Chapter 7

Multivariate models

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 Vector Autoregressive Models

• A natural generalisation of autoregressive models popularised by Sims

• A VAR is in a sense a systems regression model i.e. there is more than one
dependent variable.

• Simplest case is a bivariate VAR

y1t 10  11 y1t  1 ...1k y1t  k  11 y2 t  1 ...1k y2 t  k  u1t
y2 t 20  21 y2 t  1 ...2 k y2 t  k   21 y1t  1 ... 2 k y1t  k  u2 t
where uit is an iid disturbance term with E(uit)=0, i=1,2; E(u1t u2t)=0.

• The analysis could be extended to a VAR(g) model, or so that there are g

variables and g equations.

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 Vector Autoregressive Models:
Notation and Concepts

• One important feature of VARs is the compactness with which we can write
the notation. For example, consider the case from above where k=1.
y1t  10  11 y1t  1  11 y2 t  1  u1t
• We can write this as
y2 t  20  21 y2 t  1  21 y1t  1  u2 t

or  y1t   10   11 11   y1t  1   u1t 

         
 y2 t   20   21 21   y2 t  1   u2 t 

or even more compactly as

yt = 0 + 1 yt-1 + ut
g1 g1 gg g1 g1
‘Introductory Econometrics for Finance’ © Chris Brooks 2013 3
 Vector Autoregressive Models:
Notation and Concepts (cont’d)

• This model can be extended to the case where there are k lags of each
variable in each equation:

yt =  0 + 1 yt-1 + 2 yt-2 +...+ k yt-k + ut

g1 g1 gg g1 gg g1 gg g1 g1

• We can also extend this to the case where the model includes first
difference terms and cointegrating relationships (a VECM).

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 Vector Autoregressive Models Compared with
Structural Equations Models
• Advantages of VAR Modelling
- Do not need to specify which variables are endogenous or exogenous - all are
endogenous
- Allows the value of a variable to depend on more than just its own lags or
combinations of white noise terms, so more general than ARMA modelling
- Provided that there are no contemporaneous terms on the right hand side of the equations,
can simply use OLS separately on each equation
- Forecasts are often better than “traditional structural” models.
• Problems with VAR’s
- VAR’s are a-theoretical (as are ARMA models)
- How do you decide the appropriate lag length?
- So many parameters! If we have g equations for g variables and we have k lags of each of
the variables in each equation, we have to estimate (g+kg2) parameters. e.g. g=3, k=3,
parameters = 30
- Do we need to ensure all components of the VAR are stationary?
- How do we interpret the coefficients?
‘Introductory Econometrics for Finance’ © Chris Brooks 2013 5
 Choosing the Optimal Lag Length for a VAR


2 possible approaches: cross-equation restrictions and information criteria

Cross-Equation Restrictions

In the spirit of (unrestricted) VAR modelling, each equation should have
the same lag length

Suppose that a bivariate VAR(8) estimated using quarterly data has 8 lags
of the two variables in each equation, and we want to examine a restriction
that the coefficients on lags 5 through 8 are jointly zero. This can be done
using a likelihood ratio test

Denote the variance-covariance matrix of residuals (given by uˆuˆ/T), as̂ .
The likelihood ratio test for this joint hypothesis is given by

LR T log ˆ r  log ˆ u 
‘Introductory Econometrics for Finance’ © Chris Brooks 2013 6
 Choosing the Optimal Lag Length for a VAR
(cont’d)
where ̂ r is the variance-covariance matrix of the residuals for the restricted
model (with 4 lags), ̂ u is the variance-covariance matrix of residuals for the
unrestricted VAR (with 8 lags), and T is the sample size.
•The test statistic is asymptotically distributed as a 2 with degrees of freedom
equal to the total number of restrictions. In the VAR case above, we are
restricting 4 lags of two variables in each of the two equations = a total of 4 *
2 * 2 = 16 restrictions.
•In the general case where we have a VAR with p equations, and we want to
impose the restriction that the last q lags have zero coefficients, there would
be p2q restrictions altogether
•Disadvantages: Conducting the LR test is cumbersome and requires a
normality assumption for the disturbances.

