The Simple Linear Regression Model: Specification and Estimation
The Simple Linear Regression Model: Specification and Estimation
Walter R. Paczkowski
Rutgers University
Principles of Econometrics, 4th Edition Chapter 2: The Simple Linear Regression Model Page 1
Chapter Contents
Principles of Econometrics, 4th Edition Chapter 2: The Simple Linear Regression Model Page 3
2.1
An Economic
Model
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2.1
An Economic Figure 2.1a Probability distribution of food expenditure y given
Model income x = $1000
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2.1
An Economic
Model
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2.1
An Economic Figure 2.1b Probability distributions of food expenditures y
Model given incomes x = $1000 and x = $2000
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2.1
An Economic
Model
Principles of Econometrics, 4th Edition Chapter 2: The Simple Linear Regression Model Page 9
2.1
An Economic
Model
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2.1
An Economic
Model
It is called E y 1not
( y | x)regression
simple because
2x it is easy,
but because there is only one explanatory variable
on the right-hand side of the equation
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2.1
An Economic Figure 2.2 The economic model: a linear relationship between
Model average per person food expenditure and income
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2.1
An Economic
Model
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2.2
An Econometric Model
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2.2
An Econometric
Model
Figure 2.3 The probability density function for y at two levels of income
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2.2
An Econometric
Model
2.2.1
Introducing the
Error Term
Assumption SR1:
The value of y, for each value of x, is:
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2.2
An Econometric
Model
ASSUMPTIONS OF THE SIMPLE LINEAR REGRESSION MODEL - II
2.2.1
Introducing the
Error Term
Assumption SR2:
The expected value of the random error e is:
E (e) 0
E ( y) β1 β2 x
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2.2
An Econometric
Model
ASSUMPTIONS OF THE SIMPLE LINEAR REGRESSION MODEL - II
2.2.1
Introducing the
Error Term
Assumption SR3:
The variance of the random error e is:
var(e) σ 2 var( y)
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2.2
An Econometric
Model
ASSUMPTIONS OF THE SIMPLE LINEAR REGRESSION MODEL - II
2.2.1
Introducing the
Error Term
Assumption SR4:
The covariance between any pair of random
errors, ei and ej is:
cov( ei , e j ) cov( yi , y j ) 0
2.2.1
Introducing the
Error Term
Assumption SR5:
The variable x is not random, and must take at
least two different values
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2.2
An Econometric
Model
ASSUMPTIONS OF THE SIMPLE LINEAR REGRESSION MODEL - II
2.2.1
Introducing the
Error Term
Assumption SR6:
(optional) The values of e are normally
distributed about their mean if the values of y
are normally distributed, and vice versa
e ~N (0, σ ) 2
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2.3
Estimating the Regression Parameters
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The parameters of the population regression
y β1 β2 x e
are unknown.
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression Table 2.1 Food Expenditure and Income Data
Parameters
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression Figure 2.6 Data for food expenditure example
Parameters
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression
Parameters
2.3.1
The Least Squares
Principle
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression Figure 2.7 The relationship among y, ê and the fitted regression line
Parameters
2.3.1
The Least Squares
Principle
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression
Parameters
2.3.1
The Least Squares
Principle
i 1 i 1
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Least Square Principle
30
2.3
Estimating the
Regression
Parameters
2.3.1
The Least Squares
Principle
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression THE LEAST SQUARES ESTIMATORS
Parameters
2.3.1
The Least Squares
Principle
Derivation
b2
( x x )( y y )
i i
(x x)
Eq. 2.7
2
i
Eq. 2.8 b1 y b2 x
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression
Parameters
2.3.2
Estimates for the
Food Expenditure
Function
( x x )( y y ) 18671.2684
b2 i
i
10.2096
(x x) i
2
1828.7876
yˆ i 83.42 10.21xi
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression Figure 2.8 The fitted regression line
Parameters
2.3.2
Estimates for the
Food Expenditure
Function
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression
Parameters
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression
Parameters
2.3.3a
Elasticities Income elasticity is a useful way to characterize
the responsiveness of consumer expenditure to
changes in income. The elasticity of a variable y
with respect to another variable x is:
percentage change in y y x
percentage change in x x y
2.3.3a
Elasticities The elasticity of mean expenditure with respect to
income is:
E ( y ) E ( y ) E ( y ) x x
β2
x x x E ( y ) E ( y)
Eq. 2.9
A frequently used alternative is to calculate the elasticity
at the “point of the means” because it is a
representative point on the regression line.
x 19.60
ˆ b2 10.21 0.71
y 283.57
Interpretation: If income of a household increases by
1% expenditure on food increases by 0.71% on
average. This is true for an average household, why?
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Was food a normal good or inferior good?
Classification: ε > 0 normal, otherwise inferior
Was food a luxury or necessity for the average
household in the sample?
Classification: ε > 1 luxury, otherwise necessity
What goods are luxury and what are necessity?
What is a necessity and what is a luxury depends
on the level of income. For people with a low
income, food and clothing can be luxuries. So the
level of income has a big effect on income
elasticity of demand
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Income elasticity of demand for some products in the US
Principles of Econometrics, 4th Edition Chapter 2: The Simple Linear Regression Model Page 39
Figure: income elasticity of demand for food in 20 countries. Source
: Theil et al. (1989). Advances in Econometrics, edited book
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression
Parameters
2.3.3b
Prediction
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression Figure 2.9 EViews Regression Output
Parameters
2.3.3c
Computer Output
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2.3
Estimating the
Regression
Parameters
2.3.4
Other Economic
Models
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Is a CEO compensated for good company
performance?
