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Betahat Econometric Software

Betahat is a Windows based econometrics and economic modeling package that uses state of the art algorithms used by analysts to estimate, simulate, and forecast.  Betahat is used by government agencies, businesses, and universities around the world.  Some of the unique features that differentiate Betahat from other econometric software programs are its advanced simulation and model handling features, a dual mode interface (both menu and command mode), and robust methods for reading data and models.  Betahat is used for single equation estimation and forecasting, and large multiequation macroeconometric models.

Betahat runs under Windows and uses many of the familiar user interface devices such as spreadsheets, dialog boxes, and pull down menus.  The length of time the average user spends between the installation of the program and the time when the first model is estimated and simulated is very small.  One of the key objectives of the program is for the focus of the users attention to be on the research project at hand, not on the computational tool being used. 

 

What's New

July 15, 2006

Development of version 7.0 of Betahat is well underway.  A partial list of new features include

  1. Added ability to save the residuals from all equations in a sim with a single option. These residuals can then be used to compute the shocks in a stochastic simulation.
  2. Added ability for Monte Carlo sims to save solution path information.
  3. Added more information on Fair-Taylor iteration form about how many endogenous variables have converged to 1 digit, 2 digits ...
  4. Allow tab delimited files for PRN format.
  5. In addition to placing the results in the Results tab, after running STATS, some of the statistics are available via command mode to be used in equations or transformations. The ones that are available are SUM, MIN, MAX, MEAN, MEANABSVAL (mean of the absolute value), VARIANCE, STDDEV, STDDEVM and MEDIAN.
  6. New sim switch CrossSection.  With this option Betahat does not try to replace a variable with an endogenous variable if cross section data and the var has a lag (with cross sectional data the lagged data is not the same concept).
  7. Added conditional case simulations.
  8. On the spreadsheet tab there is a new command "Go To Row", and you can now search data by row or column.
  9. On the Graphics tab there is a new graphics engine.
  10. Added 2 methods for performing stochastic sims where there are fewer observations in history then there are equations.
 
July 21, 2005

New demo of version 6.0.

 
May 26, 2005

Version 6.0 of Betahat is released. 

 

April 3, 2005

Development of the version 6.0 of Betahat is nearly complete and testing is underway.  New features include

  1. The ability to open multiple command files at once, and to have one command file call another command file.
  2. The Fair-Taylor algorithm for simulating Rational Expectations models.
  3. A number of small changes to make importing models from other programs easier.
December 26, 2004

Version 5.0 of Betahat is released.  

The IMF Mark III model in Betahat format is available on the models page.

The FRB/US model in Betahat format from the US Federal Reserve is available on the models page.

Development of the next version of Betahat is well under way.

 

April 15, 2004

Development of Version 5.00 of Betahat is complete and testing is underway.  In addition to the new features mentioned below in the December 20, 2003 update, version 5.00 includes

  1. Rich Text Format support  for command and results editors, including a toolbar, selectable font, and OLE.
  2. A new method for handling long lines in command mode.  In addition to using the "&" character as a line continuation character, Betahat now allows a single command to run to any number of lines, and interprets a comma as the end of line character.  This allows models from other packages to be read in and run with fewer modifications.
  3. A way to include the name of a CSV file on the SIM command that contains details for Monte Carlo runs.
  4. Four new ways to initialize the values when using the Newton or Stacked Newton algorithms.  
  5. The ability to define, use and save Namelists, which are lists of equations, identities, or series names.  This allows the user to use a namelist in place of a long list of identifiers.
  6. A new tab to compare different simulations.  This tab can read in 1 or 2  CSV files and display a table or chart of the levels, differences, or % differences.

 

February 6, 2004

Many more benchmarks on the Benchmark page.  The new benchmarks include Multivariate t with uncorrelated errors, Multivariate t with independent errors, Logit, Probit, and Poisson regression.  New benchmarks for equations used in structural models include Linear & Nonlinear Two-Stage Least Squares, with and without AR1 errors, LIML, and GMM.  New benchmarks for system estimators include Pooled Estimation, Pooled Estimation with Groupwise Heteroskedasticity, Pooled Estimation with Groupwise Heteroskedasticity and Cross Sectional Correlation, Linear & Nonlinear Seemingly Unrelated Regression, and Linear & Nonlinear Three-Stage Least Squares.

December 20, 2003   

We've made much progress on version 5.00 of Betahat.  The focus so far has been to continue to add features to the simulation part of the program.  We've been working with a variety of large scale Rational Expectations models are are getting very good results.

The new features include  

  1. A new command CONVERTUNIX, which makes some formatting changes to UNIX files so they can be read into Betahat.
  2. Added syntax that allows sums and products to be computed using a loop variable.  The loop variable can also be used to refer to parameters.  These changes were needed to get the Bank of Canada QPM model running in Betahat.
  3. Added SETDATES command so the date and periodicity can be set from command mode.
  4. A new solver that is used in the Newton and Stacked-Time Newton algorithm.  The new solver is much faster than the older one we've been using.
  5. The ability to export/import a simulation in a standardized CSV format for further analysis, or for passing in the terminal conditions for a Rational Expectations model.
  6. New functions to the calculus engine (<, >, <>, >=, <=,=) which means they can now be used in Newton & Stacked-Time algorithms.
  7. A new IF THEN ELSE function using the EXCEL syntax.
  8. The ability to save datasets with over 255 columns of data to the Excel and Access format by using more than one table.
  9. A new option on the SIM command that allows the data in the spreadsheet to be updated with the endogenous series in a simulation.
  10. A better spreadsheet on the spreadsheet tab.
 


We also provide a history of the changes to Betahat if you would like to see what features have been added to Betahat since you purchased your copy.



 

Contact Information

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