-
Christopher Dougherty EC220 - Introduction to econometrics
(chapter 2) Slideshow: t test of a hypothesis relating to a
regression coefficient
Original citation:
Dougherty, C. (2012) EC220 - Introduction to econometrics
(chapter 2). [Teaching Resource]
2012 The Author
This version available at:
http://learningresources.lse.ac.uk/128/
Available in LSE Learning Resources Online: May 2012
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. This license allows the user to
remix, tweak, and build upon the work even for commercial purposes,
as long as the user credits the author and licenses their new
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
http://learningresources.lse.ac.uk/
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t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
s.d. of b2 known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.d.:
s.d.
022 bz
0
The diagram summarizes the procedure for performing a 5%
significance test on the slope coefficient of a regression under
the assumption that we know its standard deviation.
1
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if z > 1.96 or z <
1.96
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
s.d. of b2 known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.d.:
s.d.
022 bz
s.d. of b2 not known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.e.:
s.e.
022 bt
0
This is a very unrealistic assumption. We usually have to
estimate it with the standard error, and we use this in the test
statistic instead of the standard deviation.
2
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if z > 1.96 or z <
1.96
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
s.d. of b2 known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.d.:
s.d.
022 bz
s.d. of b2 not known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.e.:
s.e.
022 bt
0
Because we have replaced the standard deviation in its
denominator with the standard error, the test statistic has a t
distribution instead of a normal distribution.
3
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if z > 1.96 or z <
1.96
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
s.d. of b2 known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.d.:
s.d.
022 bz
s.d. of b2 not known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.e.:
s.e.
022 bt
0 0
Accordingly, we refer to the test statistic as a t statistic. In
other respects the test procedure is much the same.
4
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if z > 1.96 or z <
1.96
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if t > tcrit or t <
tcrit
-
5
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
We look up the critical value of t and if the t statistic is
greater than it, positive or negative, we reject the null
hypothesis. If it is not, we do not.
s.d. of b2 known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.d.:
s.d.
022 bz
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if z > 1.96 or z <
1.96
s.d. of b2 not known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.e.:
s.e.
022 bt
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if t > tcrit or t <
tcrit
0 0
-
6
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
Here is a graph of a normal distribution with zero mean and unit
variance
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
normal
-
7
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
A graph of a t distribution with 10 degrees of freedom (this
term will be defined in a moment) has been added.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
normal t, 10 d.f.
-
8
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
When the number of degrees of freedom is large, the t
distribution looks very much like a normal distribution (and as the
number increases, it converges on one).
normal t, 10 d.f.
-
9
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Even when the number of degrees of freedom is small, as in this
case, the distributions are very similar.
normal t, 10 d.f.
-
10
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
Here is another t distribution, this time with only 5 degrees of
freedom. It is still very similar to a normal distribution.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
normal
t, 5 d.f. t, 10 d.f.
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11
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
So why do we make such a fuss about referring to the t
distribution rather than the normal distribution? Would it really
matter if we always used 1.96 for the 5% test and 2.58 for the 1%
test?
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
normal t, 10 d.f. t, 5 d.f.
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12
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
The answer is that it does make a difference. Although the
distributions are generally quite similar, the t distribution has
longer tails than the normal distribution, the difference being the
greater, the smaller the number of degrees of freedom.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
normal t, 10 d.f. t, 5 d.f.
-
13
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
As a consequence, the probability of obtaining a high test
statistic on a pure chance basis is greater with a t distribution
than with a normal distribution.
normal
0
0.1
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
t, 10 d.f. t, 5 d.f.
-
14
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
This means that the rejection regions have to start more
standard deviations away from zero for a t distribution than for a
normal distribution.
normal
0
0.1
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
t, 10 d.f. t, 5 d.f.
-
15
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
The 2.5% tail of a normal distribution starts 1.96 standard
deviations from its mean.
normal
0
0.1
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6-1.96
t, 10 d.f. t, 5 d.f.
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16
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
The 2.5% tail of a t distribution with 10 degrees of freedom
starts 2.33 standard deviations from its mean.
normal
0
0.1
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6-2.33
t, 10 d.f. t, 5 d.f.
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17
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
That for a t distribution with 5 degrees of freedom starts 2.57
standard deviations from its mean.
normal
0
0.1
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6-2.57
t, 10 d.f. t, 5 d.f.
