Nonparametric likelihood ratio model selection tests between parametric likelihood and moment condition models

We propose a nonparametric likelihood ratio testing procedure for choosing between a parametric (likelihood) model and a moment condition model when both models could be misspecified. Our procedure is based on comparing the Kullback-Leibler Information Criterion (KLIC) between the parametric model and moment condition model. We construct the KLIC for the parametric model using the difference between the parametric log likelihood and a sieve nonparametric estimate of population entropy, and obtain the KLIC for the moment model using the empirical likelihood statistic. We also consider multiple (>2) model comparison tests, when all the competing models could be misspecified, and some models are parametric while others are moment-based. We evaluate the performance of our tests in a Monte Carlo study, and apply the tests to an example from industrial organization. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.