Monday, December 5, 2016

Monte Carlo Simulation Basics, III: Regression Model Estimators

This post is the third in a series of posts that I'm writing about Monte Carlo (MC) simulation, especially as it applies to econometrics. If you've already seen the first two posts in the series (here and here) then you'll know that my intention is to provide a very elementary introduction to this topic. There are lots of details that I've been avoiding, deliberately.

In this post we're going to pick up from where the previous post about estimator properties based on the sampling distribution left off. Specifically, I'll be applying the ideas that were introduced in that post in the context of regression analysis. We'll take a look at the properties of the Least Squares estimator in three different situations. In doing so, I'll be able to illustrate, through simulation, some "text book" results that you'll know about already.

If you haven't read the immediately preceding post in this series already, I urge you to do so before continuing. The material and terminology that follow will assume that you have.