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AUTOCORRELATION OR SERIAL CORRELATION. Serial Correlation (Chapter 11.1). Now let’s relax a different Gauss– Markov assumption. What if the error terms are correlated with one another?
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AUTOCORRELATION OR SERIAL CORRELATION
Serial Correlation (Chapter 11.1) • Now let’s relax a different Gauss–Markov assumption. • What if the error terms are correlated with one another? • If I know something about the error term for one observation, I also know something about the error term for another observation. • Our observations are NOT independent!
Serial Correlation (cont.) • Serial Correlation frequently arises when using time series data (so we will index our observations with t instead of i) • The error term includes all variables not explicitly included in the model. • If a change occurs to one of these unobserved variables in 1969, it is quite plausible that some of that change will still be evident in 1970.
Serial Correlation (cont.) • In this lecture, we will consider a particular form of correlation among error terms. • Error terms are correlated more heavily with “nearby” observations than with “distant” observations. • E.g., cov(e1969,e1970) > cov(e1969,e1990)
Serial Correlation (cont.) • For example, inflation in the United States has been positively serially correlated for at least a century. We expect above average inflation in a given period if there was above average inflation in the preceding period. • Let’s look at DEVIATIONS in US inflation from its mean from 1923–1952 and from 1973–2002. There is greater serial correlation in the more recent sample.
Serial Correlation: A DGP • We assume that covariances depend only on the distance between two time periods, |t-t’|
OLS and Serial Correlation (Chapter 11.2) • The implications of serial correlation for OLS are similar to those of heteroskedasticity: • OLS is still unbiased • OLS is inefficient • The OLS formula for estimated standard errors is incorrect • “Fixes” are more complicated
OLS and Serial Correlation (cont.) • As with heteroskedasticity, we have two choices: • We can transform the data so that the Gauss–Markov conditions are met, and OLS is BLUE; OR • We can disregard efficiency, apply OLS anyway, and “fix” our formula for estimated standard errors.
Testing for Serial Correlation Correlograms & Q-statistics View/residual tests/correlogram-q If there is no autocorrelation in the residuals, the auto and partial correlations at all lags should be nearly zero and Q-statistic should be insignificant with larger p-values
Durbin–Watson Test • How do we test for serial correlation? • James Durbin and G.S. Watson proposed testing for correlation in the error terms between adjacent observations. • In our DGP, we assume the strongest correlation exists between adjacent observations.
Durbin–Watson Test (cont.) • Correlation between adjacent disturbances is called “first-order serial correlation.” • To test for first-order serial correlation, we ask whether adjacent e ’s are correlated. • As usual, we’ll use residuals to proxy for e • The trick is constructing a test statistic for which we know the distribution (so we can calculate the probability of observing the data, given the null hypothesis).
Durbin–Watson Test (cont.) • We end up with a somewhat opaque test statistic for first-order serial correlation
Durbin–Watson Test (cont.) • In large samples, approximately estimates the covariance between adjacent error terms. If there is no first-order serial correlation, this term will collapse to 0.
Durbin–Watson Test (cont.) • When the Durbin–Watson statistic, d, gives a value far from 2, then it suggests the covariance term is not 0 after all • i.e., a value ofd far from 2 suggests the presence of first-order serial correlation • d is bounded between 0 and 4
Durbin–Watson Statistic • VERY UNFORTUNATELY, the exact distribution of the dstatistic varies from application to application. • FORTUNATELY, there are bounds on the distribution.
Durbin–Watson Statistic (cont.) • There are TWO complications in applying the Durbin–Watson statistic: • We do not know the exact critical value, only a range within which the critical value falls. • The rejection regions are in relation to d = 2, not d = 0.
Figure 11.3 Durbin–Watson Lower and Upper Critical Values for n = 20 and a Single Explanator, = 0.5 (Panel B)
TABLE 11.1 Upper and Lower Critical Values for the Durbin–Watson Statistic (5% significance level)
Durbin–Watson Test • The Durbin–Watson test has three possible outcomes: reject, fail to reject, or the test is uncertain. • The Durbin–Watson test checks ONLY for first-order serial correlation.
Checking Understanding • Suppose we are conducting a 2-sided Durbin–Watson test with n = 80 and 1 explanator. For the 0.05 significance level, dl= 1.61 dh= 1.66 • Would you a) reject the null, b) fail to reject the null, or c) is the test uncertain, for: • i) d= 0.5; ii) d = 1.64; iii) d = 2.1; and iv) d = 2.9?
Checking Understanding (cont.) dl= 1.61 dh= 1.66 • Would you reject the null, fail to reject the null, or is the test uncertain, for: • i) d = 0.5: d < dl , so we reject the null. • ii) d = 1.64: dl<d < dh , so the test is uncertain. • iii) d= 2.1: dh< d < (4-dh), so we fail to reject. • iv) d= 2.9: d > (4-dl), so we reject the null.
Durbin–Watson Test • Suppose we find serial correlation. OLS is unbiased but inefficient.
Durbin–Watson Test (cont.) • Instead of using OLS, can we construct a BLUE Estimator? • First, we need to specify our DGP.
BLUE Estimation (cont.) • To get rid of the serial correlation term, we must algebraically manipulate the DGP. • Notice that
BLUE Estimation (cont.) • If we regress (Yt -rYt-1) against a constant and (Xt- rXt-1), we can estimate b1 in a model that meets the Gauss–Markov assumptions.
BLUE Estimation (cont.) • After transforming the data, we have the following DGP
BLUE Estimation (cont.) • With the transformed data, OLS is BLUE. • This approach is also called GLS. • There are two problems: • We cannot include the first observation in our regression, because there is no Y0 orX0to subtract. Losing an observation may or may not be a problem, depending on T • We need to know r
Checking Understanding • What Gauss–Markov assumption is violated if we restore the first observation?
Checking Understanding (cont.) • The first observation’s error term is not correlated with any other error terms; this DGP does not suffer from serial correlation.
Checking Understanding (cont.) • The error term of the first observation has a different variance than the other error terms. • This DGP suffers from heteroskedasticity.
LM Test • If your model included a lagged dependent variable on the right hand side then DW is not an appropriate test for serial correlation • Using OLS on such a regression results in biased and inefficient coefficients
Use Breusch-Godfrey Lagrange Multiplier test for general high order auto test The test statistic has an asymptotic χsquared (Chi-squared distribution) View residual test serial corr LM
BLUE Estimation (cont.) • This FGLS procedure is called the Cochrane–Orcutt estimator.