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18
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
For this reason we need to refer to a table of critical values
of t when performing significance tests on the coefficients of a
regression equation.
t Distribution: Critical values of t
Degrees of Two-sided test 10% 5% 2% 1% 0.2% 0.1% freedom
One-sided test 5% 2.5% 1% 0.5% 0.1% 0.05%
1 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 318.31 636.62 2 2.920 4.303 6.965
9.925 22.327 31.598 3 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 10.214 12.924 4 2.132
2.776 3.747 4.604 7.173 8.610 5 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 5.893 6.869
18 1.734 2.101 2.552 2.878 3.610 3.922 19 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861
3.579 3.883 20 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.552 3.850 600 1.647 1.964
2.333 2.584 3.104 3.307 1.645 1.960 2.326 2.576 3.090 3.291
-
19
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
At the top of the table are listed possible significance levels
for a test. For the time being we will be performing two-sided
tests, so ignore the line for one-sided tests.
t Distribution: Critical values of t
Degrees of Two-sided test 10% 5% 2% 1% 0.2% 0.1% freedom
One-sided test 5% 2.5% 1% 0.5% 0.1% 0.05%
1 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 318.31 636.62 2 2.920 4.303 6.965
9.925 22.327 31.598 3 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 10.214 12.924 4 2.132
2.776 3.747 4.604 7.173 8.610 5 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 5.893 6.869
18 1.734 2.101 2.552 2.878 3.610 3.922 19 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861
3.579 3.883 20 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.552 3.850 600 1.647 1.964
2.333 2.584 3.104 3.307 1.645 1.960 2.326 2.576 3.090 3.291
-
20
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
Hence if we are performing a (two-sided) 5% significance test,
we should use the column thus indicated in the table.
t Distribution: Critical values of t
Degrees of Two-sided test 10% 5% 2% 1% 0.2% 0.1% freedom
One-sided test 5% 2.5% 1% 0.5% 0.1% 0.05%
1 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 318.31 636.62 2 2.920 4.303 6.965
9.925 22.327 31.598 3 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 10.214 12.924 4 2.132
2.776 3.747 4.604 7.173 8.610 5 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 5.893 6.869
18 1.734 2.101 2.552 2.878 3.610 3.922 19 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861
3.579 3.883 20 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.552 3.850 600 1.647 1.964
2.333 2.584 3.104 3.307 1.645 1.960 2.326 2.576 3.090 3.291
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21
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
The left hand vertical column lists degrees of freedom. The
number of degrees of freedom in a regression is defined to be the
number of observations minus the number of parameters
estimated.
t Distribution: Critical values of t
Degrees of Two-sided test 10% 5% 2% 1% 0.2% 0.1% freedom
One-sided test 5% 2.5% 1% 0.5% 0.1% 0.05%
1 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 318.31 636.62 2 2.920 4.303 6.965
9.925 22.327 31.598 3 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 10.214 12.924 4 2.132
2.776 3.747 4.604 7.173 8.610 5 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 5.893 6.869
18 1.734 2.101 2.552 2.878 3.610 3.922 19 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861
3.579 3.883 20 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.552 3.850 600 1.647 1.964
2.333 2.584 3.104 3.307 1.645 1.960 2.326 2.576 3.090 3.291
Number of degrees of freedom in a regression = number of
observations number of parameters estimated.
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22
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
In a simple regression, we estimate just two parameters, the
constant and the slope coefficient, so the number of degrees of
freedom is n - 2 if there are n observations.
t Distribution: Critical values of t
Degrees of Two-sided test 10% 5% 2% 1% 0.2% 0.1% freedom
One-sided test 5% 2.5% 1% 0.5% 0.1% 0.05%
1 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 318.31 636.62 2 2.920 4.303 6.965
9.925 22.327 31.598 3 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 10.214 12.924 4 2.132
2.776 3.747 4.604 7.173 8.610 5 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 5.893 6.869
18 1.734 2.101 2.552 2.878 3.610 3.922 19 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861
3.579 3.883 20 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.552 3.850 600 1.647 1.964
2.333 2.584 3.104 3.307 1.645 1.960 2.326 2.576 3.090 3.291
-
23
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
If we were performing a regression with 20 observations, as in
the price inflation/wage inflation example, the number of degrees
of freedom would be 18 and the critical value of t for a 5% test
would be 2.101.
