EViews.com

OK, an even more simple-minded question than my last one, still unanswered (but it's a 'long' weekend in the US). So forget the panel data for now. I don't seem to even be able to get the benefit of added observations in a VEC model, using a regular dated series model. I want to go back 3 lags on first-differenced GDP, and see the effect on a Turnover variable I am treating as dependent within the VAR. This Turnover variable starts in 1948, but I can easily get GDP data back to 1944.

When I restructure the workfile and successfully update the GDP series, however, it makes no difference in the execution of my VEC. It still runs starting in 1952 , and not (as I had hoped) from 1948, to as to use all the observations in my Turnover series.

I must be messing up something pretty basic, but can't figure it out from the User's guides.

Thanks for any help, JS

Neither of your questions are particularly clear.

However, I'll see if I can take a stab at this one. When estimating a VAR, you need to have observations available for all series. Having more observations in a single series doesn't help at all if those observations are not available for all of the other series in the VAR.

Ah -- I just saw it -- a 'duh' moment! It's the essentially symmetrical treatment of variables provided by the VAR (and VEC) procedures -- with a similar number of lags for each. How embarrassing!

This means I have to set up a VEC with different numbers of lags, in a stepwise linear fashion, if i want to get the benefit of the additional d.o.f. on the 'long' variable. Sorry if my initial questions were unclear, and thanks for your clarifying comment.