Microdata Methods and Practice

supported by the EU 6th Research Framework and Marie Curie Research Training Actions

Meetings

The Network plans seven conferences that will allow trainees to present their work and interact with senior researchers in formulating further research plans. The meetings also allow the scientific committee to monitor the progress of the various teams in meeting their goals and the quality of their interaction in the training programme and in promoting the main themes of the network. Meetings will also be used in order to involve researchers from outside the Network in the workings of the group, bringing in fresh ideas and helping to recruit young researchers.

Panel / Longitudinal Data Analysis

The panel/longitudinal data analysis course covers most of the traditional panel data estimation techniques for micro panels in which the number of individuals (or firms etc.) is large, but the number of time periods is quite small. It focuses on the treatment of unobserved individual specific heterogeneity and discusses the difference between random and fixed effects model specifications.

Attention is given to the estimation of models with explanatory variables that are not strictly exogenous. This means that there can be feedback from the process to be explained to the explanatory variables (for example outputs and inputs in a production function, the effect of previous cigarette consumption on current consumption), or simultaneous determination. In these cases models in first differences can be estimated with instrumental variables estimation techniques, better know as the Arellano-Bond GMM DIF estimation method. Moment conditions for the model in levels will also be considered, resulting in the Blundell-Bond SYS GMM estimator.

The course is a mixture of lectures and applied sessions. Course participants will apply the various techniques using real data on their computers. The software application used is Stata, and no prior knowledge of it is assumed. Participants should have a basic knowledge of econometrics, to a similar level to that taught in the Introductory Microeconometrics course.

Speakers