Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Statistical Narratives and the Properties of Macro-Level Variables: Labor Market Institutions and Employment Performance in Macrocomparative Research

  • Chapter
Method and Substance in Macrocomparative Analysis

Part of the book series: Research Methods Series ((REMES))

Abstract

Panel data have become paramount in macrocomparative research designs in many branches of the social sciences, but in particular in political economy and welfare state research. However, by including the time dimension into cross-sectionally posed research questions, much more is added than just a few observations. Substantive issues like dynamics, variations in effect types, feedback, learning, and path dependency impact on the possibilities for making inferential statements. Technical issues like nonstationarity and serial correlation affect the researcher’s ability to draw conclusions from coefficients in regression models.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Allan, James P. and Lyle Scruggs. 2004. “Political Partisanship and Welfare State Reform in Advanced Industrialized Societies.” American Journal of Political Science 48: 496–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arellano, Manuel. 2003. Panel Data Econometrics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Baltagi, Badi H. 2000. Nonstationary Panels, Cointegration in Panels, and Dynamic Panels (Advances in Econometrics Vol. 15). Oxford: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baltagi, Badi H. 2001. Econometric Analysis of Panel Data. 2nd Edition. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banerjee, Anindya. 1999. “Panel Data Unit Roots and Cointegration: An Overview.” Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 61: 607–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, Nathaniel. 2001. “Time-Series Cross-Section Data: What Have We Learned in the Past Few Years?” Annual Review of Political Science 4: 271–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, Nathaniel and Jonathan Katz. 2007. “From Statistical Nuisances to Serious Modeling: Changing How We Think About the Analysis of Time-Series Cross-Section Data.” Political Analysis 15: 97–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Deken, Johan and Bernhard Kittel. 2007. “Social Expenditure under Scrutiny: The Problems of Using Aggregate Spending Data for Assessing Welfare State Dynamics.” Pp. 72–105 in Investigating Welfare State Change: The “Dependent Variable Problem” in Comparative Analysis, edited by Jochen Clasen and Nico Siegel. London: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebbinghaus, Bernhard and Bernhard Kittel. 2005. “European Rigidity Versus American Flexibility? The Institutional Adaptability of Collective Bargaining.” Work and Occupations 32: 163–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, John R. 1990. “Systematic Sampling, Temporal Aggregation, and the Study of Political Relationships.” Pp. 61–98 in Political Analysis Vol. 1, 1989, edited by James A. Stimson. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene, William. 2003. Econometric Analysis, 5th edition. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gujarati, Damodar N. 2003. Basic Econometrics, 4th edition. New York: McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halaby, Charles N. 2004. “Panel Models in Sociological Research: Theory into Practice.” Annual Review of Sociology 30: 507–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, Peter A. 2003. “Aligning Ontology and Methodology in Comparative Research.” Pp. 373–404 in Comparative Historical Research in the Social Sciences, edited by James Mahoney and Dietrich Rueschemeyer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, Peter A. and Robert J. Franzese. 1998. “Mixed Signals: Central Bank Independence, Coordinated Wage Bargaining, and European Monetary Union.” International Organization 52: 505–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hicks, Alexander M. 1994. “Introduction to Pooling.” Pp. 169–88 in The Comparative Political Economy of the Welfare State, edited by Thomas Janoski and Alexander Hicks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hoover, Kevin D. 2002. “Econometrics and Reality.” Pp. 152–77 in Fact and Fiction in Economics: Models, Realism, and Social Construction, edited by Uskali Mäki. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Iversen, Torben and Anne Wren. 1998. “Equality, Employment, and Budgetary Restraint: The Trilemma of the Service Economy.” World Politics 50: 507–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackman, Robert W. 1985. “Cross-National Statistical Reseach and the Study of Comparative Politics.” American Journal of Political Science 29: 161–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenworthy, Lane. 2003. “Do Affluent Countries Face an Incomes Jobs Trade-Off?” Comparative Political Studies 36: 1180–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, Gary, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kittel, Bernhard. 1999. “Sense and Sensitivity in Pooled Analysis of Political Data.” European Journal of Political Research 35: 225–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kittel, Bernhard. 2006. “A Crazy Methodology? On the Limits of Macroquantitative Social Science Research.” International Sociology 21: 647–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kittel, Bernhard and Hannes Winner. 2005. “How Reliable Is Pooled Analysis in Political Economy? The Globalization-Welfare State Nexus Revisited.” European Journal of Political Research 44: 269–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazarsfeld, Paul F. and H. Menzel. 1961. “On the Relationship between Individual and Collective Properties.” Pp. 499–516 in Complex Organizations: A Sociological Reader, edited by Amitai Etzioni. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leamer, Edward E. 1978. Specification Searches: Ad-Hoc Inference with Nonexperimental Data. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieberson, Stanley. 1985. Making It Count: The Improvement of Social Research and Theory. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lijphart, Arend. 1971. “Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method.” American Political Science Review 65: 682–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maddala, G.S. 1999. “On the Use of Panel Data Methods with Cross-Country Data.” Annales d’économie et de statistique 55–6: 429–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddala, G. S. and S. Wu. 1999. “A Comparative Study of Unit Roots Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test.” Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 61: 631–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mâtyâs, Lâslô and Patrick Sevestre, eds. 1996. The Econometrics of Panel Data: A Handbook of the Theory with Applications. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierson, Paul. 2004. Politics in Time: History, Institutions, and Social Analysis. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polillo, Simone and Mauro F. Guillén. 2005. “Globalization Pressures and the State: The Worldwide Spread of Central Bank Independence.” American Journal of Sociology 110: 1764–802.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Przeworski, Adam. 2004. “Institutions Matter?” Government and Opposition 39: 527–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Przeworski, Adam and Henry Teune. 1970. The Logic of Comparative Social Inquiry. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scharpf, Fritz W. 2000. “Economic Changes, Vulnerabilities, and Institutional Capabilities.” Pp. 21–125 in Welfare and Work in the Open Economy, edited by Fritz W. Scharpf and Vivien A. Schmidt. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scruggs, Lyle. 2005. Comparative Welfare Entitlement Dateset, accessed April 2006. http://www.sp.uconn.edu/-scruggs/wp.htm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shalev, Michael. 2007. “Limits of and Alternatives to Multiple Regression in Macro-Comparative Research.” Pp. 261–308 in Capitalisms Compared (Comparative Social Research, Vol. 24), edited by Lars Mjoset. Amsterdam. Elsevier.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Stimson, James A. 1985. “Regression in Time and Space: A Statistical Essay.” American Journal of Political Science 29: 914–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wawro, Gregory. 2002. “Estimating Dynamic Panel Data Models in Political Science.” Political Analysis 10: 25–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, Sven E. and Daniel M. Butler. 2007. “A Lot More to Do: The Sensitivity of Time-Series Cross-Section Analysis to Alternative Specifications.” Political Analysis 15: 101–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wooldridge, Jeffrey M. 2002. Econometric Analyses of Cross Section and Panel Data. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Bernhard Kittel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Arizona, USA

    Lane Kenworthy (Professor of Sociology and Political Science) (Professor of Sociology and Political Science)

  2. Emory University, USA

    Alexander Hicks (Professor of Sociology) (Professor of Sociology)

Copyright information

© 2008 Bernhard Kittel

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kittel, B. (2008). Statistical Narratives and the Properties of Macro-Level Variables: Labor Market Institutions and Employment Performance in Macrocomparative Research. In: Kenworthy, L., Hicks, A. (eds) Method and Substance in Macrocomparative Analysis. Research Methods Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230594081_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation