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1、d7/14/994:34PMPage1ChapterOneTheNatureofEconometricsandEconomicDatahapter1discussesthescopeofeconometricsandraisesgeneralissuesthatresultCfromtheapplicationofeconometricmethods.Section1.3examinesthekindsofdatasetsthatareusedinbusiness,economics,andothersocialsciences.Section1.4
2、providesanintuitivediscussionofthedifficultiesassociatedwiththeinferenceofcausalityinthesocialsciences.1.1WHATISECONOMETRICS?Imaginethatyouarehiredbyyourstategovernmenttoevaluatetheeffectivenessofapubliclyfundedjobtrainingprogram.Supposethisprogramteachesworkersvariouswaystouse
3、computersinthemanufacturingprocess.Thetwenty-weekprogramofferscoursesduringnonworkinghours.Anyhourlymanufacturingworkermayparticipate,andenrollmentinallorpartoftheprogramisvoluntary.Youaretodeterminewhat,ifany,effectthetrainingprogramhasoneachworker’ssubsequenthourlywage.Nowsup
4、poseyouworkforaninvestmentbank.Youaretostudythereturnsondif-ferentinvestmentstrategiesinvolvingshort-termU.S.treasurybillstodecidewhethertheycomplywithimpliedeconomictheories.Thetaskofansweringsuchquestionsmayseemdauntingatfirst.Atthispoint,youmayonlyhaveavagueideaofthekindofda
5、tayouwouldneedtocollect.Bytheendofthisintroductoryeconometricscourse,youshouldknowhowtouseecono-metricmethodstoformallyevaluateajobtrainingprogramortotestasimpleeco-nomictheory.Econometricsisbaseduponthedevelopmentofstatisticalmethodsforestimatingeconomicrelationships,testingec
6、onomictheories,andevaluatingandimplementinggovernmentandbusinesspolicy.Themostcommonapplicationofeconometricsistheforecastingofsuchimportantmacroeconomicvariablesasinterestrates,inflationrates,andgrossdomesticproduct.Whileforecastsofeconomicindicatorsarehighlyvisibleandareoften
7、widelypublished,econometricmethodscanbeusedineconomicareasthathavenothingtodowithmacroeconomicforecasting.Forexample,wewillstudytheeffectsofpoliticalcampaignexpendituresonvotingoutcomes.Wewillconsidertheeffectofschoolspendingonstudentperformanceinthefieldofeducation.Inaddition,
8、wewilllearnhowtouseeconometricmethodsforforecastingeco