Testing for Smooth Structural Change in Cointegrated Systems

Haofeng Liao and Xing Wang

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Abstract: This paper develops an econometric framework for analysing smooth structural change in cointegrated systems following a known intervention time. We consider a vector error-correction model in which the cointegration rank and the pre-intervention cointegrating structure are identified from a stable pre-intervention subsample. After the intervention, both the adjustment coefficients and the cointegrating vectors are allowed to evolve smoothly as functions of rescaled time, which are estimated using kernel-weighted local reduced-rank methods. The analysis is formulated directly in a cointegrated VAR/VECM system, which preserves the treatment of long-run relations and short-run error-correction dynamics. By working with the decomposition $\Pi(\delta)=\alpha(\delta)\beta(\delta)'$, the method separates changes in the equilibrium relation from those in the speed of adjustment. We also provide two tests for the parameter consistency and the post-intervention parameter smoothness respectively. An empirical application to energy market, foreign-exchange, and gold-market index around the 24 February 2022 Russia's invasion of Ukraine illustrates how the proposed approach distinguishes between a discrete regime shift and smooth post-intervention evolution. The results suggest that cointegrating relation among the price of Brent crude oil, the spot exchange rate (USD/EUR), and the Credit Suisse NASDAQ Gold Price Index has smoothly changed after the outbreak of war, instead of a constant long-run conintegration system in the pre-intervention period.

Date: 2026-08
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