Graduate Applied Econometrics

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Graduate Applied Econometrics

• Robert Pollin and Michael Ash
• Econ 753 - Fall 2003
• Monday-Wednesday 205-330
• Location

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Good econometrics

• Interesting economic questions
• Causality and modeling
• Data
• Estimation
• Presentation of economic and econometric results

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Interesting economic questions

• Good econometrics serves good economics
• Not vice versa
• Interpret the world
• Analyze differences within systems
• Evaluate policy
• Compare systems
• Criticize econometric findings

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Causality and modeling

• Identification beyond correlation
• Source of variation
• Counterfactual
• Critiques of causal claims
• Selection
• Reverse causality
• Endogeneity
• Models, simple and less simple
• Nonlinearity, categories, heterogeneity

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Data

• Organization
• Unit of observation
• Sources
• Quality problems underappreciated
• Input and management

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Estimation

• Focus of most econometrics and statistics classes
• Confronting violated assumptions
• Standard errors and how to use them
• OLS and related methods (AR, panel)
• Dichotomous models (LPM, probit, logit)
• New methods

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Presentation of economic and econometric results

• Econometrics is worthless without presentation
• Use effective tables and graphs
• Learn to write about econometric results
• Sign, significance, and size
• Useful elasticities
• Teach the reader to read your tables