Complete and Incomplete Econometric Models

This book is original and powerful. It develops a Bayesian paradigm that embraces the reality of applied modeling, in which 'discoveries' of things previously unimagined are made regularly. It will be of immediate interest to all economists and statisticians who want to push Bayesian principles toward innovative practice (and who doesn't?). -- Francis X. Diebold, University of Pennsylvania How do we know whether a statistical model is good enough for a particular economic research problem? To answer this question, John Geweke introduces the concept of incomplete models, showing how they can be effective tools for model building. This book is a significant contribution to econometrics--and a pleasure to read. -- Richard Paap, Erasmus University Rotterdam This excellent book seamlessly links many important econometric methods, models, and concepts. -- Gary Koop, University of Strathclyde

Econometric models are widely used in the creation and evaluation of economic policy in the public and private sectors. This book addresses the critical earlier stage of model development, the point at which potential models are inherently incomplete.Econometric models are widely used in the creation and evaluation of economic policy in the public and private sectors. But these models are useful only if they adequately account for the phenomena in question, and they can be quite misleading if they do not. In response, econometricians have developed tests and other checks for model adequacy. All of these methods, however, take as given the specification of the model to be tested. In this book, John Geweke addresses the critical earlier stage of model development, the point at which potential models are inherently incomplete. Summarizing and extending recent advances in Bayesian econometrics, Geweke shows how simple modern simulation methods can complement the creative process of model formulation. These methods, which are accessible to economics PhD students as well as to practicing applied econometricians, streamline the processes of model development and specification checking. Complete with illustrations from a wide variety of applications, this is an important contribution to econometrics that will interest economists and PhD students alike.