Accuracy: Linear Regression Computation

LIMDEP's linear regression computations are extremely accurate. The 'Filippelli problem' in the NIST benchmark problems is the most difficult of the set. Most programs are not able to do the computation at all. The assessment of another widely used package was as follows:

'Filippelli test: XXXXX found the variables so collinear that it dropped two of them - that is, it set two coefficients and standard errors to zero. The resulting estimates still fit the data well. Most other statistical software packages have done the same thing and most authors have interpreted this result as acceptable for this test.'

We don't find this acceptable. First, the problem is solvable. See LIMDEP's solution below using only the program defaults - just the basic regression instruction. Second, LIMDEP would not, on its own, drop variables from any regression and leave behind some arbitrarily chosen set that provides a 'good fit.' If the regression can't be computed within the (very high) tolerance of the program, we just tell you so. For this problem, LIMDEP does issue a warning, however. What you do next is up to you, not the program.

 
The NIST data and solution file

Dataset Name:  Filippelli (filippelli.dat)
Procedure:     Linear Least Squares Regression
Reference:     Filippelli, A., NIST.
Data:          1 Response Variable (y)
               1 Predictor Variable (x)
               82 Observations
               Higher Level of Difficulty
Model:         Polynomial Class
               11 Parameters (B0,B1,...,B10)
               y = B0+B1*x+B2*(x**2) +...+B9*(x**9)+B10*(x**10)+e
               Certified Regression Statistics
                                            Standard Deviation
     Parameter         Estimate                of Estimate
        B0        -1467.48961422980         298.084530995537
        B1        -2772.17959193342         559.779865474950
        B2        -2316.37108160893         466.477572127796
        B3        -1127.97394098372         227.204274477751
        B4        -354.478233703349         71.6478660875927
        B5        -75.1242017393757         15.2897178747400
        B6        -10.8753180355343         2.23691159816033
        B7        -1.06221498588947         0.221624321934227
        B8        -0.670191154593408E-01    0.142363763154724E-01
        B9        -0.246781078275479E-02    0.535617408889821E-03
        B10       -0.402962525080404E-04    0.896632837373868E-05
     Standard Deviation   0.334801051324544E-02
     R-Squared            0.996727416185620
     F Statistic       2162.43954511489
Certified Analysis of Variance Table
Source of Degrees of     Sums of                 Mean  
Variation  Freedom       Squares                Squares           
Regression   10     0.242391619837339     0.242391619837339E-01 
Residual     71     0.795851382172941E-03 0.112091743968020E-04

LIMDEP solution

WARNING: Badly conditioned X. Condition value =    .1818039D+13
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Ordinary    least squares regression    Weighting variable = none     |
| Dep. var. = Y        Mean=   .8495756098    , S.D.=   .5479337971E-01 |
| Model size: Observations =      82, Parameters =  11, Deg.Fr.=     71 |
| Residuals:  Sum of squares= .7958513674E-03, Std.Dev.=         .00335 |
| Fit:        R-squared=  .996727, Adjusted R-squared =          .99627 |
| Model test: F[ 10,     71] = 2162.44,    Prob value =          .00000 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---------+--------------+----------------+--------+---------+----------+
|Variable | Coefficient  | Standard Error |t-ratio |P[|T|>t] | Mean of X|
+---------+--------------+----------------+--------+---------+----------+
 Constant    -1467.489645       298.08453   -4.923   .0000
 X1          -2772.179651       559.77986   -4.952   .0000    -6.1502375
 X2          -2316.371131       466.47757   -4.966   .0000     40.058748
 X3          -1127.973965       227.20427   -4.965   .0000    -273.41944
 X4          -354.4782414       71.647866   -4.948   .0000     1938.1080
 X5          -75.12420340       15.289718   -4.913   .0000    -14165.550
 X6          -10.87531828       2.2369116   -4.862   .0000     106165.36
 X7          -1.062215010       .22162432   -4.793   .0000    -812357.31
 X8       -.6701911701E-01  .14236376E-01   -4.708   .0000     6324653.3
 X9       -.2467810841E-02  .53561741E-03   -4.607   .0000    -49962743.
 X10      -.4029625348E-04  .89663283E-05   -4.494   .0000  .39956133E+0