Introductory Developments

Econometrics is a discipline with a strong operational content. It enables us to quantify a phenomenon, establish a relationship between several variables, validate or invalidate a theory, evaluate the effects of an economic policy measure, etc. This introductory chapter gives some examples to illustrate in a simple way what econometrics can do. It presents the concepts of model and variable and offers some statistical reminders about the mean, variance, standard deviation, covariance, and linear correlation coefficient. A brief introduction to the concept of stationarity is also provided. Finally, this chapter lists the main databases in economics and finance and the most commonly used software packages.