Primer

Getting started

To get started you will need 

  1. An Internet connection

  2. A working installation of R/RStudio (see the `R/RStudio' menu item above for installation information)

  3. A working installation of each package you wish to use. Note that for the np and crs packages you can simply type `install.packages("np")' (without the single quotes `') and `install.packages("crs")' at the R/RStudio console, and the packages will be automatically downloaded from CRAN and installed. Or, if you are using RStudio, click on the `Packages' tab in the lower right pane (default), then click on the `Install Packages' icon, then enter the package names you wish to install (note you can install multiple packages here by placing a comma between the name of each package you wish to install)

  4. If you wish to run the npRmpi package which allows for a parallel implementation of the np package using the MPI standard (MPI stands for `Message Passing Interface' which is an international standard for parallel computation) kindly see my homepage for further details on installation (in addition to having R/RStudio installed, you need a working MPI implementation)

  5. To test whether your installation of np/crs has been successful, type `library(crs)' followed by `example(crs)' at the R/RStudio console, or `library(np)' followed by `example(npreg)' (again without the single quotes `')

If you encounter installation difficulties perhaps consult a colleague or see your local tech support person as I am unable to assist with installation problems.

Here are a few references that you may find useful:

  1. Racine, J.S. (2012), “RStudio: A Platform-Independent IDE for R and Sweave,” Journal of Applied Econometrics, Volume 27, Issue 1, 167-172.

  2. Racine, J.S. and R. Hyndman (2002), “Using R to Teach Econometrics,” Journal of Applied Econometrics, March/April, Volume 17, Issue 2, 175-189.