Rachev Chapters 2 & 3

skoh

Member
Hi David,

For question 118.3, why do we subtract 32 with 4 instead of 1?When do we subtract with 1 and 4?

variance = df/(df-2). In this case, df = 32 - 4 = 28

Thanks!
 

David Harper CFA FRM

David Harper CFA FRM
Subscriber
Hi skoh,

OLS regression coefficients are sample means (averages) which in practice (since we don't know the population variance) are characterized by a student's t distribution. If we just take the mean of a sample--e.g., sample mean of {1,2,3,4,5} = 3--that sample mean has only one (1) degree of freedom. Such that it has df = n-1 = 5-1 = 4.

But the multivariate regression "The regression produces four regression coefficients, an intercept plus three partial slope coefficients." computes 4 sample means, one for each coefficient (some will write that df = number of variables, which is true, since the regression has 3 independents + 1 dependent, but's it really the 4 coefficients: 3 slopes + 1 intercept). So, it's a "more sophisticated" mean that is produced by an OLS regression. So, here the df for the t-ratio variable = n - 4 = 32 - 4 = 28. (then the variance of df/[df-2] is just property of the student's t). I hope that explains, thanks,
 
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