Roberto Pedace

You can use the statistical tools of econometrics along with economic theory to test hypotheses of economic theories, explain economic phenomena, and derive precise quantitative estimates of the relationship between economic variables.To accurately perform these tasks, you need econometric model-building skills, quality data, and appropriate estimation strategies.

Many economic phenomena are dichotomous in nature; in other words, the outcome either occurs or does not occur. Dichotomous outcomes are the most common type of discrete or qualitative dependent variables analyzed in economics. For example, a student who applies to graduate school will be admitted or not. If you're interested in determining which factors contribute to graduate school admission, then your outcome or dependent variable is dichotomous.

In econometrics, a random variable with a normal distribution has a probability density function that is continuous, symmetrical, and bell-shaped. Although many random variables can have a bell-shaped distribution, the density function of a normal distribution is precisely where represents the mean of the normally distributed random variable X, is the standard deviation,and represents the variance of the normally distributed random variable.

In econometrics, you use the chi-squared distribution extensively. The chi-squared distribution is useful for comparing estimated variance values from a sample to those values based on theoretical assumptions. Therefore, it’s typically used to develop confidence intervals and hypothesis tests for population variance.

In econometrics, when you collect a random sample of data and calculate a statistic with that data, you’re producing a point estimate, which is a single estimate of a population parameter. Descriptive statistics are measurements that can be used to summarize your sample data and, subsequently, make predictions about your population of interest.

High multicollinearity results from a linear relationship between your independent variables with a high degree of correlation but aren’t completely deterministic (in other words, they don’t have perfect correlation). It’s much more common than its perfect counterpart and can be equally problematic when it comes to estimating an econometric model.

After you acquire data and choose the best econometric model for the question you want to answer, use formulas to produce the estimated output. In some cases, you have to perform these calculations by hand (sorry). However, even if your problem allows you to use econometric software such as STATA to generate results, it's nice to know what the computer is doing.

In econometrics, an extremely common test for heteroskedasticity is the White test, which begins by allowing the heteroskedasticity process to be a function of one or more of your independent variables. It’s similar to the Breusch-Pagan test, but the White test allows the independent variable to have a nonlinear and interactive effect on the error variance.

In econometrics, the procedure used for forecasting can be quite varied. If historical data is available, forecasting typically involves the use of one or more quantitative techniques. If historical data isn't available, or if it contains significant gaps or is unreliable, then forecasting can actually be qualitative.