Econometric Analysis of Panel Data
Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 PANEL DATA: SOME EXAMPLES
In this book, the term "panel data" refers to the pooling of observations on a cross-section of
households, countries, firms, etc. over several time periods. This can be achieved by surveying a
number of households or individuals and following them over time. Two well-known examples
of US panel data are the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) collected by the Institute
for Social Research at the University of Michigan (http://psidonline.isr.umich.edu) and the
National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) which is a set of surveys sponsored by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/nls/home.htm).
The PSID began in 1968 with 4800 families and has grown to more than 7000 families in
2001. By 2003, the PSID had collected information on more than 65 000 individuals spanning as
much as 36 years of their lives. Annual interviews were conducted from 1968 to 1996. In 1997,
this surveywas redesigned for biennial data collection. In addition, the core samplewas reduced
and a refresher sample of post-1968 immigrant families and their adult childrenwas introduced.
The central focus of the data is econom ... read full excerpt from Econometric Analysis of Panel Data ebook
