Central limit theorem for asymmetric kernel functionals

Asymmetric kernels are quite useful for the estimation of density functions with bounded support. Gamma kernels are designed to handle density functions whose supports are bounded from one end only, whereas beta kernels are particularly convenient for the estimation of density functions with compact support. These asymmetric kernels are nonnegative and free of boundary bias. Moreover, their shape varies according to the location of the data point, thus also changing the amount of smoothing. This paper applies the central limit theorem for degenerate U-statistics to compute the limiting distribution of a class of asymmetric kernel functionals.

An intra-household approach to the welfare costs of inflation (Revised Version, Forthcoming 2006, Estudos Econômicos)

The literature on the welfare costs of ináation universally assumes that the many-person household can be treated as a single economic agent. This paper explores what the heterogeneity of the agents in a household might imply for such welfare analyses. First, we show that allowing for a one-person or for a many-person transacting technology impacts the money demand function and, therefore, the welfare costs of ináation. Second, more importantly, we derive su¢ cient conditions under which welfare assessments which depart directly from the knowledge of the money demand function (as in Lucas (2000)) are robust (invariant) under the number of persons considered in the household. Third, we show that Baileyís (1956) partial-equilibrium measure of the welfare costs of ináation can be obtained as a Örst-order approximation of the general-equilibrium welfare measure derived in this paper using a many-person transacting technology.