Solved – How to deal with omitted dumthe variables in a fixed effect model

fixed-effects-modelhausmanpanel datastata

I am using a fixed effect model for my panel data (9 years, 1000+ obs), since my Hausman test indicates a value $(Pr>\chi^2)<0.05$. When I add dummy variables for industries that my firms included, they always get omitted. I know there is a big difference when it comes to the DV (disclosure index) among the different industry groups. But I am not able to get them in my model when using Stata.

Any suggestions how to solve this? And why are they omitted?

Best Answer

Fixed effect panel regression models involve subtracting group means from the regressors. This means that you can only include time-varying regressors in the model. Since firms usually belong to one industry the dummy variable for industry does not vary with time. Hence it is excluded from your model by Stata, since after subtracting the group mean from such variable you will get that it is equal to zero.

Note that Hausman test is a bit tricky, so you cannot solely base your model selection (fixed vs random effects) with it. Wooldridge explains it very nicely (in my opinion) in his book.