Salary ($1000) 967 5.58ROE (%)
Input-Output relation:
Output (# units) 36 0.75Labor (hours )
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2.4
Assessing the Least Squares Fit
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2.4
1 Assessing the
and
2Least Squares Fit
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2.5
The Gauss-Markov
Theorem MAJOR POINTS ABOUT THE GAUSS-MARKOV THEOREM
2. The estimators b1 and b2 are best within their class because they
have the minimum variance. When comparing two linear and
unbiased estimators, we always want to use the one with the
smaller variance, since that estimation rule gives us the higher
probability of obtaining an estimate that is close to the true
parameter value.
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2.5
The Gauss-Markov
Theorem MAJOR POINTS ABOUT THE GAUSS-MARKOV THEOREM
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2.4
Assessing the
Least Squares Fit
2.4.1
The Estimator b2 The estimator b2 can be rewritten as:
N
Eq. 2.10 b2 wi yi
i 1
where
xi x
wi
i
Eq. 2.11
( x x ) 2
Eq. 2.12 b2 β2 wi ei
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2.4
Assessing the
Least Squares Fit
2.4.2
The Expected
Values of b1 and b2
We will show that if our model assumptions hold,
then E(b2) = β2, which means that the estimator is
unbiased. We can find the expected value of b2
using the fact that the expected value of a sum is
the sum of the expected values:
E (b2 ) E (b2 wi ei ) E (β 2 w1e1 w2e2 ... wN eN )
E (β 2 ) E ( w1e1 ) E ( w2e2 ) ... E ( wN eN )
Eq. 2.13 E (β 2 ) E ( wi ei )
β 2 wi E (ei )
β2
using E (ei ) 0 and E (wi ei ) wi E (ei )
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2.4
Assessing the
Least Squares Fit
2.4.2
The Expected
Values of b1 and b2
The property of unbiasedness is about the average
values of b1 and b2 if many samples of the same size
are drawn from the same population
– If we took the averages of estimates from many
samples, these averages would approach the true
parameter values b1 and b2
– Unbiasedness does not say that an estimate from
any one sample is close to the true parameter value,
and thus we cannot say that an estimate is unbiased
– We can say that the least squares estimation
procedure (or the least squares estimator) is
unbiased
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2.4
Assessing the
Least Squares Fit
Table 2.2 Estimates from 10 Samples
2.4.3
Repeated
Sampling
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2.4
Assessing the
Least Squares Fit
Figure 2.10 Two possible probability density functions for b2
2.4.3
Repeated The variance of b2 is defined as var( b2 ) E[b2 E (b2 )]2
Sampling
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2.4
Assessing the
Least Squares Fit
2.4.4
The Variances and
Covariances of b1
If the regression model assumptions SR1-SR5 are
and b2
correct (assumption SR6 is not required), then the
variances and covariance of b1 and b2 are:
Eq. 2.14
var(b1 ) σ 2
x 2
i
N xi x
2
σ2
Eq. 2.15 var(b2 )
xi x
2
x
Eq. 2.16 cov(b1 , b2 ) σ 2
xi x
2
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2.4
Assessing the MAJOR POINTS ABOUT THE VARIANCES AND COVARIANCES
Least Squares Fit OF b1 AND b2
2.4.4
The Variances and 1. The larger the variance term σ2 , the greater the uncertainty
Covariances of b1
and b2
there is in the statistical model, and the larger the variances
and covariance of the least squares estimators.
3. The larger the sample size N, the smaller the variances and
covariance of the least squares estimators.
The larger the term x , the larger the variance of the least
2
4. i
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2.4 Figure 2.11 The influence of variation in the explanatory variable x on
Assessing the precision of estimation (a) Low x variation, low precision (b) High x
Least Squares Fit
variation, high precision
2.4.4
The Variances and
Covariances of b1
The variance of b2 is defined as var( b2 ) Eb2 E (b2 )
2
and b2
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2.6
The Probability Distributions of the
Least Squares Estimators
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2.6
The Probability
Distributions of the
Least Squares
Estimators
σ 2 xi2
Eq. 2.17 b1 ~ N β1 ,
N x x 2
i
σ2
Eq. 2.18 b2 ~ N β2 ,
x x
2
i
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2.6
The Probability
Distributions of the
Least Squares
A CENTRAL LIMIT THEOREM
Estimators
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2.7
Estimating the Variance of the Error
Term
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2.7
Estimating the
Variance of the
Error Term
σ̂ 2
i
e 2
N
where the error terms are ei yi β1 β 2 xi
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2.7
Estimating the
Variance of the
Error Term
σ2
i
ˆ
e 2
N
There is a simple modification that produces an
unbiased estimator, and that is:
Eq. 2.19 ˆ 2 i
e 2
N 2
so that:
E σ̂ 2 σ 2
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2.7
Estimating the
Variance of the
Error Term
2.7.1
Estimating the
Variance and
Replace the unknown error variance σ2 in Eq. 2.14
Covariance of the
Least Squares – Eq. 2.16 by ˆ 2 to obtain:
Estimators
Eq. 2.20
var(b1 ) σˆ 2
xi
2
N xi x
2
σ̂ 2
Eq. 2.21 var(b2 )
xi x
2
x
Eq. 2.22 cov(b1 , b2 ) σˆ 2
xi x
2
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2.7
Estimating the
Variance of the
Error Term
2.7.1
Estimating the
Variance and
Covariance of the
Least Squares
Estimators
The square roots of the estimated variances are the
“standard errors” of b1 and b2:
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