Appendix A5: Simulated maximum likelihood estimation of the trivariate probit model

Calculation of Multivariate Normal Probabilities by Simulation, with Applications to Maximum Simulated Likelihood Estimation We discuss methods for calculating multivariate normal probabilities by simulation and two new Stata programs for this purpose: -mdrawsfor deriving draws from the standard uniform density using either Halton or pseudo-random sequences, and an egen function -mvnp()for calculating the probabilities themselves. Several illustrations show how the programs may be used for maximum simulated likelihood estimation. JEL Classification: C15, C51, C87