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 Information Criteria for VAR Lag Length Selection

• Multivariate versions of the information criteria are required. These can

be defined as:
 ˆ  2k  / T
MAICln
 
k
MSBIC ln ˆ  ln(T)
T
2k 

MHQIC ln 
ˆ  ln(ln(T))
T
where all notation is as above and k is the total number of regressors in
all equations, which will be equal to g2k + g for g equations, each with k
lags of the g variables, plus a constant term in each equation. The values
of the information criteria are constructed for 0, 1, … lags (up to some
pre-specified maximum k ).

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 Does the VAR Include Contemporaneous Terms?

• So far, we have assumed the VAR is of the form

y1t  10  11 y1t  1  11 y2 t  1  u1t
y2 t  20  21 y2 t  1  21 y1t  1  u2 t

• But what if the equations had a contemporaneous feedback term?

y1t 10  11 y1t  1  11 y2 t  1  12 y2 t  u1t
y2 t 20  21 y2 t  1   21 y1t  1   22 y1t  u2 t
• We can write this as

 y1t   10   11 11   y1t  1   12 0   y2 t   u1t 

            
y  
 2 t   20   21 21   2 t  1 
y  0  22   y1t   u2 t 

• This VAR is in primitive form.

‘Introductory Econometrics for Finance’ © Chris Brooks 2013 9
 Primitive versus Standard Form VARs

• We can take the contemporaneous terms over to the LHS and write
 1  12   y1t   10   11 11   y1t  1   u1t 
           
   22 1   y2 t   20    21 21   y2 t  1  u2 t 
or
A yt = 0 + 1 yt-1 + ut

• We can then pre-multiply both sides by A -1 to give

yt = A-10 + A-11 yt-1 + A-1ut
or
yt = A0 + A1 yt-1 + et

• This is known as a standard form VAR, which we can estimate using OLS.
‘Introductory Econometrics for Finance’ © Chris Brooks 2013 10
 Block Significance and Causality Tests

• It is likely that, when a VAR includes many lags of variables, it will be

difficult to see which sets of variables have significant effects on each
dependent variable and which do not. For illustration, consider the following
bivariate VAR(3):

 y1t    10    11  12   y1t  1   11 12   y1t  2    11  12   y1t  3   u1t 

                     
 y 2t    20    21  22   y 2t  1    21  22   y 2t  2    21  22   y 2t  3   u 2t 
• This VAR could be written out to express the individual equations as
y1t 10  11 y1t  1  12 y2t  1  11 y1t  2  12 y2t  2   11 y1t  3   12 y2t  3  u1t
y2t  20   21 y1t  1   22 y2t  1  21 y1t  2  22 y2t  2   21 y1t  3   22 y2t  3  u2t

• We might be interested in testing the following hypotheses, and their

implied restrictions on the parameter matrices:

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 Block Significance and Causality Tests (cont’d)

Hypothesis Implied Restriction

1. Lags of y1t do not explain current y2t 21 = 0 and 21 = 0 and 21 = 0
2. Lags of y1t do not explain current y1t 11 = 0 and 11 = 0 and 11 = 0
3. Lags of y2t do not explain current y1t 12 = 0 and 12 = 0 and 12 = 0
4. Lags of y2t do not explain current y2t 22 = 0 and 22 = 0 and 22 = 0
• Each of these four joint hypotheses can be tested within the F-test
framework, since each set of restrictions contains only parameters drawn
from one equation.
• These tests could also be referred to as Granger causality tests.
• Granger causality tests seek to answer questions such as “Do changes in y1
cause changes in y2?” If y1 causes y2, lags of y1 should be significant in the
equation for y2. If this is the case, we say that y1 “Granger-causes” y2.
• If y2 causes y1, lags of y2 should be significant in the equation for y1.
• If both sets of lags are significant, there is “bi-directional causality”
‘Introductory Econometrics for Finance’ © Chris Brooks 2013 12
 Impulse Responses

• VAR models are often difficult to interpret: one solution is to construct

the impulse responses and variance decompositions.
• Impulse responses trace out the responsiveness of the dependent variables
in the VAR to shocks to the error term. A unit shock is applied to each
variable and its effects are noted.
• Consider for example a simple bivariate VAR(1):
y1t  10  11 y1t  1  11 y2 t  1  u1t
y2 t  20  21 y2 t  1  21 y1t  1  u2 t

• A change in u1t will immediately change y1. It will change change y2 and
also y1 during the next period.
• We can examine how long and to what degree a shock to a given
equation has on all of the variables in the system.

