės hipotezės, suderinamumo sąlygos, atliekama galios analizė.

Disertacijoje nagrinėjami dalinių sumų laužčių procesai sudaryti iš pirmos eilės beveik nestacionaraus proceso bei jo mažiausių kvadratų liekanų. Inovacijos yra nepriklausomi, vienodai pasiskirstę ir bent kvadratu integruojami atsitiktiniai dydžiai su nuliniu vidurkiu. Įrodomos funkcinės ribinės teoremos šiems laužčių procesams Hiolderio erdvėje. Nagrinėjami du beveik nestacionaraus proceso atvejai. Vienu atveju įrodoma, kad ribinis procesas priklauso nuo Ornsteino–Uhlenbecko proceso. Kitu atveju, įrodomas konvergavimas į Brauno judesį Hiolderio erdvėje, atsižvelgiant į koeficiento divergavimo greitį bei inovacijų integruojamumą. Toliau nagrinėjamas epideminio pasikeitimo modelis beveik nestacionaraus pirmos eilės autoregresinio proceso inovacijoms. Nagrinėjami du modeliai. Iš stebėjimų bei liekanų konstruojama tolydžiųjų prieaugių alpha-Hiolderio statistika. Remiantis prielaidomis inovacijoms, randama statistikos ribinis procesas prie nulinės hipotezės, suderinamumo sąlygos, atliekama galios analizė. / We study some Hölderian functional central limit theorems for the polygonal partial sum processes built on a first order nearly nonstationary autoregressive process and its least squares residuals Innovations are i.i.d. centered and at least square-integrable innovations. Two types of models are considered. For the first type model we prove that the limiting process depends on Ornstein – Uhlenbeck one. In the second type model, the convergence to Brownian motion is established in Hölder space in terms of the rate of coefficient and the integrability of the residuals. We also investigate some epidemic change in the innovations of the first order nearly nonstationary autoregressive process . We build the alpha-Hölderian uniform increments statistics based on the observations and on the least squares residuals to detect the short epidemic change in the process under consideration. Under the assumptions for innovations we find the limit of the statistics under null hypothesis, some conditions of consistency and we perform a test power analysis.