The method of testing the cross-equation restrictions under the rational expectation (RE) hypothesis based upon the fitted vector autoregressive (VAR) time series models has been used. It has been applied to test the cross-equation restrictions implied by the expectation hypothesis for the term structure of interest rates, the present value relation in the stock market, and the efficiency hypothesis without risk premium in forward exchange rate market.
We point out that two conventional econometric practices of the prefiltering (or differencing) and the use of law of iterated projection are often inconsistent with the restrictions imposed by the RE hypothesis. We explore the general relation between this inconsistency problem and the cointegrated stochastic processes. New sufficient conditions for logical consistency to test the restrictions imposed by the RE hypothesis are given. We show that some cointegrated filter can be used as a possible solution in some cases. Further, we propose a necessary and sufficient condition for testing the cross-equation constraints imposed by the RE hypothesis based upon the vector autoregressive moving average (VARMA) models, which can be useful as a solution to the difficulty caused by an improper use of the law of iterated projection.

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This paper gives an empirical examination of efficiency of the regulated firm. Rate of return regulation is a typical feature of the public utility environment. The theoretical analysis by Averch-Johnson showed the existence of a regulatory bias toward overcapitalization. We reexamine and elaborate the method of the empirical test for the Averch-Johnson proposition. And we apply it to the Japanese electric power industry. We showed that the Averch-Johnson proposition was not necessarily confirmed and the production in the Japanese electric power industry was efficient for some period in spite of regulation.

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This paper deals with the welfare implications of information sharing between Bertrandtype duopolists when there is cost uncertainty. The paper distinguishes itself from the previous work in that it is not restricted to those special cases where goods are physically substitutes or costs are stochastically independent, and in that it carries out a complete analysis of the impact of information pooling on consumers and the society as a whole. In particular, by introducing new concepts such as the variation and allocation effects, we point out the possibility that the exchange of cost information is beneficial to Bertrand firms. Comparison with the more popular Cournot duopoly case is also made.

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This paper studies the relationship between the abolishment of a deposit interest ceiling and the stability of macroeconomy, using a simple stochastic macroeconomic model. The derived conclusions are as follows; First, the abolishment of a deposit rate ceiling will improve the effectiveness of the economic policy when the economic fluctuation is mainly attributed to the random shock of high-powered money market. By contrast, if the shock of either loan or goods market is dominant, economic policy will be less effective. Second, the probability of lenders' bankruptcy will decrease when monetary shocks (i. e. H. P. M. and loan) are dominant.

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In this paper, we build a two-period model which focuses on On-the-Job training and derive the effects of specific training on wage profiles and on dismissals. The main results we obtain are as follows:
(i) Our two period wage-employment contract dominates the familiar repetitive spot contract in the environment of restricted information.
(ii) In this contract, the employees are not necessarily dismissed even if a business deficit is incurred.
(iii) In principle, greater amounts of specific training make wage profiles steeper and restrict dismissals.

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