Topic: Regression in LEAPSubscribe | Previous | Next
Marcelo Resende 8/24/2017
HI! I am new to LEAP and would like to know if there is some way to do a multiple linear regression in it. In this case, I would like to project household consumption in period t. The independent variables would be GDP in period t-1 and household consumption itself, also in period t-1. I have searched for "regression" in LEAP's manual and the only thing I found was a linear regression with only one regressor (time) that serves to extrapolate data (I am talking about the functions ExpDataTrend, ExpForecast, ExpForecastBY, LinDataTrend, LinForecast and LinForecastBY), which does not serve my purposes here.
Thank you a lot!
Charlie Heaps 8/25/2017
Hi Marcelo,
LEAP doesn't have any built-in functionality for creating regression analyses. Rather, it is the place where you would put in a function that you have created as a result of having done a regression analysis. Excel is a perfectly good tool for doing linear or log-linear regressions, or you may want to use a more sophisticated stats programs such as Matlab, Mathematica or "R". Although I don't use it myself, many of my colleagues are very keen on R, which is very flexible and is also free and open source.
Once you have created the regression and finalized the functional form you want to use, you can enter an expression in LEAP that projects a dependent variable (e.g. energy use) based on references to independent variables in LEAP (e.g. GDP, income, population), as well as any parameters you have calculated in your regression. Typically you can store the independent variables under the "Key Assumptions" branches area in LEAP. Take a look at the Freedonia data set to see how you can write expressions that refer to the values in other variables.
At some point in the future, we might add more capabilities to LEAP so it can create its own regressions, but this is not a priority right now since there are so many other good tools that do that type of thing.
Hope this helps!
Charlie
LEAP Developer
Marcelo Resende 8/25/2017
