Reading 1 Multiple Regression
Reading 1 Multiple Regression
An analyst is estimating whether company sales is related to three economic variables. The
regression exhibits conditional heteroskedasticity, serial correlation, and multicollinearity. The
analyst uses White and Newey-West corrected standard errors. Which of the following is most
accurate?
The regression will still exhibit heteroskedasticity and multicollinearity, but the serial
A)
correlation problem will be solved.
The regression will still exhibit multicollinearity, but the heteroskedasticity and serial
B)
correlation problems will be solved.
The regression will still exhibit serial correlation and multicollinearity, but the
C)
heteroskedasticity problem will be solved.
Consider the following estimated regression equation, with the standard errors of the slope
coefficients as noted:
Salesi = 10.0 + 1.25 R&Di + 1.0 ADVi – 2.0 COMPi + 8.0 CAPi
where the standard error for the estimated coefficient on R&D is 0.45, the standard
error for the estimated coefficient on ADV is 2.2 , the standard error for the estimated
coefficient on COMP is 0.63, and the standard error for the estimated coefficient on
CAP is 2.5.
The equation was estimated over 40 companies. Using a 5% level of significance, which of the
estimated coefficients are significantly different from zero?
A) Scatter plot.
B) Breusch-Pagan test.
C) Breusch-Godfrey test.
One of the main assumptions of a multiple regression model is that the variance of the
residuals is constant across all observations in the sample. A violation of the assumption is
most likely to be described as:
During the course of a multiple regression analysis, an analyst has observed several items that
she believes may render incorrect conclusions. For example, the coefficient standard errors are
too small, although the estimated coefficients are accurate. She believes that these small
standard error terms will result in the computed t-statistics being too big, resulting in too many
Type I errors. The analyst has most likely observed which of the following assumption violations
in her regression analysis?
F statistic: 9.80
Variable Descriptions
Using the regression model developed, the closest prediction of sales for December 20x6 is:
A) $44,000.
B) $36,000.
C) $55,000.
Question #7 - 11 of 144 Question ID: 1471915
Will Stumper conclude that the housing starts coefficient is statistically different from zero and
how will he interpret it at the 5% significance level:
A) not different from zero; sales will rise by $0 for every 100 house starts.
B) different from zero; sales will rise by $100 for every 23 house starts.
C) different from zero; sales will rise by $23 for every 100 house starts.
Is the regression coefficient of changes in mortgage interest rates different from zero at the 5
percent level of significance?
A) 9.80.
B) 67.00.
C) 77.00.
In this multiple regression, if Stumper discovers that the residuals exhibit positive serial
correlation, the most likely effect is:
The equation was estimated over 40 companies. The predicted value of AUTO if PI is 4, TEEN is
0.30, and INS = 0.6 is closest to:
A) 14.90.
B) 14.10.
C) 17.50.
Binod Salve, CFA, is investigating the application of the Fama-French three-factor model (Model
1) for the Indian stock market for the period 2001–2011 (120 months). Using the dependent
variable as annualized return (%), the results of the analysis are shown in Indian Equities—
Fama-French Model
R-squared 0.36
SSE 38.00
BG (lag 1) 2.11
BG (lag 2) 1.67
1 3.84
2 5.99
3 7.81
4 9.49
5 11.07
6 12.59
Salve runs a regression using the squared residuals from the model using the original
dependent variables. The coefficient of determination of this model is 6%. Which of the
following is the most appropriate conclusion at a 5% level of significance?
Because the test statistic of 7.20 is higher than the critical value of 3.84, we reject the
A)
null hypothesis of no conditional heteroskedasticity in residuals.
Because the test statistic of 7.20 is lower than the critical value of 7.81, we fail to reject
B)
the null hypothesis of no conditional heteroskedasticity in residuals.
Because the test statistic of 3.60 is lower than the critical value of 3.84, we reject the
C)
null hypothesis of no conditional heteroskedasticity in residuals.
Which of the following misspecifications is most likely to cause serial correlation in residuals?
A) Yes, and Salve should exclude either variable SMB or HML from the model.
B) Yes, and Salve should exclude variable Rm-Rf from the model.
C) No.
When constructing a regression model to predict portfolio returns, an analyst runs a regression
for the past five year period. After examining the results, she determines that an increase in
interest rates two years ago had a significant impact on portfolio results for the time of the
increase until the present. By performing a regression over two separate time periods, the
analyst would be attempting to prevent which type of misspecification?
Autumn Voiku is attempting to forecast sales for Brookfield Farms based on a multiple
regression model. Voiku has constructed the following model:
Where:
Voiku uses monthly data from the previous 180 months of sales data and for the independent
variables. The model estimates (with coefficient standard errors in parentheses) are:
The sum of squared errors is 140.3 and the total sum of squares is 368.7.
Voiku is concerned that one or more of the assumptions underlying multiple regression has
been violated in her analysis. In a conversation with Dave Grimbles, CFA, a colleague who is
considered by many in the firm to be a quant specialist, Voiku says, "It is my understanding that
there are five assumptions of a multiple regression model:"
The independent variables are not random, and there is zero correlation
Assumption 2:
between any two of the independent variables.
