Imad Moosa challenges convention with this comprehensive and compelling critique of econometrics, condemning the common practices of misapplied statistical methods in both economics and finance.

Today econometrics has been widely applied in the empirical study of economics. As an empirical science, econometrics uses rigorous mathematical and statistical methods for economic problems. Understanding the methodologies of both econometrics and statistics is a crucial departure for econometrics. The primary focus of this book is to provide an understanding of statistical properties behind econometric methods. Following the introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 provides the methodological review of both econometrics and statistics in different periods since the 1930s. Chapters 3 and 4 explain the underlying theoretical methodologies for estimated equations in the simple regression and multiple regression models and discuss the debates about p-values in particular. This part of the book offers the reader a richer understanding of the methods of statistics behind the methodology of econometrics. Chapters 5–9 of the book are focused on the discussion of regression models using time series data, traditional causal econometric models, and the latest statistical techniques. By concentrating on dynamic structural linear models like state-space models and the Bayesian approach, the book alludes to the fact that this methodological study is not only a science but also an art. This work serves as a handy reference book for anyone interested in econometrics, particularly in relevance to students and academic and business researchers in all quantitative analysis fields.

Proposes an alternative methodology for determining causation in WTO law by drawing on causal philosophy and econometric analysis.

This book provides a concise analysis of behavioural biases and their implications for financial decision making. The book is written in the normative tradition, arguing strongly for the superiority of behavioural finance with respect to explaining observed phenomena in financial markets. It offers some unique features, including a discussion of the issue of conspiracy theory and how behavioural biases lead to belief in conspiracy theories. Lingering belief in the principles of neoclassical finance is attributed in part to the doctrine of publish or perish, which dominates contemporary academia. The offshoots of behavioural finance are discussed in detail, including ecological finance, environmental finance, social finance, experimental finance, neurofinance, and emotional finance. A comprehensive discussion of narcissism is presented where it is demonstrated that narcissistic behaviour is prevalent in the finance industry and that it led to the eruption of the global financial crisis.

In this fascinating book, Imad A. Moosa challenges existing preconceptions surrounding normative economics, arguing that what some economists see as undisputed facts of life may be myths caused by dogmatic thinking. Plausible explanations are suggested for puzzles in various areas of economics and finance, such as the home bias puzzle, the PPP puzzle and the presidential puzzle. Controversies in Economics and Finance is a thought-provoking and stimulating read that exposes common flaws in economic analysis. It will be of great benefit to academics, graduate students and policy-makers looking to understand the limits of economic analysis.

For most of his career, Peter Swann’s main research interest has been the economics of innovation. But he has also been preoccupied with a second question: what is the best way to study empirical economics? In this book, he uses his knowledge of the first question to answer the second. There are two fundamentally different approaches to innovation: incremental innovation and radical innovation – ‘radical’ in the sense that we go back to the ‘roots’ of empirical economics and take a different tack. An essential lesson from the economics of innovation is that we need both incremental and radical innovation for the maximum beneficial effect on the economy. Swann argues that the same is true for economics as a discipline. This book is a much-awaited sequel to Putting Econometrics in its Place which explored what other methods should be used, and why. This book is about the best way of organising the economics discipline, to ensure that it pursues this wide variety of methods to maximum effect.

Based on economic knowledge and logical reasoning, this book proposes a solution to economic recessions and offers a route for societal change to end capitalism. The author starts with a brief review of the history of economics, and then questions and rejects the trend of recent decades that has seen econometrics replace economic theory. By reviewing the different schools of economic thought and by examining the limitations of existing theories to business cycles and economic growth, the author forms a new theory to explain cyclic economic growth. According to this theory, economic recessions result from innovation scarcity, which in turn results from the flawed design of the patent system. The author suggests a new design for the patent system and envisions that the new design would bring about large economic and societal changes. Under this new patent system, the synergy of the patent and capital markets would ensure that economic recessions could be avoided and that the economy would grow at the highest speed.

The fourth Factor X publication from the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA), Sustainable Development and Resource Productivity: The Nexus Approaches explores the interdependencies of sustainable development paths and associated resource requirements, describing and analysing the necessities for a more resource efficient world. The use of and competition for increasingly scarce resources are growing worldwide with current production and consumption patterns of industrialised economies soon to reach the point where the ecosphere will be overtaxed far beyond its limits. Against this background, this volume examines the important initiatives to monitor resource use at the international, EU and national level. The current trends and challenges related to sustainable resource use are discussed, including international challenges for a resource efficient world, megatrends, justice and equitable access to resources. In the second part of the book, contributions examine implementation strategies. They assess the concept known as circular economy and discuss the theory of growth and the role of the financial and education systems. The final section places special emphasis on practical examples. Overall, the book presents concrete ways and examples of achieving more sustainability in practice. Discussing solutions for a more sustainable use of natural resources, this book is essential reading for scholars and students of natural resources and sustainable development and decision-makers and experts from the fields of policy development, industry and civil society. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003000365, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Economists broadly define financial asset price bubbles as episodes in which prices rise with notable rapidity and depart from historically established asset valuation multiples and relationships. Financial economists have for decades attempted to study and interpret bubbles through the prisms of rational expectations, efficient markets, equilibrium, arbitrage, and capital asset pricing models, but they have not made much if any progress toward a consistent and reliable theory that explains how and why bubbles (and crashes) evolve and are defined, measured, and compared. This book develops a new and different approach that is based on the central notion that bubbles and crashes reflect urgent short-side rationing, which means that, as such extreme conditions unfold, considerations of quantities owned or not owned begin to displace considerations of price.

A comprehensive and timely edition on an emerging new trend in time series Linear Models and Time-Series Analysis: Regression, ANOVA, ARMA and GARCH sets a strong foundation, in terms of distribution theory, for the linear model (regression and ANOVA), univariate time series analysis (ARMAX and GARCH), and some multivariate models associated primarily with modeling financial asset returns (copula-based structures and the discrete mixed normal and Laplace). It builds on the author's previous book, Fundamental Statistical Inference: A Computational Approach, which introduced the major concepts of statistical inference. Attention is explicitly paid to application and numeric computation, with examples of Matlab code throughout. The code offers a framework for discussion and illustration of numerics, and shows the mapping from theory to computation. The topic of time series analysis is on firm footing, with numerous textbooks and research journals dedicated to it. With respect to the subject/technology, many chapters in Linear Models and Time-Series Analysis cover firmly entrenched topics (regression and ARMA). Several others are dedicated to very modern methods, as used in empirical finance, asset pricing, risk management, and portfolio optimization, in order to address the severe change in performance of many pension funds, and changes in how fund managers work. Covers traditional time series analysis with new guidelines Provides access to cutting edge topics that are at the forefront of financial econometrics and industry Includes latest developments and topics such as financial returns data, notably also in a multivariate context Written by a leading expert in time series analysis Extensively classroom tested Includes a tutorial on SAS Supplemented with a companion website containing numerous Matlab programs Solutions to most exercises are provided in the book Linear Models and Time-Series Analysis: Regression, ANOVA, ARMA and GARCH is suitable for advanced masters students in statistics and quantitative finance, as well as doctoral students in economics and finance. It is also useful for quantitative financial practitioners in large financial institutions and smaller finance outlets.