Customer Reviews

Econometric Analysis

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book seems to be the standard, go-to textbook for modern econometric methods. It suffers from the same problem that plagues all econometrics texts. Like all metrics textbooks, it's long and overly detailed where it should be concise, and it's terse where it should be detailed. It also lacks a coherent, step by step structure. It's rather stunning how the book can suddenly change gears, getting half way through introducing the rationale and reasoning behind a particular method or approach, then inexplicably digressing into a confusing, long winded mathematical derivation of the asymptotics of the method, and then completely abandoning the reader. It might make a reasonable reference book for one's bookshelf, though the price is awfully high for such a reference. Just don't expect to learn much econometrics from it without a set of really good lecture notes.

Statistics texts are almost universally either ultra-simple, hand waving outlines with no good mathematical insight, or they're a sprawling, useless mess of asymptotic derivations with no practical explanation, applicable intuition, or computational guidance. I'm hoping that one day, someone will write a really good econometrics textbook. Maybe Greene or a co-author could radically overhaul the book someday. Until then, I'm afraid we're stuck.

Scattered throughout this 1300+ page monster are the pieces of an excellent 600-page econometric theory reference work. At his best, Greene's explanations are clear and strike a good balance between concision and explanatory detail. In particular, the sections on OLS and the mathematical appendices are very good.

But then there are the flaws. This was the only core textbook used in my first year PhD core published by a commercial textbook firm rather than a university press, and it has all the defects that make undergraduate texts so horrible. The theoretical passages are fragmented by largely unhelpful examples of applications, all typeset in some ugly sans serif font that sometimes look like it's not even kerned properly. The middle of the book is not well organized, and explanations often refer to results proved in later chapters; I speculate without other evidence that some editor reshuffled the order of the chapters to make older editions' page and problem numbers obsolete. Older (and hopefully future) editions may not have this problem, but it's really bad in the sixth.

I hope future editions of this book will lose the fat, find somebody with a sense of design to set the type, and put the chapters in a logical sequence. Then it might be a fine textbook. For now, there are plenty of other graduate econometrics textbooks; if you have a choice, consider your other options.

I use this text as required for a PhD level course...however, I would recommend Peter Kennedy's Guide to Econometrics as a more chatty, descriptive companion to Greene. Kennedy fills in the gaps of intuition where Greene can be technical and assumptive that the reader was actually able to understand previous chapters.

It is ok for the down and dirty equation but is less informative of the why and how necessary to explain what is going on with your data set.

This is one of the best econometrics books I've ever come across, and I use it as a reference. It's a classic within the field, and good both for reference as well as to understand topics.

This book requires some knowledge of econometrics and the language used to describe it, and is not advisable to non-graduate students. If you are a graduate student though, *especially* a phd student, give this book a try. You won't regret it.

Short summary:
1) graduate level (Master or Ph.D) textbook
2) good math required (matrix notions, probabilities, integrals)
3) most commonly used econometric methods covered
4) in depth presentation left for special topic books
5) most people will need as a reference book
6) recommand Kennedy's book together with this book.

Additional comments:
I agree with most reviewers on this book. It is a great reference book. It is already very heavy. There are so much that you can include in a book, and only a limited space. So there is a balance of coverage and usefulness, for this reason, this book did strike a good balance.

Most commonly used as advance textbook in business school. To advanced students, this is the seperation line. If you can not use these tools, then thinking to go further in the field is just a dream.

There are also difficiencies in this book. See some of the reviews on Kennedy's book. Essentially, the question of Why doing this, why this method instead of others, ... are left out. So highly recommand Kennedy's book together with this one.

I used the 2003 edition. This book is a reference in econometrics; it has many examples with real data from econometrics articles. If you are a beginner in econometrics you will need some effort to the way Greene presents the thinks. The matrix presentation requires advance math skills.

"Econometric Analysis" is an excellent reference book that cover all the different types of models that a person is likely to use in a typical statistical analysis. Topics covered include: Linear Regression Models; Generalized Least Squares; Models for Panel Data (including random effects models); Nonlinear Regression; Simultaneous Equation Models; Time Series Models; and Models for Event Counts, to name a few. Many of these topics are beyond the scope of a typical undergraduate course. However, the explanations of the models are clear and consise, with worked examples, and could easily be comprehended by an undergraduate. Exercises and applications are also included at the end of each chapter, although solutions to the exercises are not provided. I purchased this book to help me with some of the time series models that I needed to fit for my PhD thesis and I have found it to be a lot more useful than many books that are written solely on the topic of time series analysis.

Some complication as to what exactly was in the book. Took over 2 weeks to get it. The sellers seemed sympathetic.

That's a great satisfaction! Good price and good delivered, even though i'm living in Brazil!

I ordered this 'new book' and found out later that it has highlight somewhere in the middle of book.