Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/119264
Type: Thesis
Title: Essays in Econometrics with Applications to Social Networks
Author: Garrard, Robert Christopher
Issue Date: 2017
School/Discipline: School of Economics
Abstract: This thesis is comprised of three self-contained essays on econometrics. The frst paper illustrates how stochastic dominance criteria can be used to rank social networks in terms of effciency, and develops statistical in- ference procedures for assessing these criteria. The tests proposed can be viewed as extensions of a Pearson goodness-of-fit test and a studentized maximum modulus test often used to partially rank income distributions and inequality measures. We establish uniform convergence of the empirical size of the tests to the nominal level, and show their consistency under the usual conditions that guarantee the validity of the approximation of a multi- nomial distribution to a Gaussian distribution. Furthermore, we propose a bootstrap method that enhances the finite-sample properties of the tests. The performance of the tests is illustrated via Monte Carlo experiments and an empirical application to risk sharing networks in rural India. The second paper considers the problem of testing a hypothesis H0 : Beta = Beta0 where Beta is a vector representing the degree distribution of a graph and the sample acquired is an induced subgraph. We propose a novel bootstrap procedure to control the size of a test under the null hypothesis by con- structing a graph whose degree distribution conforms to the null hypothesis from which we may draw pseudo-samples in the form of induced subgraphs. We investigate the properties of the bootstrap with a simulation study in which a Wald-type statistic based on a truncated singular value estimator, whose null distribution is approximately chi-square, serves as a benchmark. We then discuss whether this test may be inverted to construct confidence intervals. The third paper presents a selective review of the Lasso estimator as it applies to econometric inference. We survey key papers addressing proper- ties of the Lasso of interest to the econometrician including conditions for consistency, the asymptotic distribution of the estimator, its ability to be bootstrapped, sample splitting for high dimensional inference, and how it may be used to solve the many instruments problem in instrumental variables regression.
Advisor: Masson, Virginie
Dissertation Note: Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Economics, 2017
Keywords: Networks
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