t Distribution: Critical values of t
Degrees of Two-sided test 10% 5% 2% 1% 0.2% 0.1% freedom
One-sided test 5% 2.5% 1% 0.5% 0.1% 0.05%
1 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 318.31 636.62 2 2.920 4.303 6.965
9.925 22.327 31.598 3 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 10.214 12.924 4 2.132
2.776 3.747 4.604 7.173 8.610 5 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 5.893 6.869
18 1.734 2.101 2.552 2.878 3.610 3.922 19 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861
3.579 3.883 20 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.552 3.850 600 1.647 1.964
2.333 2.584 3.104 3.307 1.645 1.960 2.326 2.576 3.090 3.291
-
24
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
Note that as the number of degrees of freedom becomes large, the
critical value converges on 1.96, the critical value for the normal
distribution. This is because the t distribution converges on the
normal distribution.
t Distribution: Critical values of t
Degrees of Two-sided test 10% 5% 2% 1% 0.2% 0.1% freedom
One-sided test 5% 2.5% 1% 0.5% 0.1% 0.05%
1 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 318.31 636.62 2 2.920 4.303 6.965
9.925 22.327 31.598 3 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 10.214 12.924 4 2.132
2.776 3.747 4.604 7.173 8.610 5 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 5.893 6.869
18 1.734 2.101 2.552 2.878 3.610 3.922 19 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861
3.579 3.883 20 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.552 3.850 600 1.647 1.964
2.333 2.584 3.104 3.307 1.645 1.960 2.326 2.576 3.090 3.291
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t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
s.d. of b2 known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.d.:
s.d.
022 bz
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if z > 1.96 or z <
1.96
s.d. of b2 not known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.e.:
s.e.
022 bt
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if t > tcrit or t <
tcrit
0 0
Hence, referring back to the summary of the test procedure,
25
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
s.d. of b2 known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.d.:
s.d.
022 bz
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if z > 1.96 or z <
1.96
s.d. of b2 not known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.e.:
s.e.
022 bt
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if t > 2.101 or t <
2.101
0 0
we should reject the null hypothesis if the absolute value of t
is greater than 2.101.
26
-
27
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
If instead we wished to perform a 1% significance test, we would
use the column indicated above. Note that as the number of degrees
of freedom becomes large, the critical value converges to 2.58, the
critical value for the normal distribution.
t Distribution: Critical values of t
Degrees of Two-sided test 10% 5% 2% 1% 0.2% 0.1% freedom
One-sided test 5% 2.5% 1% 0.5% 0.1% 0.05%
1 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 318.31 636.62 2 2.920 4.303 6.965
9.925 22.327 31.598 3 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 10.214 12.924 4 2.132
2.776 3.747 4.604 7.173 8.610 5 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 5.893 6.869
18 1.734 2.101 2.552 2.878 3.610 3.922 19 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861
3.579 3.883 20 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.552 3.850 600 1.647 1.964
2.333 2.584 3.104 3.307 1.645 1.960 2.326 2.576 3.090 3.291
-
28
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
For a simple regression with 20 observations, the critical value
of t at the 1% level is 2.878.
t Distribution: Critical values of t
Degrees of Two-sided test 10% 5% 2% 1% 0.2% 0.1% freedom
One-sided test 5% 2.5% 1% 0.5% 0.1% 0.05%
1 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 318.31 636.62 2 2.920 4.303 6.965
9.925 22.327 31.598 3 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 10.214 12.924 4 2.132
2.776 3.747 4.604 7.173 8.610 5 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 5.893 6.869
18 1.734 2.101 2.552 2.878 3.610 3.922 19 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861
3.579 3.883 20 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.552 3.850 600 1.647 1.964
2.333 2.584 3.104 3.307 1.645 1.960 2.326 2.576 3.090 3.291
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
s.d. of b2 known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.d.:
s.d.
022 bz
5% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if z > 1.96 or z <
1.96
s.d. of b2 not known
discrepancy between hypothetical value and sample estimate, in
terms of s.e.:
s.e.
022 bt
1% significance test: reject H0: 2 = 2 if t > 2.878 or t <
2.878
0 0
So we should use this figure in the test procedure for a 1%
test.
29
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
We will next consider an example of a t test. Suppose that you
have data on p, the average rate of price inflation for the last 5
years, and w, the average rate of wage inflation, for a sample of
20 countries. It is reasonable to suppose that p is influenced by
w.
30
Example: uwp 21
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
31
Example: uwp 21
You might take as your null hypothesis that the rate of price
inflation increases uniformly with wage inflation, in which case
the true slope coefficient would be 1.
1:;1: 2120 HH
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
32
Example: uwp 21
Suppose that the regression result is as shown (standard errors
in parentheses). Our actual estimate of the slope coefficient is
only 0.82. We will check whether we should reject the null
hypothesis.
