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19 of 21 found the following review helpful:
 A good, but quite old, introduction to econometrics bookMar 29, 2001
By Daniel Ventosa S
I used this book during my first 2 courses of econometrics during the college. Yoo'll know, after reading the first chapters, everything about the basic tool in the field, ols (this could be seen as a problem, because you spend too much time studying too many details; an economist doesn't necessarily need such knowledge and an amateur econometrist should rather begin with a more concise manual). It's an "easy-to-read" book. Every standard student (like myself) should be able to understand everything even if he is going on his own. The problem with this book is that Gujarati wrote it 15 years ago (aprox.); the way of teaching econometrics has evolved, Gujarati's not. It's true; the recent re-editions of the book include several modern topics, such as time series and an introduction to unit roots. But the way regression problems (autocorrelation, heterocedasticity, etcetera) are treated isn't perfectly actualized. A much more modern approach and, as far as I know equally simple, can be found in Johnston and Dinardo's Econometric Methods. Gujarati's is a good idea for those wishing to learn econometrics, but there are better options, such as the one I already mentioned, the Greene and the Hill/Griffiths/Judge's. This book is much better than Maddala's. In conclusion I can say this book is a good option for undergraduate students, but not the best one.
20 of 23 found the following review helpful:
 Gujarati makes econometrics perfectly clearFeb 22, 2000
By Jeff
As a Ph.D. student in finance I'm currently taking my first course on econometrics. Our class text is Greene's Econometric Analysis. The Greene book is great for graduate student level coverage, but when it comes to getting clear answers to my basic questions, I always reach for "Guj." He provides thorough yet highly lucid descriptions of all the key econometric topics. Also, there is a chapter on the more advanced linear algebra approach to econometrics along with good appendices to cover relevant statistics. I wouldn't try to learn econometrics without the Guj.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
The ideal beginning in econometricsOct 24, 1999
This book is very comprehensive and disarmingly simple for everyone who has an idea about what economics is all about and has heard the word "statistics" before in his life. Dozens of detailed examples covering nearly every field of econometrics. Give it a try!
17 of 20 found the following review helpful:
 confusing notationApr 28, 2000
By The Blue Man
This book, although much-used, presents considerable problems from the point of view of the student using this as an introductory text for econometrics.First, the layout is quite dense and does not provide much guidance as to the relative importance of results. It would be far more helpful for the presentation to reflect the logical buildup of an argument to its conclusion. Instead, although the verbal exposition is usually quite clear, the presentation is a jumble, with many relatively lengthy derivations placed in footnotes! This is bad pedagogigally, as it encourages the student to skip over what are useful (and often not too difficult)parts. Second, and worse, is the continued use of deviation notation (ie. expressing a random variable in terms of deviation from its expected value) throughout the book. For this reason alone, I would never recommend this textbook for any class (incidentally, can anyone think of another textbook that follows this bizarre notation)? This is because, for the student who wishes to work through all derivations (which I always encourage) it imposes extra time constraints and a need to flick back through the book to check how variables are defined. This is incredibly frustrating and demotivating, and puts many students off econometrics before they've even given it a fair try. Third, the book reveals what is (to my mind) an unhealthy preoccupation with estimation issues, as opposed to those of data quality. As people like Granger have consistently pointed out, the real issues in 21st century econometrics have to do with what sort of data we have, and what methods are most appropriate in different situations. Gujurati, partly reflecting its long-standing use, merely dwells on the iid specification. However, I should point out in its defence that this third defect is shared by most other introductory (and graduate) textbooks on econometrics. As stated above, I would never recommend this book, preferring instead Hill's "Introductory Econometrics" which both motivates the student and takes them through the steps and methods they will need to adopt in further econometric studies, and always provides a good reference when it omits proofs and other details.
7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
VERY GOOD TEXT, BUT COULD BE BETTERSep 24, 2004
By Denis Benchimol Minev
"Amazonia"
Econometrics, as the extension of statistics into economics, sends shivers down the spine of most undergraduates. This book is, so far, the best textbook I have seen to teach econometrics. It divides concepts into chapters that are easy to reference separately, and it follows a logical sequence similar to the one in most college-level courses.
In its 4th edition, Gujarati has had much time to improve the method and get comments. However, after having gone through the course and the textbook, I was left with the feeling that there must be a better way to teach econometrics. After learning it, you realize that the concepts are indeed simple, with much complex veneer to scare people away. In a few years, a wise and student-aware professor will write a textbook (call it the Econometrics Holy Grail?) that will make learning econometrics similar to learning basic stats.
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