Learning objectives
The course has the purpose of supplying the necessary instruments in order to carry out rigorous analysis with spatial statistical data (at national level and above all at international level). In fact, the availability of statistic sources and the construction of key indicators (ratios) starting from the available data represents two fundamental aspects in the realization of spatial socio-economic analyses. The course has the purpose of supplying the main concepts and the methodological instruments necessary in order to interpret and to analyze statistical data. The methodological aspects that are illustrated are: the Purchasing Parities Power (PPA), Shift-Share analysis and simple and multiple regression analysis. An important aspect regards the use of Microsoft Excel and of Gretl in the application of the illustrated methodologies during the oral part of the course. Gretl is an acronym for Gnu Regression, Econometrics and Time-series Library. It is a software package for doing econometrics that is easy to use and reasonably powerful. Gretl is distributed as free software that can be downloaded from http://gretl.sourceforge.net and installed on your personal computer. From the Gretl web site, you have access to more sample data sets from many of the leading textbooks in econometrics
Prerequisites
Prerequisites: basic knowledge of general statistics and statistical inference
Course unit content
1. The national and international sources of the economic data.
2.The comparison of aggregates in the time and the space: volume indices, price indices and the purchasing parities power (PPP).
3. Coefficients of Localization (or Dispersion), Coefficients of Specialization (or Diversification), Shift and Share Model of Regional Growth.
4. Study of the relation between economic phenomena with use of simple and multiple regression model:
• Simple Linear Regression Model: Specification and Estimation
• Inference in the Simple Regression Model: Interval Estimation, Hypothesis Testing, and Prediction
• The Simple Linear Regression Model: Reporting the Results and Choosing the Functional Form
• The Multiple Regression Model and Diagnostic testing
• Dummy (Binary) Variables
• Models for Panel Data: Pooled Regression, Fixed Effects and Random Effects
• Writing and Empirical Research Report, and Sources of Economic Data
Full programme
Course contents:
1. The national and international sources of the economic data.
2.The comparison of aggregates in the time and the space: volume indices, price indices and the purchasing parities power (PPP).
3. Coefficients of Localization (or Dispersion), Coefficients of Specialization (or Diversification), Shift and Share Model of Regional Growth.
4. Study of the relation between economic phenomena with use of simple and multiple regression model:
• Simple Linear Regression Model: Specification and Estimation
• Inference in the Simple Regression Model: Interval Estimation, Hypothesis Testing, and Prediction
• The Simple Linear Regression Model: Reporting the Results and Choosing the Functional Form
• The Multiple Regression Model and Diagnostic testing
• Dummy (Binary) Variables
• Models for Panel Data: Pooled Regression, Fixed Effects and Random Effects
• Writing and Empirical Research Report, and Sources of Economic Data
Bibliography
Recommended readings: selected chapters from:
L. C. ADKINS, Using Gretl for Principles of Econometrics, 3rd Edition. Version 1.311, 2010 (http://www.learneconometrics.com/gretl/ebook.pdf)
C. DOUGHERTY, Introduction to econometrics (third edition), Oxford University Press, 2006 .
E. GIOVANNINI, Understanding Economic Statistics. An OECD perspective, OCSE, 2008, Paris (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/33/39/41746710.pdf)
Further readings will be furnished during the course
Teaching methods Lectures and tutorials using Gretl
Teaching methods
Teaching methods Lectures and tutorials using Gretl
Assessment methods and criteria
Assessment methods written final exam. The oral examination is optional after the compulsory written proof and might increase or decrease the overall result
Other information
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