)10.0()05.0(82.021.1 wp
1:;1: 2120 HH
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
33
Example:
.80.110.0
00.182.0)(s.e. 2022
bb
t
uwp 21
We compute the t statistic by subtracting the hypothetical true
value from the sample estimate and dividing by the standard error.
It comes to 1.80.
)10.0()05.0(82.021.1 wp
1:;1: 2120 HH
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
34
Example:
.80.110.0
00.182.0)(s.e. 2022
bb
t
18freedom of degrees;20 n
uwp 21
There are 20 observations in the sample. We have estimated 2
parameters, so there are 18 degrees of freedom.
)10.0()05.0(82.021.1 wp
1:;1: 2120 HH
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
35
Example:
)10.0()05.0(82.021.1 wp
.80.110.0
00.182.0)(s.e. 2022
bb
t
18freedom of degrees;20 n101.2%5,crit t
1:;1: 2120 HHuwp 21
The critical value of t with 18 degrees of freedom is 2.101 at
the 5% level. The absolute value of the t statistic is less than
this, so we do not reject the null hypothesis.
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
36
uXY 21
In practice it is unusual to have a feeling for the actual value
of the coefficients. Very often the objective of the analysis is to
demonstrate that Y is influenced by X, without having any specific
prior notion of the actual coefficients of the relationship.
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
37
uXY 21
In this case it is usual to define 2 = 0 as the null hypothesis.
In words, the null hypothesis is that X does not influence Y. We
then try to demonstrate that the null hypothesis is false.
0:;0: 2120 HH
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
38
)(s.e.)(s.e. 22
2
022
bb
bb
t
uXY 21
For the null hypothesis 2 = 0, the t statistic reduces to the
estimate of the coefficient divided by its standard error.
0:;0: 2120 HH
-
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
39
)(s.e.)(s.e. 22
2
022
bb
bb
t 0:;0: 2120 HH
uXY 21
This ratio is commonly called the t statistic for the
coefficient and it is automatically printed out as part of the
regression results. To perform the test for a given significance
level, we compare the t statistic directly with the critical value
of t for that significance level.
-
. reg EARNINGS S
Source | SS df MS Number of obs = 540
-------------+------------------------------ F( 1, 538) =
112.15
Model | 19321.5589 1 19321.5589 Prob > F = 0.0000
Residual | 92688.6722 538 172.283777 R-squared = 0.1725
-------------+------------------------------ Adj R-squared =
0.1710
Total | 112010.231 539 207.811189 Root MSE = 13.126
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EARNINGS | Coef. Std. Err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
S | 2.455321 .2318512 10.59 0.000 1.999876 2.910765
_cons | -13.93347 3.219851 -4.33 0.000 -20.25849 -7.608444
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
40
Here is the output from the earnings function fitted in a
previous slideshow, with the t statistics highlighted.
-
. reg EARNINGS S
Source | SS df MS Number of obs = 540
-------------+------------------------------ F( 1, 538) =
112.15
Model | 19321.5589 1 19321.5589 Prob > F = 0.0000
Residual | 92688.6722 538 172.283777 R-squared = 0.1725
-------------+------------------------------ Adj R-squared =
0.1710
Total | 112010.231 539 207.811189 Root MSE = 13.126
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EARNINGS | Coef. Std. Err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
S | 2.455321 .2318512 10.59 0.000 1.999876 2.910765
_cons | -13.93347 3.219851 -4.33 0.000 -20.25849 -7.608444
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
41
You can see that the t statistic for the coefficient of S is
enormous. We would reject the null hypothesis that schooling does
not affect earnings at the 0.1% significance level without even
looking at the table of critical values of t.
-
. reg EARNINGS S
Source | SS df MS Number of obs = 540
-------------+------------------------------ F( 1, 538) =
112.15
Model | 19321.5589 1 19321.5589 Prob > F = 0.0000
Residual | 92688.6722 538 172.283777 R-squared = 0.1725
-------------+------------------------------ Adj R-squared =
0.1710
Total | 112010.231 539 207.811189 Root MSE = 13.126
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EARNINGS | Coef. Std. Err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
S | 2.455321 .2318512 10.59 0.000 1.999876 2.910765
_cons | -13.93347 3.219851 -4.33 0.000 -20.25849 -7.608444
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
42
The t statistic for the intercept is also enormous. However,
since the intercept does not hve any meaning, it does not make
sense to perform a t test on it.
