The Optimal Size of a Preliminary Test of Linear Restrictions in a Misspecified Regression Model

Abstract When the choice of estimator for the coefficients in a linear regression model is determined by the outcome of a prior test of the validity of restrictions on the model, it is well known that a minimax (risk) regret criterion leads to the simple rule that the optimal critical value for the preliminary test is approximately two in value, regardless of the degrees of freedom. We show that this result no longer holds in the (likely) event that relevant regressors are excluded from the model at the outset.

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