Rainer Winkelmann Bücher

Der Roman entfaltet sich in einem doppelt dialogischen Aufbau, in dem ein Missionsarzt im Ruhestand nach Simbabwe zurückkehrt, um einen kranken Missionar zu besuchen, der von einem prägnanten Erlebnis mit einem hochintelligenten Wissenschaftler berichten möchte. Während eines unbewussten Absturzes in den Keller eines Krankenhauses wird der Theologiestudent von einem charismatischen Mann durch eine wissenschaftliche Abteilung geführt, die gedankliche Experimente und Glaubensfragen thematisiert. Der Leiter dieser Abteilung entpuppt sich als eine mephistophelische Figur, die tiefere Konsequenzen für die Menschheit aufzeigt.

The rapid increase in the availability of microdata has led to more sophisticated modeling options in standard statistical and econometric software. This book, now in its second edition, aims to familiarize readers with a variety of commonly used models to help them become critical consumers of empirical research and conduct their own analyses. It serves as a textbook for advanced undergraduate, Master’s, or first-year Ph.D. courses on microdata analysis, typically offered after an introductory course on linear regression. Additionally, it can function as a supplementary text for applied field courses in areas such as labor, health, or education, and as a reference for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners working with microdata. The focus is on regression-type models within large cross-section samples, particularly when the dependent variable is qualitative or discrete, or when the sample is not randomly drawn due to issues like censoring or truncation. While grounded in economics and occasionally referencing empirical economics problems, the models discussed are relevant across social sciences, including quantitative political science and sociology, as well as other fields utilizing microdata.

The “count data” ? eld has further ? ourished since the previous edition of this book was published in 2003. The development of new methods has not slowed down by any means, and the application of existing ones in applied work has expanded in many areas of social science research. This, in itself, would be reason enough for updating the material in this book, to ensure that it continues to provide a fair representation of the current state of research. In addition, however, I have seized the opportunity to undertake some major changes to the organization of the book itself. The core material on cross-section models for count data is now presented in four chapters, rather than in two as previously. The ? rst of these four chapters introduces the Poissonregressionmodel, anditsestimationbymaximumlikelihoodorpseudo maximum likelihood. The second focuses on unobserved heterogeneity, the third on endogeneity and non-random sample selection. The fourth chapter provides an extended and uni? ed discussion of zeros in count data models. This topic deserves, in my view, special emphasis, as it relates to aspects of modeling and estimation that are speci? c to counts, as opposed to general exponential regression models for non-negative dependent variables. Count distributions put positive probability mass on single o- comes, and thus o? er a richer set of interesting inferences.