A new test for common breaks in heterogeneous panel data models

Abstract

A new test is proposed to detect whether break points are common in heterogeneous panel data models where the time series dimension T could be large relative to cross-section dimension N. The error process is assumed to be cross-sectionally independent. The test is based on the cumulative sum (CUSUM) of ordinary least squares (OLS) residuals. The asymptotic distribution of the detecting statistic is derived under the null hypothesis, while the test is shown to be consistent under the alternative. Monte Carlo simulations and an empirical example show good performance of the test.