Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Econometrics and statistics

I agree with a lot of what this writer has to say, though I think he understates the extent to which the differences result from trying to accomplish different things. Much of what statisticians try to do is not locate causal relationships but rather just fit the data or find patterns and so on. In contrast, endogeneity is not just a topic in microeconometrics, it is the overarching theme of microeconometrics.

He is surely correct that both tribes have much to learn from the other. In some ways it is resembles the commonplace that one of the best ways to really understand English is to learn a foreign language.

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