Application of nonlinear unit root tests and threshold autoregressive models

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Thesis Type: Postgraduate

Institution Of The Thesis: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Department of Economics, Turkey

Approval Date: 2012

Student: ELA UYSAL

Supervisor: DİLEM YILDIRIM KASAP

Abstract:

Popularity of nonlinear threshold models and unit root tests has increased after the recent empirical studies concerning the effects of business cycles on macroeconomic data. These studies have shown that an economic variable may react differently in response to downturns and recoveries in a business cycle. Inspiring from empirical results, this thesis investigates dynamics of Turkish key macroeconomic data, namely capacity utilization rate, growth of import and export volume indices, growth of gross domestic product, interest rate for cash loans in Turkish Liras and growth of industrial production index. Estimation results imply that capacity utilization rate and growth of industrial production index show M-TAR type nonlinear stationary behavior according to the unit root test proposed by Enders and Granger (1998).