ECO 7391 Statistics for Economists

http://www.utdallas.edu/~wenhua.di/statistics.htm

Class Meetings: T/Th, 12:30-1:45pm at GR3.606

Instructor: Wenhua Di (GR 3.130, wenhua.di@utdallas.edu)

Office Hours: Tuesday 2-4pm or by appointment

Teaching Assistant: Ozge Ozden (GR 2.816 ozge.ozden@student.utdallas.edu)

TA Office Hours: Wednesday 3-5pm or by appointment

Description: The primary objective of this course is to provide an introduction to

mathematical statistics necessary for the subsequent study of econometrics and economic
theory.

The emphasis of the course is on the principles of probability and statistical reasoning.
Topics to be covered in the course include probability measure, random variables,
distributions and densities, expectations and conditional expectations, families of
distributions and transformations, hypothesis testing, and introduction to asymptotic
theory.

Prerequisites: No prior preparation in probability and statistics is required, but

familiarity with linear algebra and multivariate calculus is assumed.

Exams: Three mid-term exams will be held in class on September 15, October 20, and
November 22. Any time conflicts should be discussed with the instructor well before the
exam dates. Students are allowed to bring one piece of “cheat sheet” to the exams. On
that piece of paper, students can write down concepts or formulas or anything that
students find important or hard to memorize. No other materials or any types of
collaboration are allowed in the exam.

Textbook required for the class: Casella, G. and R.L. Berger, Statistical Inference,
Second Edition. Duxbury Press, 2002 (cited as CB).

Reference book (not required): DeGroot, M.H. and M.J. Schervish, Probability and
Statistics, Third Edition. Addison-Wesley, 2002.

Grading: Problem sets assigned won’t be graded, but they can be used as practice for
exams. Grading will be based on performance on three mid-term exams (30%, 30% and
40%). Regrading requests must be submitted in writing within 1 week after exams have
been distributed in class, even if you are absent. Be certain to review your exam in full, as
the entire exam will be reevaluated.
TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE:

1. Probability Theory

(a) Elementary Probability Theory (CB 1.1, 1.2)

(b) Conditional Probability, Independence (CB 1.3)
(c) Random Variables, Distribution Functions, Functions of Random Variables (CB 1.4-
1.6, 2.1)
(d) Joint Distributions, Conditional Distributions, Independence of Random Variables
(CB 4.1-4.3)
(e) Expectation (CB 2.2-2.3, CB 4.5)
(f) Special Distributions (CB 3)
(g) Convergence, Laws of Large Numbers, Central Limit Theorems (CB 2.3, 5.5)

2. Statistical Inference (If time allows)

(a) Maximum Likelihood Estimation (CB 7.2.2)

(b) Hypothesis Testing (CB 8.3.1)