Writing an Empirical Research Report, and Sources of Economic Data Prepared by Vera Tabakova, East...

Chapter 17

Writing an Empirical Research Report, and

Sources of Economic Data

Prepared by Vera Tabakova, East Carolina University

Chapter 17: Writing an Empirical Research Report, and Sources of Economic Data

17.1 Selecting a Topic for an Economics Project

17.2 A Format for Writing a Research Report

17.3 Sources of Economic Data

Slide 17-2Principles of Econometrics, 3rd Edition

17.1.1 Choosing a Topic

Select an area of interest and identify a problem you wish to work on.

Find suitable and readily available data.

Learn the econometric procedures that are appropriate for analyzing

the data, and implement them on the computer.


17.1.2 Writing an Abstract

The abstract should be short, usually no more than 500 words, and should include:

1. a concise statement of the problem;

2. comments on the information that is available with one or two key references;

3. a description of the research design that includes:i. the economic model,

ii. the econometric estimation and inference methods,

iii. data sources,

iv. estimation, hypothesis testing and prediction procedures; and

4. the potential contribution of the research.



1. Statement of the Problem The place to start your report is with a

summary of the questions you wish to investigate, why they are

important and who should be interested in the results. This

introductory section should be non-technical and it should motivate

the reader to continue reading the paper. It is also useful to map out

the contents of the following sections of the report.



2. Review of the Literature Briefly summarize the relevant literature in

the research area you have chosen and clarify how your work

extends our knowledge. By all means cite the works of others who

have motivated your research, but keep it brief. You do not have to

survey everything that has been written on the topic.



3. The Economic Model Specify the economic model that you used,

and define the economic variables. State the model’s assumptions

and identify hypotheses that you wish to test. Economic models can

get complicated. Your task is to explain the model clearly, but as

briefly and simply as possible. Don’t use unnecessary technical

jargon. Use simple terms instead of complicated ones when possible.

Your objective is to display the quality of your thinking, not the

extent of your vocabulary.



4. The Econometric Model Discuss the econometric model that

corresponds to the economic model. Make sure you include a

discussion of the variables in the model, the functional form, the

error assumptions and any other assumptions that you make. Use

notation that is as simple as possible, and do not clutter the body of

the paper with long proofs or derivations. These can go into a

technical appendix.



5. The Data Describe the data you used, the source of the data and any

reservations you have about their appropriateness.

6. The Estimation and Inference Procedures Describe the estimation

methods you used and why they were chosen. Explain hypothesis

testing procedures and their usage.



7. The Empirical Results and Conclusions Report the parameter

estimates, their interpretation and the values of test statistics.

Comment on their statistical significance, their relation to previous

estimates and their economic implications.

8. Possible Extensions and Limitations of the Study Your research will

raise questions about the economic model, data and estimation

techniques. What future research is suggested by your findings and

how might you go about it?



9. Acknowledgments It is appropriate to recognize those who have

commented on and contributed to your research. This may include

your instructor, a librarian who helped you find data, a fellow

student who read and commented on your paper.

10. References An alphabetical list of the literature you cite in your

study, as well as references to the data sources you used.



17.3.1 Links to Economic Data on the Internet Resources for Economists (RFE) [http://www.rfe.org]

US Macro and Regional Data Here you will find links to various data sources

such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics,

Economic Reports of the President, and the Federal Reserve Banks.

Other US Data Here you will find links to the US Census Bureau, as well as

links to many panel and survey data sources. The gateway to US Government

agencies is FedStats [http://www.fedstats.gov/].


http://www.rfe.org/

http://www.fedstats.gov/


World and Non-US Data Here there are links to world data, such as the CIA

Factbook, and the Penn World Tables. International organizations such as the

Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank,

etc.

Finance and Financial Markets Here there are links to sources of US and

world financial data on variables such as exchange rates, interest rates and

share prices.

Journal Data and Program Archives Some economic journals post data used

in articles.



Business and Economics Datalinks

[http://www.econ-datalinks.org/] is a site maintained by the Business

and Economics Statistics Section of the American Statistical

Association. It provides links to economics and financial data sources

of interest to economists and business statisticians, along with an

assessment of the quality of each site.


http://www.econ-datalinks.org/


Resources for Econometricians: A link which contains a range of

resources for econometricians is Econometrics Journal online. The

specific link to data sources is:

http://www.feweb.vu.nl/econometriclinks/#data

Economagic [http://www.Economagic.com/] is an excellent and

easy-to-use source of macro time series (some 100,000 series

available). The data series are easily viewed in a copy and paste

format, or graphed. Slide 17-16Principles of Econometrics, 3rd Edition

http://www.feweb.vu.nl/econometriclinks/#data

http://www.economagic.com/


Data web sites are constantly being created. Some recent examples

include:

Time-Web: http://www.bized.ac.uk/timeweb/

Statistical Resources on the Web:

http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html

Business, Financial and Economic Data:

http://www.forecasts.org/data/


http://www.bized.ac.uk/timeweb/

http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html

http://www.forecasts.org/data/


17.3.1 Traditional Sources of Economic Data International Financial Statistics (IMF, monthly)

Basic Statistics of the Community (OECD, annual)

Consumer Price Indices in the European Community (OECD, annual)

World Statistics (UN, annual)

Yearbook of National Accounts Statistics (UN, annual)

FAO Trade Yearbook (annual).



Survey of Current Business (BEA, monthly)

Handbook of Basic Economic Statistics (BES, monthly)

Monthly Labor Review (BLS, monthly)

Federal Reserve Bulletin (FR, monthly)

Statistical Abstract of the US (BC, annual)

Economic Report of the President (annual)

Agricultural Statistics (USDA, annual)

Agricultural Situation Reports (USDA, monthly)

Economic Indicators (Council of Economic Advisors, monthly).Slide 17-19Principles of Econometrics, 3rd Edition

17.3.3 Interpreting Economic Data

A useful resource:

A Guide to Everyday Economic Statistics, 6th Edition [Gary E.

Clayton and Martin Gerhard Giesbrecht (2003) Boston:

Irwin/McGraw-Hill].


Writing an Empirical Research Report, and Sources of Economic Data Prepared by Vera Tabakova, East...

Documents

Transcript of Writing an Empirical Research Report, and Sources of Economic Data Prepared by Vera Tabakova, East...