The present series, Econometric Exercises, was conceived in 1995 with this challenge in mind. Now, one decade later, it has become an exciting reality with the publication of the first installment of a series of volumes of worked econometric exercises. How can these volumes work as a tool of learning that adds value to the many existing textbooks of econometrics? What readers do we have in mind as benefiting from this series? What format best suits the objective of helping these readers learn, practice, and teach econometrics? These questions we now address, starting with our overall goals for the series.

Econometric Exercises is published as an organized set of volumes. Each volume in the series provides a coherent sequence of exercises in a specific field or subfield of econometrics. Solved exercises are assembled in a structured and logical pedagogical framework that seeks to develop the subject matter of the field from its foundations through to its empirical applications and advanced reaches. As the Schaum series has done so successfully for mathematics, the overall goal of Econometric Exercises is to develop the subject matter of econometrics through solved exercises, providing a coverage of the subject that begins at an introductory level and moves through to more advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level material.

Problem solving and worked exercises play a major role in every scientific subject. They are particularly important in a subject like econometrics where there is a rapidly growing literature of statistical and mathematical technique and an ever-expanding core to the discipline. As students, instructors, and researchers, we all benefit by seeing carefully worked-out solutions to problems that develop the subject and illustrate its methods and workings. Regular exercises and problem sets consolidate learning and reveal applications of textbook material. Clearly laid out solutions, paradigm answers, and alternate routes to solutions all develop problem-solving skills. Exercises train students in clear analytical thinking and help them in preparing for tests and exams. Teachers, as well as students, find solved exercises useful in their classroom preparation and in designing problem sets, tests, and examinations. Worked problems and illustrative empirical applications appeal to researchers and professional economists wanting to learn about specific econometric techniques. Our intention for the Econometric Exercises series is to appeal to this wide range of potential users.

Each volume of the series follows the same general template. Chapters begin with a short outline that emphasizes the main ideas and overviews the most relevant theorems and results. The introductions are followed by a sequential development of the material by solved examples and applications, as well as computer exercises where these are appropriate. All problems are solved, and they are graduated in difficulty, with solution techniques evolving in a logical, sequential fashion. Problems are asterisked when they require more creative solutions or reach higher levels of technical difficulty. Each volume is self-contained. There is some commonality in material across volumes in the series in order to reinforce learning and to make each volume accessible to students and others who are working largely, or even completely, on their own.

Content is structured so that solutions follow immediately after the exercise is posed. This makes the text more readable and avoids repetition of the statement of the exercise when it is being solved. More importantly, posing the right question at the right moment in the development of a subject helps to anticipate and address future learning issues that students face. Furthermore, the methods developed in a solution and the precision and insights of the answers are often more important than the questions being posed. In effect, the inner workings of a good solution frequently provide benefit beyond what is relevant to the specific exercise.

Exercise titles are listed at the start of each volume, so that readers may see the overall structure of the book and its more detailed contents. This organization reveals the exercise progression, how the exercises relate to one another, and where the material is heading. It should also tantalize readers with the exciting prospect of advanced material and intriguing applications.

The series is intended for a readership that includes undergraduate students of econometrics with an introductory knowledge of statistics, first- and second-year graduate students of econometrics, as well as students and instructors from neighboring disciplines (like statistics, psychology, or political science) with interests in econometric methods. The volumes generally increase in difficulty as the topics become more specialized.

The early volumes in the series (particularly those covering matrix algebra, statistics, econometric theory, and empirical applications) provide a foundation to the study of econometrics. These volumes will be especially useful to students who are following the first-year econometrics course sequence in North American graduate schools and need to prepare for graduate comprehensive examinations in econometrics and to write an applied econometrics paper. The early volumes will equally be of value to advanced undergraduates studying econometrics in Europe, to advanced undergraduates and honors students in the Australasian system, and to masters and doctoral students in general. Subsequent volumes will be of interest to professional economists, applied workers, and econometricians who are working with techniques in those areas, as well as students who are taking an advanced course sequence in econometrics and statisticians with interests in those topics.

The Econometric Exercises series is intended to offer an independent learning-by-doing program in econometrics, and it provides a useful reference source for anyone wanting to learn more about econometric methods and applications. The individual volumes can be used in classroom teaching and examining in a variety of ways. For instance, instructors can work through some of the problems in class to demonstrate methods as they are introduced, they can illustrate theoretical material with some of the solved examples, and they can show real data applications of the methods by drawing on some of the empirical examples. For examining purposes, instructors may draw freely from the solved exercises in test preparation. The systematic development of the subject in individual volumes will make the material easily accessible both for students in revision and for instructors in test preparation.

In using the volumes, students and instructors may work through the material sequentially as part of a complete learning program, or they may dip directly into material where they are experiencing difficulty, in order to learn from solved exercises and illustrations. To promote intensive study, an instructor might announce to a class in advance of a test that some questions in the test will be selected from a certain chapter of one of the volumes. This approach encourages students to work through most of the exercises in a particular chapter by way of test preparation, thereby reinforcing classroom instruction.

Further details and updated information about individual volumes can be obtained from the Econometric Exercises website,

http://us.cambridge.org/economics/ee/econometricexercises.htm

The website also contains the basic notation for the series, which can be downloaded along with the LATEX style files.

As series editors, we welcome comments, criticisms, suggestions, and, of course, corrections from all our readers on each of the volumes in the series as well as on the series itself. We bid you as much happy reading and problem solving as we have had in writing and preparing this series.