In a previous post I illustrated that the probit model and the logit model produce statistically equivalent estimates of marginal effects. In this post, I compare the marginal effect estimates from a linear probability model (linear regression) with marginal effect estimates from probit and logit models.

My simulations show that when the true model is a probit or a logit, using a linear probability model can produce inconsistent estimates of the marginal effects of interest to researchers. The conclusions hinge on the probit or logit model being the true model.

Simulation results

For all simulations below, I use a sample size of 10,000 and 5,000 replications. The true data-generating processes (DGPs) are constructed using Read more…

I discuss a command that computes ordinary least-squares (OLS) results in Mata, paying special attention to the structure of Stata programs that use Mata work functions.

This command builds on several previous posts; at a minimum, you should be familiar with Programming an estimation command in Stata: A first ado-command using Mata and Programming an estimation command in Stata: Computing OLS objects in Mata.

This is the fifteenth post in the series Programming an estimation command in Stata. I recommend that you start at the beginning. See Programming an estimation command in Stata: A map to posted entries for a map to all the posts in this series.

An OLS command with Mata computations

The Stata command myregress11 computes the results in Mata. The syntax of the myregress11 command is

myregress11 depvar [indepvars] [if] [in] [, noconstant]

where indepvars can contain factor variables or time-series variables.

In the remainder of this post, I discuss the code for myregress11.ado. I recommend that you click on the file name to download the code. To avoid scrolling, view the code in the do-file editor, or your favorite text editor, to see the line numbers.

I do not discuss Read more…

We often use probit and logit models to analyze binary outcomes. A case can be made that the logit model is easier to interpret than the probit model, but Stata’s margins command makes any estimator easy to interpret. Ultimately, estimates from both models produce similar results, and using one or the other is a matter of habit or preference.

I show that the estimates from a probit and logit model are similar for the computation of a set of effects that are of interest to researchers. I focus on the effects of changes in the covariates on the probability of a positive outcome for continuous and discrete covariates. I evaluate these effects on average and at the mean value of the covariates. In other words, I study the average marginal effects (AME), the average treatment effects (ATE), the marginal effects at the mean values of the covariates (MEM), and the treatment effects at the mean values of the covariates (TEM).

First, I present the results. Second, I discuss the code used for the simulations.

Results

In Table 1, I present the results of a simulation with 4,000 replications when the true data generating process (DGP) satisfies the assumptions of a probit model. I show the Read more…

\(\newcommand{\epsilonb}{\boldsymbol{\epsilon}}
\newcommand{\ebi}{\boldsymbol{\epsilon}_i}
\newcommand{\Sigmab}{\boldsymbol{\Sigma}}
\newcommand{\betab}{\boldsymbol{\beta}}
\newcommand{\eb}{{\bf e}}
\newcommand{\xb}{{\bf x}}
\newcommand{\xbit}{{\bf x}_{it}}
\newcommand{\xbi}{{\bf x}_{i}}
\newcommand{\zb}{{\bf z}}
\newcommand{\zbi}{{\bf z}_i}
\newcommand{\wb}{{\bf w}}
\newcommand{\yb}{{\bf y}}
\newcommand{\ub}{{\bf u}}
\newcommand{\Xb}{{\bf X}}
\newcommand{\Mb}{{\bf M}}
\newcommand{\Xtb}{\tilde{\bf X}}
\newcommand{\Wb}{{\bf W}}
\newcommand{\Vb}{{\bf V}}\)I present the formulas for computing the ordinary least-squares (OLS) estimator and show how to compute them in Mata. This post is a Mata version of Programming an estimation command in Stata: Using Stata matrix commands and functions to compute OLS objects. I discuss the formulas and the computation of independence-based standard errors, robust standard errors, and cluster-robust standard errors.

This is the fourteenth post in the series Programming an estimation command in Stata. I recommend that you start at the beginning. See Programming an estimation command in Stata: A map to posted entries for a map to all the posts in this series.

