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Credible Numbers: A Procedure for Reporting Statistical Precision in Parameter Estimates / Nicolas Astier, Frank A. Wolak.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Astier, Nicolas.
- Series:
- Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w32124.
- NBER working paper series no. w32124
- Language:
- English
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);
- Place of Publication:
- Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2024.
- Summary:
- Econometric software packages typically report a fixed number of decimal digits for coefficient estimates and their associated standard errors. This practice misses the opportunity to use rounding rules that convey statistical precision. Using insights from the testing statistical hypotheses of equivalence literature, we propose a methodology that only reports decimal digits in a parameter estimate that reject a hypothesis of statistical equivalence. Applying this methodology to all articles published in the American Economic Review between 2000 and 2022, we find that over 60% of the printed digits in coefficient estimates do not convey statistically meaningful information according to our definition of a significant digit. If one additional digit beyond the last significant digit is reported for each coefficient estimate, then approximately one-third of the printed digits in our sample would not be reported.
- Notes:
- Print version record
- February 2024.
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