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 Variance Decompositions

• Variance decompositions offer a slightly different method of examining

VAR dynamics. They give the proportion of the movements in the
dependent variables that are due to their “own” shocks, versus shocks to the
other variables.

• This is done by determining how much of the s-step ahead forecast error
variance for each variable is explained innovations to each explanatory
variable (s = 1,2,…).

• The variance decomposition gives information about the relative

importance of each shock to the variables in the VAR.

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 Impulse Responses and Variance Decompositions:
The Ordering of the Variables
• But for calculating impulse responses and variance decompositions, the ordering
of the variables is important.
• The main reason for this is that above, we assumed that the VAR error terms
were statistically independent of one another.
• This is generally not true, however. The error terms will typically be correlated
to some degree.
• Therefore, the notion of examining the effect of the innovations separately has
little meaning, since they have a common component.
• What is done is to “orthogonalise” the innovations.
• In the bivariate VAR, this problem would be approached by attributing all of the
effect of the common component to the first of the two variables in the VAR.
• In the general case where there are more variables, the situation is more
complex but the interpretation is the same.

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 An Example of the use of VAR Models:
The Interaction between Property Returns and the
Macroeconomy.
• Brooks and Tsolacos (1999) employ a VAR methodology for investigating the
interaction between the UK property market and various macroeconomic variables.
• Monthly data are used for the period December 1985 to January 1998.
• It is assumed that stock returns are related to macroeconomic and business
conditions.
• The variables included in the VAR are
– FTSE Property Total Return Index (with general stock market effects removed)
– The rate of unemployment
– Nominal interest rates
– The spread between long and short term interest rates
– Unanticipated inflation
– The dividend yield.
The property index and unemployment are I(1) and hence are differenced.
‘Introductory Econometrics for Finance’ © Chris Brooks 2013 16
 Marginal Significance Levels associated with Joint
F-tests that all 14 Lags have not Explanatory Power
for that particular Equation in the VAR

• Multivariate AIC selected 14 lags of each variable in the VAR

Lags of Variable
Dependent variable SIR DIVY SPREAD UNEM UNINFL PROPRES
SIR 0.0000 0.0091 0.0242 0.0327 0.2126 0.0000
DIVY 0.5025 0.0000 0.6212 0.4217 0.5654 0.4033
SPREAD 0.2779 0.1328 0.0000 0.4372 0.6563 0.0007
UNEM 0.3410 0.3026 0.1151 0.0000 0.0758 0.2765
UNINFL 0.3057 0.5146 0.3420 0.4793 0.0004 0.3885
PROPRES 0.5537 0.1614 0.5537 0.8922 0.7222 0.0000

‘Introductory Econometrics for Finance’ © Chris Brooks 2013 17

 Variance Decompositions for the
Property Sector Index Residuals

• Ordering for Variance Decompositions and Impulse Responses:

– Order I: PROPRES, DIVY, UNINFL, UNEM, SPREAD, SIR
– Order II: SIR, SPREAD, UNEM, UNINFL, DIVY, PROPRES.
Explained by innovations in

SIR DIVY SPREAD UNEM UNINFL PROPRES

Months ahead I II I II I II I II I II I II

1 0.0 0.8 0.0 38.2 0.0 9.1 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.2 100.0 51.0

2 0.2 0.8 0.2 35.1 0.2 12.3 0.4 1.4 1.6 2.9 97.5 47.5

3 3.8 2.5 0.4 29.4 0.2 17.8 1.0 1.5 2.3 3.0 92.3 45.8

4 3.7 2.1 5.3 22.3 1.4 18.5 1.6 1.1 4.8 4.4 83.3 51.5

12 2.8 3.1 15.5 8.7 15.3 19.5 3.3 5.1 17.0 13.5 46.1 50.0

24 8.2 6.3 6.8 3.9 38.0 36.2 5.5 14.7 18.1 16.9 23.4 22.0

‘Introductory Econometrics for Finance’ © Chris Brooks 2013 18

 Impulse Responses and Standard Error Bands for
Innovations in Dividend Yield and
the Treasury Bill Yield
Innovations in Dividend Yields

0.06

0.04

0.02

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
-0.02

-0.04

-0.06 Innovations in the T-Bill Yield

Steps Ahead
0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
-0.02 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
-0.04
-0.06
-0.08
‘Introductory Econometrics for Finance’ © Chris Brooks 2013 Steps Ahead 19