Testing for cointegration using the Johansen approach: are we using the correct critical values?

This paper presents Monte Carlo simulations for the Johansen cointegration test which indicate that the critical values applied in a number of econometrics software packages are inappropriate. This is due to a confusion in the specification of the deterministic terms included in the VECM between the cases considered by Osterwald-Lenum (1992) and Pesaran, Shin and Smith (2000). The result is a tendency to reject the null of no cointegration too often. However, a simple adjustment of the critical values is enough to deal with the problem.