This book is targeted at two distinct audiences. The first audience concerns novices in econometrics who consider taking an econometrics course in an advanced undergraduate or a graduate program. For them, this book aims to be an introduction to the field, and hopefully such that they do indeed take such courses. It should be stressed, though, that this is not a condescending book – that is, it is not something like “econometrics for dummies.” On the contrary, the reader is taken seriously and hence some effort is required. The second audience consists of colleagues who teach these courses. It is my belief that many econometrics courses, by zooming in on theory and less on practice, are missing the most important aspect of econometrics, which is that it truly is a very practical discipline.

Therefore, central to this book are practical questions in various economic disciplines such as macroeconomics, finance, and marketing, which might be answered by using econometric tools. After a brief discussion of a few basic tools, I review various aspects of econometric modeling. Along these lines, I also discuss matters which are typically skipped in currently available textbooks, but which are very relevant when one aims to apply econometric methods in practice. Next, several case studies should provide some intuition of what econometricians do when they face practical questions. Important concepts are shown in italic type; examples of practical questions which econometricians aim to answer will be shown in bold type.