Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach 6th Edition by Jeffrey M Wooldridge

Exercise 8

The data set BWGHT.RAW contains data on births to women in the United States. Two variables of interest are the dependent variable, infant birth weight in ounces (bwght), and an explanatory variable, average number of cigarettes the mother smoked per day during pregnancy (cigs). The following simple regression was estimated using data on n = 1,388 births:

(i) What is the predicted birth weight when cigs = 0? What about when cigs = 20 (one pack per day)? Comment on the difference.

(ii) Does

this simple regression necessarily capture a causal relationship between the child's birth weight and the mother's smoking habits? Explain.

(iii) To predict a birth weight of 125 ounces, what would cigs have to be? Comment.

(iv) The proportion of women in the sample who do not smoke while pregnant is about .85. Does this help reconcile your finding from part (iii)?

Step 1 of 5

Regression analysis is a statistical analysis through which relationship among variables can be identified. It investigates the strength by which a dependent variable is dependent on an independent variable.