BEEM012 – Problem Set #1
Assignment Overview
The goal of these problem sets is to use the tools you learn in your R assignments and apply them to an independent project on time series data of your choice. If you do not have a particular topic of interest, or are unable to find your own interesting data, I have provided a few sample datasets that you can use.
Note: You can always subtract one time series from another if you are inter- ested in the diference between two outcomes. For example, we consider the term spread, the diference between long and short run interest rates, in some of our R assignments as a predictor of GDP growth. You can also use this as an outcome, and look at the diference between profits in two diferent sectors as your Yt or Xt or diferences in outcomes for men and women as your Yt or Xt , etc.
A Second Note: If you want to use this empirical work as the basis for your dissertation that would be an excellent use of your efort. You should be aware, however, that you cannot submit the exact same report for your dissertation as you submit for this module, and your dissertation would need to contain substantively additional content.
The first task is choosing an outcome variable that will be your Yt for your analysis, and a primary Xt that will be the main explanatory variable you explore.
Once you have chosen some data of interest, the first part of this assignment will involve using the tools we learned in the first part of the module up to but not including Dynamic Causal Efects. You will complete the analytical tasks outlined below by adapting the code provided in R tutorials and write up an explanation of the task and the results.
Grading Criteria
Your assignment will be assigned a grade based on three equally-weighted cate- gories:
• Interpretation and Understanding of Econometric Tools Part of your grade will be based on whether you correctly use and interpret the tools of Time Series Econometrics that we learned. This means that you use the appropriate models for the given task, that you interpret results correctly, using the proper critical values for inference as well as interpreting null hy- potheses correctly. This also depends on whether you explain why you use diferent tools, and the problems these are selected to deal with.
• Programming and R Code Part of your grade will depend on correctly using R to implement the tasks you are assigned and whether your R code correctly implements the work that you describe in the write-up of your as- signmnet. Marks will be given for R code that is correct, and with comments to clarify you understand the tools you are using.
• Economic Analysis and Discussion This part of your grade will depend on the economic analysis of your results and the depth of your discussion. Marks will be given for the economic content of your analysis and your interpretation of the economic reasoning of your results.
Assignment Outputs to Submit
• A write-up of the results of your analysis, including graphs and tables. See the outline of the analysis tasks to complete below for details on exactly what tables & graphs you need to complete.
Word Count: Maximum 1,000 words. Your R script. for the assignment should be copied and pasted at the end of your write up.
Analysis Tasks to Complete
1 Descriptive Analysis – Week 1 Exercises
Before running regressions, we will first examine our data and use some simple tools to look at the time series.
1.1 Data Description
First, write a very brief (just a few sentences) description of the outcome variable you are interested in analysing. Next write a brief description of your primary explanatory variable, and the rough research question. What is your hypothesis about the relationship between Yt and Xt
1.2 Time Series Plots
Next, plot your Yt time series., and give a few sentences of description. Does it appear to have a trend? Does it appear to be highly autocorrelated? Are there any important outliers you need to remove?
2 Autoregression Analysis of a Time Series
2.1 Estimate an Autoregression Model
• First, run an AR(1) regression of your outcome variable. Then use the Bayes Information Criterion to select the appropriate lag length for your model, setting a maximum of four lags. Write down the four values of the BIC(p) you calculate, and explain which model length you end up selecting. Now, estimate this model. (See Week 1 & 2 Exercises)
• Next, test for violations of our key Time Series Assumptions: (See Week 3 Exercises)
– Use the appropriate model to test for a unit root process. Does economic theory suggest that your time series should exhibit a roughly linear time trend? Justify your answer briefly, and explain what this means for the model you use for this test and the hypotheses you test. Write a brief explanation of the result, and what this means for your time series. If you conclude your time series has a unit root, perform. the necessary transformation and add this model to your table.
– Use the appropriate test for a break in your time series where you don’t know the exact date of the break. Write a brief explanation of the result, and what this means for your time series. If you conclude your time series has a break and you identify the likely break date, make the necessary adjustment to your model and add this model to your table.
• Report estimated coefficients from both the AR(1) and AR(p) models in a table, along with the coefficients from your modified model in the case that your time series either has a break or a unit root. If your BIC results select an AR(1), then present the results of an AR(2) as well to compare.
• Is the coefficienton Yt-1 in yourAR(1) significant? Write a brief explanation of whether it is statistically significant, and an additional brief interpreta- tion of the economics of this result. How about the coefficient Yt-1 in your AR(p) model - is it similar? Discuss the implication of these results, and the persistence of shocks. If you correct for a trend or a break, discuss how your analysis of the non-transformed time series might be misleading.
2.2 Estimate an Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model - Week 2 Exercises
• Now we are going to introduce a second variable Xt. First, estimate an ADL(1,1) model.
• Repeat the exercise you conducted above using the BIC to select the length of lag, but now you will select a lag p to use for your ADL(p,p) model. For simplicity, consider again up top = 4 and use the same lag length for Yt and Xt.
• Use a Granger causality test to test whether the lags of your explanatory variable Xt are jointly significant predictors of Yt. Report the test statistic in the text (no need to add it to a table). If your selected model was an ADL(1,1) then estimate an ADL(2,2) so you can jointly test the two lags of Xt.
• Produce a table with your coefficient estimates from the ADL(1,1) model as well as the ADL(p,p) model. Again, if you selected an ADL(1,1) then use an ADL(2,2) to compare.
• Interpret the results from the above. Are the lags of Xt jointly predictive of Yt in a model where we also include lags of Yt? Discuss the economic significance of this result.
2.3 Check Out-Of-Sample Forecast Performance – Week 4 Exercises
• Using the Pseudo Out-Of-Sample forecasting method, with your ADL(1,1) model and with the final 25% of your sample as your excluded sample, and compare the within-sample SER (from the regression including none of your excluded observations) and the out-of sample fit using your estimate of the Root Mean Squared Forecast Error.
• Compare the size of the SER to the size of your RMSFE. Which is larger? Does this suggest your forecast errors are larger, smaller, or the same as your within-sample errors? Is your model capable of predicting out-of-sample?
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