OLS formulas

Recall that the OLS point estimates are given by

\[
\widehat{\betab} =
\left( \sum_{i=1}^N \xb_i’\xb_i \right)^{-1}
\left(
\sum_{i=1}^N \xb_i’y_i
\right)
\]

where \(\xb_i\) is the \(1\times k\) vector of independent variables, \(y_i\) is the dependent variable for each of the \(N\) sample observations, and the model for \(y_i\) is

\[
y_i = \xb_i\betab’ + \epsilon_i
\]

If the \(\epsilon_i\) are independently and identically distributed (IID), we estimate Read more…

I discuss a sequence of ado-commands that use Mata to estimate the mean of a variable. The commands illustrate a general structure for Stata/Mata programs. This post builds on Programming an estimation command in Stata: Mata 101, Programming an estimation command in Stata: Mata functions, and Programming an estimation command in Stata: A first ado-command.

This is the thirteenth post in the series Programming an estimation command in Stata. I recommend that you start at the beginning. See Programming an estimation command in Stata: A map to posted entries for a map to all the posts in this series.

Using Mata in ado-programs

I begin by reviewing the structure in mymean5.ado, which I discussed Read more…

I show how to write a function in Mata, the matrix programming language that is part of Stata. This post uses concepts introduced in Programming an estimation command in Stata: Mata 101.

This is the twelfth post in the series Programming an estimation command in Stata. I recommend that you start at the beginning. See Programming an estimation command in Stata: A map to posted entries for a map to all the posts in this series.

Mata functions

Commands do work in Stata. Functions do work in Mata. Commands operate on Stata objects, like variables, and users specify options to alter the behavior. Mata functions accept arguments, operate on the arguments, and may return a result or alter the value of an argument to contain a result.

Consider myadd() defined below.

mata:
function myadd(X, Y)
{
    A = X + Y
    return(A)
}
end

myadd() accepts two arguments, X and Y, puts the sum of X and Y into A, and returns A. For example, Read more…

Converting a string date

Stata has a wide array of tools to work with dates. You can have dates in years, months, or even milliseconds. In this post, I will provide a brief tour of working with dates that will help you get started using all of Stata’s tools.

When you load a dataset, you will notice that every variable has a display format. For date variables, the display format is %td for daily dates, %tm for monthly dates, etc. Let’s load the wpi1 dataset as Read more…

Reflecting on the year, Stata has a lot to be thankful for—we released Stata 14, celebrated 30 years of Stata, and had the pleasure of meeting and working with many great people, including our Stata Press authors.

Are you interested in writing a book about Stata or just a book on statistics? We’d love to work with you too. Stata Press offers books with clear, step-by-step examples that make learning and teaching easier. Read more about our submission guidelines, or contact us to get started.

If you’re searching for a good book to read during the holidays, check out our full list of books or our most recent ones below. If you’d like to be notified when new books are released, sign up for Stata Press email alerts.

I hope you all have a great New Year!

Stata for the Behavioral Sciences

Michael N. Mitchell’s Stata for the Behavioral Sciences is an ideal reference for Read more…

I introduce Mata, the matrix programming language that is part of Stata.

This is the eleventh post in the series Programming an estimation command in Stata. I recommend that you start at the beginning. See Programming an estimation command in Stata: A map to posted entries for a map to all the posts in this series. Read more…

I use features new to Stata 14.1 to estimate an average treatment effect (ATE) for a heteroskedastic probit model with an endogenous treatment. In 14.1, we added new prediction statistics after mlexp that margins can use to estimate an ATE.

I am building on a previous post in which I demonstrated how to use mlexp to estimate the parameters of a probit model with an endogenous treatment and used margins to estimate the ATE for the model Using mlexp to estimate endogenous treatment effects in a probit model. Currently, no official commands estimate the heteroskedastic probit model with an endogenous treatment, so in this post I show how mlexp can be used to extend the models estimated by Stata. Read more…