Assumption 3: The residual term is normally distributed with an expected value of zero.
Voiku tests and fails to reject each of the following four null hypotheses at the 99% confidence
interval:
A 2.6% increase in the CPI will result in an increase in sales of more than
Hypothesis 3:
12.0%.
The most appropriate decision with regard to the F-statistic for testing the null hypothesis that
all of the independent variables are simultaneously equal to zero at the 5 percent significance
level is to:
reject the null hypothesis because the F-statistic is larger than the critical F-value of
A)
2.66.
reject the null hypothesis because the F-statistic is larger than the critical F-value of
B)
3.19.
fail to reject the null hypothesis because the F-statistic is smaller than the critical F-
C)
value of 2.66.
Question #20 - 20 of 144 Question ID: 1585996
A) heteroskedasticity.
B) multicollinearity.
C) serial correlation of the error terms.
The R2 of a regression will be greater than or equal to the adjusted-R2 for the same
A)
regression.
The R2 is the ratio of the unexplained variation to the explained variation of the
C)
dependent variable.
In preparing an analysis of Treefell Company, Jack Lumber is asked to look at the company's
sales in relation to broad-based economic indicators. Lumber's analysis indicates that Treefell's
monthly sales are related to changes in housing starts (H) and changes in the mortgage interest
rate (M). The analysis covers the past 10 years for these variables. The regression equation is:
F-statistic: 9.80
Variable Descriptions
1 3.84
2 5.99
3 7.81
4 9.49
5 11.07
6 12.59
Using the regression model developed, the closest prediction of sales for December 20X6 is:
A) $36,000.
B) $55,000.
C) $44,000.
Will Jack conclude that the housing starts coefficient is statistically different from zero and how
will he interpret it at the 5% significance level?
A) Different from zero; sales will rise by $100 for every 23 house starts.
B) Not different from zero; sales will rise by $0 for every 100 house starts.
C) Different from zero; sales will rise by $23 for every 100 house starts.
The regression statistics indicate that for the period under study, the independent variables
(housing starts, mortgage interest rate) together explain approximately what percentage of the
variation in the dependent variable (sales)?
A) 67.00.
B) 9.80.
C) 77.00.
Question #26 - 26 of 144 Question ID: 1484386
For this question only, assume that the regression of squared residuals on the independent
variables has R2 = 11%. At a 5% level of significance, which of the following conclusions is most
accurate?
Because the critical value is 3.84, we reject the null hypothesis of no conditional
A)
heteroskedasticity.
With a test statistic of 13.53, we can conclude the presence of conditional
B)
heteroskedasticity.
With a test statistic of 0.22, we cannot reject the null hypothesis of no conditional
C)
heteroskedasticity.
Manuel Mercado, CFA has performed the following two regressions on sales data for a given
industry. He wants to forecast sales for each quarter of the upcoming year.
Model ONE
Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.941828
R2 0.887039
Adjusted R2 0.863258
Observations 24
ANOVA
df SS MS F Significance F
Model TWO
Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.941796
R2 0.886979
Adjusted R2 0.870026
Observations 24
df SS MS F Significance F
Total 23 1087.9584
Using Model ONE, what is the sales forecast for the second quarter of the next year?
A) $51.09 million.
B) $46.31 million.
C) $56.02 million.
If Mercado determines that Model TWO is the appropriate specification, then he is essentially
saying that for each year, value of sales from quarter three to four is expected to:
Phillip Lee works for Song Bank as a quantitative analyst. He is currently working on a model to
explain the returns (in %) of 20 hedge funds for the past year. He includes three independent
variables:
Estimated model: hedge fund return = 3.2 + 0.22 market return + 1.65 closed – 0.11 prior period
alpha
Additionally, Lee wants to estimate the probability of a hedge fund closing to new investors,
and he uses two variables:
Intercept –3.76
What is the correct interpretation of the coefficient of closed in the first regression?
A) If a model is closed to new investors, the expected excess fund return is 1.65%.
B) A closed fund is likely to generate a return of 1.65%.
A closed fund is estimated to have an extra return of 1.65% relative to funds that are
C)
not closed.
To check for only the outliers in the sample, Lee should most appropriately use:
A) Studentized residuals.
B) leverage.
C) Breusch-Pagan statistic.
A) Logistic regression (logit) models use log odds as the dependent variable.
B) A logit model assumes that residuals have a normal distribution.
The coefficients of the logit model are estimated using the maximum likelihood
C)
estimation methodology.
Ben Sasse is a quantitative analyst at Gurnop Asset Managers. Sasse is interviewing Victor
Sophie for a junior analyst position. Sasse mentions that the firm currently uses several
proprietary multiple regression models and wants Sophie's opinion about regression models.
