Note to Students

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The labs on this web site are designed to complement the material you are learning in your course. In addition to helping you clarify your understanding of concepts discussed in the textbook, completing the labs will help you refine your ability to support or refute ideas with empirical evidence, an extremely valuable skill in itself.

Data for completing the labs is available in both Excel and Stata format under the "Data Set" tab of the Lab Exercises section of the web site. You will most likely find it easiest to work and manipulate the data if you first download the files to your computer by right clicking on the link to the appropriate data set. The data files themselves contain some brief variable definitions in comment fields (Excel file) or in the data labels (Stata file). However, more detailed descriptions of the data are available in the Data Definitions and Sources.

If you are not familiar with either Excel or Stata, you will find a brief introduction to both of these programs under the "Getting Started in Stata or Excel" tab of the Lab Exercises section. If you are already a Stata or Excel whiz, then you should be able to skip these introductory instructions and go right to the first lab.

So, roll up your sleeves and see for yourself what can explain the tremendous differences in living standards experienced throughout the world.

Ann L. Owen
Hamilton College

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