-
. reg EARNINGS S
Source | SS df MS Number of obs = 540
-------------+------------------------------ F( 1, 538) =
112.15
Model | 19321.5589 1 19321.5589 Prob > F = 0.0000
Residual | 92688.6722 538 172.283777 R-squared = 0.1725
-------------+------------------------------ Adj R-squared =
0.1710
Total | 112010.231 539 207.811189 Root MSE = 13.126
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EARNINGS | Coef. Std. Err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
S | 2.455321 .2318512 10.59 0.000 1.999876 2.910765
_cons | -13.93347 3.219851 -4.33 0.000 -20.25849 -7.608444
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
43
The next column in the output gives what are known as the p
values for each coefficient. This is the probability of obtaining
the corresponding t statistic as a matter of chance, if the null
hypothesis H0: = 0 is true.
-
. reg EARNINGS S
Source | SS df MS Number of obs = 540
-------------+------------------------------ F( 1, 538) =
112.15
Model | 19321.5589 1 19321.5589 Prob > F = 0.0000
Residual | 92688.6722 538 172.283777 R-squared = 0.1725
-------------+------------------------------ Adj R-squared =
0.1710
Total | 112010.231 539 207.811189 Root MSE = 13.126
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EARNINGS | Coef. Std. Err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
S | 2.455321 .2318512 10.59 0.000 1.999876 2.910765
_cons | -13.93347 3.219851 -4.33 0.000 -20.25849 -7.608444
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
44
If you reject the null hypothesis H0: = 0, this is the
probability that you are making a mistake and making a Type I
error. It therefore gives the significance level at which the null
hypothesis would just be rejected.
-
. reg EARNINGS S
Source | SS df MS Number of obs = 540
-------------+------------------------------ F( 1, 538) =
112.15
Model | 19321.5589 1 19321.5589 Prob > F = 0.0000
Residual | 92688.6722 538 172.283777 R-squared = 0.1725
-------------+------------------------------ Adj R-squared =
0.1710
Total | 112010.231 539 207.811189 Root MSE = 13.126
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EARNINGS | Coef. Std. Err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
S | 2.455321 .2318512 10.59 0.000 1.999876 2.910765
_cons | -13.93347 3.219851 -4.33 0.000 -20.25849 -7.608444
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
45
If p = 0.05, the null hypothesis could just be rejected at the
5% level. If it were 0.01, it could just be rejected at the 1%
level. If it were 0.001, it could just be rejected at the 0.1%
level. This is assuming that you are using two-sided tests.
-
. reg EARNINGS S
Source | SS df MS Number of obs = 540
-------------+------------------------------ F( 1, 538) =
112.15
Model | 19321.5589 1 19321.5589 Prob > F = 0.0000
Residual | 92688.6722 538 172.283777 R-squared = 0.1725
-------------+------------------------------ Adj R-squared =
0.1710
Total | 112010.231 539 207.811189 Root MSE = 13.126
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EARNINGS | Coef. Std. Err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
S | 2.455321 .2318512 10.59 0.000 1.999876 2.910765
_cons | -13.93347 3.219851 -4.33 0.000 -20.25849 -7.608444
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
46
In the present case p = 0 to three decimal places for the
coefficient of S. This means that we can reject the null hypothesis
H0: 2 = 0 at the 0.1% level, without having to refer to the table
of critical values of t. (Testing the intercept does not make sense
in this regression.)
-
. reg EARNINGS S
Source | SS df MS Number of obs = 540
-------------+------------------------------ F( 1, 538) =
112.15
Model | 19321.5589 1 19321.5589 Prob > F = 0.0000
Residual | 92688.6722 538 172.283777 R-squared = 0.1725
-------------+------------------------------ Adj R-squared =
0.1710
Total | 112010.231 539 207.811189 Root MSE = 13.126
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EARNINGS | Coef. Std. Err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
S | 2.455321 .2318512 10.59 0.000 1.999876 2.910765
_cons | -13.93347 3.219851 -4.33 0.000 -20.25849 -7.608444
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
t TEST OF A HYPOTHESIS RELATING TO A REGRESSION COEFFICIENT
47
It is a more informative approach to reporting the results of
test and widely used in the medical literature. However in
economics standard practice is to report results referring to 5%
and 1% significance levels, and sometimes to the 0.1% level.
-
Copyright Christopher Dougherty 2011.
These slideshows may be downloaded by anyone, anywhere for
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The content of this slideshow comes from Section 2.6 of C.
Dougherty, Introduction to Econometrics, fourth edition 2011,
Oxford University Press. Additional (free) resources for both
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they might benefit from participation in a formal course should
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http://www2.lse.ac.uk/study/summerSchools/summerSchool/Home.aspx or
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11.07.25