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Microeconometrics Using Stata, by A. Colin Cameron and Pravin K.
Trivedi, is an outstanding introduction to microeconometrics and how
to do microeconometric research using Stata. Aimed at students and
researchers, this book covers topics left out of microeconometrics
textbooks and omitted from basic introductions to Stata. Cameron and Trivedi
provide the most complete and up-to-date survey of microeconometric methods
available in Stata.
Early in the book, Cameron and Trivedi introduce simulation
methods and then use them to illustrate features of the estimators
and tests described in the rest of the book. While simulation methods are
important tools for econometricians, they are not covered in standard
textbooks. By introducing simulation methods, the authors arm
students and researchers with techniques they can use in future
work.
Cameron and Trivedi address each topic with an in-depth Stata example,
and they reference their 2005 textbook,
Microeconometrics: Methods and Applications, where appropriate.
The authors also show how to use Stata’s programming features to
implement methods for which Stata does not have a specific command. Although the book
is not specifically about Stata programming, it does show
how to solve many programming problems. These techniques are essential in
applied microeconometrics because there will always be new, specialized
methods beyond what has already been incorporated into a software package.
Cameron and Trivedi’s choice of topics perfectly reflects the current
practice of modern microeconometrics. After introducing the reader to Stata,
the authors introduce linear regression, simulation, and generalized
least-squares methods. The section on cross-sectional techniques is
thorough, with up-to-date treatments of instrumental-variables methods for
linear models and of quantile-regression methods.
The next section of the book covers estimators for the parameters of linear
panel-data models. The authors’ choice of topics is unique: after
addressing the standard random-effects and fixed-effects methods, the authors
also describe mixed linear models—a method used in many areas outside of
econometrics.
Cameron and Trivedi not only address methods for nonlinear regression models
but also show how to code new nonlinear estimators in Stata. In addition to
detailing nonlinear methods, which are omitted from most econometrics
textbooks, this section shows researchers and students how to easily
implement new nonlinear estimators.
The authors next describe inference using analytical and bootstrap
approximations to the distribution of test statistics. This section
highlights Stata’s power to easily obtain bootstrap
approximations, and it also introduces the basic
elements of statistical inference.
Cameron and Trivedi then include an extensive section about methods for
different nonlinear models. They begin by detailing methods for binary
dependent variables. This section is followed by sections about multinomial
models, tobit and selection models, count-data models, and nonlinear
panel-data models. Two appendices about Stata programming complete the
book.
The unique combination of topics, intuitive introductions to methods, and
detailed illustrations of Stata examples make Microeconometrics Using
Stata an invaluable, hands-on addition to the library of anyone who uses
microeconometric methods.
For further details or to order online, please visit the
Stata
Bookstore.
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