Abstract
This paper suggests an alternative two-stage estimation method for Markov Switching Regression models. The procedure, based on the Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) decision rule, is essentially related to Bellman's dynamic programming algorithm. Monte Carlo results indicate that this procedure is a good alternative to Hamilton's method. The empirical application shows that the dating of the U.S. business cycles by the MAP procedure is closer to the dating by NBER than that given by Hamilton's method.