Microeconometrics Using Stata

by Colin Cameron and Pravin K. Trivedi

Microeconometrics Using Stata, by A. Colin Cameron and Pravin K. Trivedi, is an outstanding introduction to microeconometrics and how to do microeconometric research using Stata. Aimed at students and researchers, this book covers topics left out of microeconometrics textbooks and omitted from basic introductions to Stata. Cameron and Trivedi provide the most complete and up-to-date survey of microeconometric methods available in Stata. Early in the book, Cameron and Trivedi introduce simulation methods and then use them to illustrate features of the estimators and tests described in the rest of the book. While simulation methods are important tools for econometricians, they are not covered in standard textbooks. By introducing simulation methods, the authors arm students and researchers with techniques they can use in future work. Cameron and Trivedi address each topic with an in-depth Stata example, and they reference their 2005 textbook, Microeconometrics: Methods and Applications, where appropriate. The authors also show how to use Stata’s programming features to implement methods for which Stata does not have a specific command. Although the book is not specifically about Stata programming, it does show how to solve many programming problems. These techniques are essential in applied microeconometrics because there will always be new, specialized methods beyond what has already been incorporated into a software package. Cameron and Trivedi’s choice of topics perfectly reflects the current practice of modern microeconometrics. After introducing the reader to Stata, the authors introduce linear regression, simulation, and generalized least-squares methods. The section on cross-sectional techniques is thorough, with up-to-date treatments of instrumental-variables methods for linear models and of quantile-regression methods.