4.3 Developments in Time Series Econometrics
While the initiative taken at the Cowles Commission led to a rapid expansion of econometric
techniques, the application of these techniques to economic problems was rather
slow. This was partly due to a lack of adequate computing facilities at the time. A
more fundamental reason was the emphasis of the research at the Cowles Commission on the simultaneity problem almost to the exclusion of other econometric problems. Since
the early applications of the correlation analysis to economic data by Yule and Hooker,
the serial dependence of economic time series and the problem of nonsense or spurious
correlation that it could give rise to had been the single most important factor explaining
the profession’s scepticism concerning the value of regression analysis in economics.
A satisfactory solution to the spurious correlation problem was therefore needed before
regression analysis of economic time series could be taken seriously. Research on this
topic began in the mid—1940s at the Department of Applied Economics (DAE) in Cambridge,
England, as a part of a major investigation into the measurement and analysis of
consumers’ expenditure in the United Kingdom (see Stone and others, 1954). Although
the first steps towards the resolution of the spurious correlation problem had been taken
by Aitken (1934/35) and Champernowne (1948), the research in the DAE introduced
the problem and its possible solution to the attention of applied economists.
4.3 Developments in Time Series Econometrics
While the initiative taken at the Cowles Commission led to a rapid expansion of econometric
techniques, the application of these techniques to economic problems was rather
slow. This was partly due to a lack of adequate computing facilities at the time. A
more fundamental reason was the emphasis of the research at the Cowles Commission on the simultaneity problem almost to the exclusion of other econometric problems. Since
the early applications of the correlation analysis to economic data by Yule and Hooker,
the serial dependence of economic time series and the problem of nonsense or spurious
correlation that it could give rise to had been the single most important factor explaining
the profession’s scepticism concerning the value of regression analysis in economics.
A satisfactory solution to the spurious correlation problem was therefore needed before
regression analysis of economic time series could be taken seriously. Research on this
topic began in the mid—1940s at the Department of Applied Economics (DAE) in Cambridge,
England, as a part of a major investigation into the measurement and analysis of
consumers’ expenditure in the United Kingdom (see Stone and others, 1954). Although
the first steps towards the resolution of the spurious correlation problem had been taken
by Aitken (1934/35) and Champernowne (1948), the research in the DAE introduced
the problem and its possible solution to the attention of applied economists.
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