The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center's video: Econometrics Overview with Environmental Policy Examples

In this lecture on topics and environmental economics, Dr. Sheila Olmstead presents an overview of the use of large-N econometric methods to understand empirical issues and characterize causality. She starts with the general summary of econometrics as the application of statistics to economic questions and she identifies the analytical foundations of empirical economics. She highlights the potential for experimental approaches in economics and notes that econometric applications use a range of approaches in research design and statistical analysis to approximate the assumptions of a controlled experiment design. She presents regression models, instrumental variables, and difference-in-difference approaches as analytical tools often applied in large-N econometric studies, and notes that these practices are similar to those used in other disciplines seeking to approximate experimental approaches. @The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center