Ordered Logit Error Message: Parameter Est. Non-Ascending

[jrodriguez]

Hello,

I'm trying run a regression using ordered logit on EViews 8 (student version). My dependent variable is a ranking of 1-4, representing the tier rating of a given country's compliance with the Human Trafficking Victim's Protection Act. My independent variables include the corresponding countries' gdp per capita, inflation rate, unemployment rate, literacy rate, life expectancy, hiv prevalence rate, dependency ratio (as a %), and their score on the corruption perception index.

I'm not sure why I'm getting the error message I'm getting: Parameter estimates for limit points are non-ascending -692.19249937.
Is it a data issue or my own error?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[trubador]

From the manual:

EViews may stop estimation with the message “Parameter estimates for limit points are non-ascending”, most likely on the first iteration. This error indicates that parameter values for the limit points were invalid, and that EViews was unable to adjust these values to make them valid. Make certain that if you are using user defined parameters, the limit points are strictly increasing. Better yet, we recommend that you employ the EViews starting values since they are based on a consistent first-stage estimation procedure, and should therefore be quite well-behaved.

[jrodriguez]

From the manual:

EViews may stop estimation with the message “Parameter estimates for limit points are non-ascending”, most likely on the first iteration. This error indicates that parameter values for the limit points were invalid, and that EViews was unable to adjust these values to make them valid. Make certain that if you are using user defined parameters, the limit points are strictly increasing. Better yet, we recommend that you employ the EViews starting values since they are based on a consistent first-stage estimation procedure, and should therefore be quite well-behaved.

How can I ensure that my limit points are strictly increasing? I need to use user defined parameters.

[EViews Glenn]

Can you post the workfile?