Structural identification of permanent shocks in VEC models: A generalization

An econometric procedure to identify the permanent shocks in vector error correction models is proposed, which allows one to combine long-run and contemporaneous restrictions. This procedure is applied to the six-variable model of King, Plosser, Stock and Watson (1991) with a view to providing an alternative interpretation to their results based on a different identification scheme. We argue that a real spending shock in the place of the real interest rate shock appears to better accommodate their empirical findings.