12 - Exporting Regression Output

Here, we work on how to export our regression results. We introduce some commands to make our regression results look professional and to present our coefficients in a meaningful manner.

Prerequisites

1. Run OLS Regressions.

Learning Outcomes

1. Being able to export regression output in a table.
2. Being able to plot regression coefficients in a graph.

12.1 Exporting Regression Output

When doing our project, presenting our results in a clear and organized manner is as important as obtaining the results themselves. Stata’s output is very clear on the computer display, but at some point we need to “move” it from Stata to our draft. In this module, we will see how to save a regression output in a table.

Once again, we will be using the fictional data set. Recall that this data is simulating information of workers in the years 1982-2012 in a fictional country where a training program was introduced in 2003 to boost their earnings.

Let’s start by opening the dataset.

* Load the dataset
clear *
*cd ""
use "fake_data.dta", clear

Imagine we are interested in estimating a multivariate regression of the following form:

\[ \text{earnings}_{it} = \alpha + \beta_1 \text{age}_{it} + \beta_2 \text{sex}_i + \varepsilon_{it} \]

where \(\text{Earnings}_{it}\) is the logarithm of earnings of individual \(i\) at time \(t\), \(\text{Age}_{it}\) is the logarithm of age of individual \(i\) at time \(t\), and \(\text{Sex}_i\) is a dummy variable equal to one if the sex of individual \(i\) is female.

First, we create the variables we need.

* Create the variables
generate logearn = log(earnings)
generate logage = log(age)
generate sexdummy = 1 if sex == "F"
replace sexdummy = 0 if missing(sexdummy)

Then, we can estimate our specification using the command regress. We have seen how to do it in Module 11.

regress logearn logage sexdummy

There are different options available to export this table to another file. In this module, we will use etable, a command available by default in Stata 17 and subsequent versions.

etable can take several options. In its simplest form, we just need to type etable, export(filename) after fitting a model to save a table in a file named filename. We can use files of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, LATEX, Markdown, or PDF, but we need to specify the right extension.

For example, let’s save our results in a Microsoft Word file named table.docx.

regress logearn logage sexdummy
etable, export(table.docx, replace)

A file named table.docx should appear in your folder. Notice that this worked, but our table does not have a very professional appearance yet. We can add more options to the command etable to make our results more clear and organized.

Here are some of the options we can add:

• we can add more statistics, such as the number of observations (N), the R\(^2\) (r2), the adjusted R\(^2\) (r2_a), and the F statistic (F), with the options mstat(N), mstat(r2), mstat(r2_a), and mstat(F);
• we can add a title titlename with the option title(titlename);
• we can show the stars indicating the level of significance of our coefficients with the option showstars and add a footnote explaining them with showstarsnote;
• for the coefficients, we can display the variable labels instead of their names by adding the option varlabel;
• for the dependent variable, we can display its variable label instead of its name by adding the option column(dvlabel);
• we can show only some coefficients, by including them in keep(coeffnames). For example, we can show only the coefficients for age and sex by adding the option keep(logage sexdummy).

Let’s try all of them in practice. Notice that now we add the option replace when we save the file because there is already a Microsoft Word file named table.docx: export(table.docx, replace).

* Add labels to variables
label var logearn "Earnings (ln)"
label var logage "Age (ln)"
label var sexdummy "Female"

* Run regression
regress logearn logage sexdummy

* Store results
etable, export(table.docx, replace) mstat(N) mstat(r2_a) title(Earnings) showstars showstarsnote keep(logage sexdummy) varlabel column(dvlabel)

This is way nicer, but what if we want to show the results of multiple models in the same table?

Suppose we want to first estimate a model with only age or only sex as an explanatory variable, and then a multivariate model encompassing both. In this case, we just need to store the results of each model using the command estimates store.

In the example below, we store the three models in objects model1, model2, and model3.

* Store first regression in model1
regress logearn logage
estimates store model1

* Store second regression in model2
regress logearn sexdummy
estimates store model2

* Store third regression in model3
regress logearn logage sexdummy
estimates store model3

Now, we can export all the objects in one single table by calling their names in the options estimates().

etable, estimates(model1 model2 model3) mstat(N) mstat(r2_a) showstars showstarsnote varlabel column(dvlabel) export(table.docx, replace)

12.2 Plotting Regression Coefficients

Visual representations can be better than tables. Sometimes we need to plot our estimated coefficients and their confidence intervals.

In Stata, this is easily done with command coefplot. The graphs obtained with coefplot are easy to customize. In its simplest use, we only need to run coefplot right after our regression.

Note: You will need to install command coefplot from the SSC Archive the first time you use it on your local computer. To do so, type ssc install coefplot.

Once again, let’s try it on our multivariate model. We can omit the constant by adding the option drop(_cons). Remember to save the graph.

regress logearn logage sexdummy
coefplot, drop(_cons)
graph export graph1.jpg, as(jpg) replace

Since it is a graph, we can add most of the options that we have seen in Module 9. For example, we can change the color of the background from light blue to white with the option graphregion(color(white)).

There are some options that are specific to coefplot. By default, confidence intervals are drawn at 95% significance levels. We can specify different and multiple levels in the option levels(). For example, we can show both the 95% and 99.9% confidence intervals with levels(99.9 95).

Additionally, we can use a vertical layout with the option vertical.

Let’s apply these options to our example.

regress logearn logage sexdummy
coefplot, drop(_cons) graphregion(color(white)) levels(99.9 95) vertical
graph export graph1.jpg, as(jpg) replace

12.3 Wrap Up

We have learned in this module how to store regression output in a clear and organized manner using the command etable and how to plot regression coefficients using the command coefplot.

Remember to check the Stata documentation when creating graphs and exporting tables. The documentation can be your best ally if you end up using it.

12.4 Wrap-up Table

Command	Function
etable, export(filename)	It exports the regression output to a file named filename.
coefplot	It plots regression coefficients and their 95% confidence intervals.

References

etable manual
How to use coefplot