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…

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 make two improvements to the command that implements the ordinary least-squares (OLS) estimator that I discussed in Programming an estimation command in Stata: Allowing for options. First, I add an option for a cluster-robust estimator of the variance-covariance of the estimator (VCE). Second, I make the command accept the modern syntax for either a robust or a cluster-robust estimator of the VCE. In the process, I use subroutines in my ado-program to facilitate the parsing, and I discuss some advanced parsing tricks.

This is the tenth 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 make three improvements to the command that implements the ordinary least-squares (OLS) estimator that I discussed in Programming an estimation command in Stata: Allowing for sample restrictions and factor variables. First, I allow the user to request a robust estimator of the variance-covariance of the estimator (VCE). Second, I allow the user to suppress the constant term. Third, I store the residual degrees of freedom in e(df_r) so that test will use the \(t\) or \(F\) distribution instead of the normal or \(\chi^2\) distribution to compute the \(p\)-value of Wald tests.

This is the ninth 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 modify the ordinary least-squares (OLS) command discussed in Programming an estimation command in Stata: A better OLS command to allow for sample restrictions, to handle missing values, to allow for factor variables, and to deal with perfectly collinear variables.

This is the eighth 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 the syntax command to improve the command that implements the ordinary least-squares (OLS) estimator that I discussed in Programming an estimation command in Stata: A first command for OLS. I show how to require that all variables be numeric variables and how to make the command accept time-series operated variables.

This is the seventh 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…

\(
\newcommand{\betab}{\boldsymbol{\beta}}
\newcommand{\xb}{{\bf x}}
\newcommand{\yb}{{\bf y}}
\newcommand{\Xb}{{\bf X}}
\)I show how to write a Stata estimation command that implements the ordinary least-squares (OLS) estimator by explaining the code. I use concepts that I introduced in previous #StataProgramming posts. In particular, I build on Programming an estimation command in Stata: Using Stata matrix commands and functions to compute OLS objects, in which I recalled the OLS formulas and showed how to compute them using Stata matrix commands and functions and on
Programming an estimation command in Stata: A first ado command, in which I introduced some ado-programming concepts. Although I introduce some local macro tricks that I use all the time, I also build on Programing an estimation command in Stata: Where to store your stuff.

This is the sixth 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…

\(\newcommand{\epsilonb}{\boldsymbol{\epsilon}}
\newcommand{\ebi}{\boldsymbol{\epsilon}_i}
\newcommand{\Sigmab}{\boldsymbol{\Sigma}}
\newcommand{\betab}{\boldsymbol{\beta}}
\newcommand{\eb}{{\bf e}}
\newcommand{\xb}{{\bf x}}
\newcommand{\zb}{{\bf z}}
\newcommand{\yb}{{\bf y}}
\newcommand{\Xb}{{\bf X}}
\newcommand{\Mb}{{\bf M}}
\newcommand{\Eb}{{\bf E}}
\newcommand{\Xtb}{\tilde{\bf X}}
\newcommand{\Vb}{{\bf V}}\)I present the formulas for computing the ordinary least-squares (OLS) estimator, and I discuss some do-file implementations of them. I discuss the formulas and the computation of independence-based standard errors, robust standard errors, and cluster-robust standard errors. I introduce the Stata matrix commands and matrix functions that I use in ado-commands that I discuss in upcoming posts.

This is the fifth 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 discuss the code for a simple estimation command to focus on the details of how to implement an estimation command. The command that I discuss estimates the mean by the sample average. I begin by reviewing the formulas and a do-file that implements them. I subsequently introduce ado-file programming and discuss two versions of the command. Along the way, I illustrate some of the postestimation features that work after the command.

This is the fourth 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…