st: RE: generate new variable from differencing where subtracted variable is fixed

["Nick Cox" <n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk>]

The solution is simpler. 

bysort year : gen diff = x1 - x2[1] 

Why is your code not working? Think it through step by step: 

_n == 1 is true (1) when _n is 1 and false otherwise (0). 

So x2[_n==1] is x2[1] or x2[0] as the case may be. 

But x2[0] is not part of your data, and Stata can only substitute
missing when it evaluates it. 

So -diff- is only non-missing in the first observation in each -year-,
as you report. 

However, your solution needs care when extending to panels, 

Nick 
n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk 

Johannes Schoder


I try to calculate the difference between two variables for a panel data

set, where the subtracted variable (here x2) is always the first 
observation of each year:
For example:
Year   x1   x2         difference: x1-x2 if x2 is the first obs. of the
year

1960   5     8           5-8
1960   4     10         4-8
1960   2     3           2-8
1961   5     7           5-7
1961   1     2           1-7
1961   3     5           3-7


I tried something like: bysort year: gen difference= x1-x2[_n==1] but 
Stata does only calculate the first observation for each year and 
otherwise generates missings.

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