Sasse then discusses a model that the firm uses to forecast credit spread on investment-grade
corporate bonds. Sasse states that while the current model parameters are a secret, the
following is an older version of the model:
where:
Jason Fye, CFA, wants to check for seasonality in monthly stock returns (i.e., the January effect)
after controlling for market cap and systematic risk. The type of model that Fye would most
appropriately select is:
Toni Williams, CFA, has determined that commercial electric generator sales in the Midwest U.S.
for Self-Start Company is a function of several factors in each area: the cost of heating oil, the
temperature, snowfall, and housing starts. Using data for the most currently available year, she
runs a cross-sectional regression where she regresses the deviation of sales from the historical
average in each area on the deviation of each explanatory variable from the historical average
of that variable for that location. She feels this is the most appropriate method since each
geographic area will have different average values for the inputs, and the model can explain
how current conditions explain how generator sales are higher or lower from the historical
average in each area. In summary, she regresses current sales for each area minus its
respective historical average on the following variables for each area.
The difference between the retail price of heating oil and its historical average.
The mean number of degrees the temperature is below normal in Chicago.
The amount of snowfall above the average.
The percentage of housing starts above the average.
Williams used a sample of 26 observations obtained from 26 metropolitan areas in the Midwest
U.S. The results are in the tables below. The dependent variable is in sales of generators in
millions of dollars.
Total 25 941.60
df1
df2 1 2 4 10 20
One of her goals is to forecast the sales of the Chicago metropolitan area next year. For that
area and for the upcoming year, Williams obtains the following projections: heating oil prices
will be $0.10 above average, the temperature in Chicago will be 5 degrees below normal,
snowfall will be 3 inches above average, and housing starts will be 3% below average.
In addition to making forecasts and testing the significance of the estimated coefficients, she
plans to perform diagnostic tests to verify the validity of the model's results.
Question #41 - 45 of 144 Question ID: 1471970
According to the model and the data for the Chicago metropolitan area, the forecast of
generator sales is:
Williams proceeds to test the hypothesis that none of the independent variables has significant
explanatory power. Using the joint F-test for the significance of all slope coefficients, at a 5%
level of significance:
With respect to testing the validity of the model's results, Williams may wish to perform:
A) neither the unadjusted nor adjusted R2 value, nor the coefficient of correlation.
B) unadjusted R2 value.
C) adjusted R2 value.
In preparing and using this model, Williams has least likely relied on which of the following
assumptions?
A multiple regression model has included independent variables that are not linearly related to
the dependent variable. The model is most likely misspecified due to:
Salesi = 10.0 + 1.25 R&Di + 1.0 ADVi – 2.0 COMPi + 8.0 CAPi
where Sales is dollar sales in millions, R&D is research and development expenditures
in millions, ADV is dollar amount spent on advertising in millions, COMP is the
number of competitors in the industry, and CAP is the capital expenditures for the
period in millions of dollars.
If R&D and advertising expenditures are $1 million each, there are 5 competitors, and
A)
capital expenditures are $2 million, expected Sales are $8.25 million.
If a company spends $1 million more on capital expenditures (holding everything else
B)
constant), Sales are expected to increase by $8.0 million.
One more competitor will mean $2 million less in Sales (holding everything else
C)
constant).
One possible problem that could jeopardize the validity of the employment growth rate model
is multicollinearity. Which of the following would most likely suggest the existence of
multicollinearity?
Salesi = 10.0 + 1.25 R&Di + 1.0 ADVi − 2.0 COMPi + 8.0 CAPi
Sales are in millions of dollars. An analyst is given the following predictions on the independent
variables: R&D = 5, ADV = 4, COMP = 10, and CAP = 40.
A) $310.25 million.
B) $300.25 million.
C) $320.25 million.
When pooling the samples over multiple economic environments in a multiple regression
model, which of the following errors is most likely to occur?
A) Model misspecification.
B) Heteroskedasticity.
C) Multicollinearity.
A) multicollinearity.
B) conditional heteroskedasticity.
C) serial correlation.
Question #52 of 144 Question ID: 1472012
May Jones estimated a regression that produced the following analysis of variance (ANOVA)
table:
Regression 20 1 20
Error 80 40 2
Total 100 41
The values of R2 and the F-statistic for joint test of significance of all the slope coefficients are:
A real estate agent wants to develop a model to predict the selling price of a home. The agent
believes that the most important variables in determining the price of a house are its size (in
square feet) and the number of bedrooms. Accordingly, he takes a random sample of 32 homes
that has recently been sold. The results of the regression are:
R2 = 0.56; F = 40.73
1 2
28 4.20 3.34
29 4.18 3.33
30 4.17 3.32
32 4.15 3.29
(Degrees of freedom for the numerator in columns; Degrees of freedom for the
denominator in rows)
The predicted price of a house that has 2,000 square feet of space and 4 bedrooms is closest
to:
A) $114,000.
B) $256,000.
C) $185,000.
Question #55 - 56 of 144 Question ID: 1479937
The conclusion from the hypothesis test of H0: b1 = b2 = 0, is that the null hypothesis should:
A) not be rejected as the calculated F of 40.73 is greater than the critical value of 3.29.
B) be rejected as the calculated F of 40.73 is greater than the critical value of 3.33.
C) be rejected as the calculated F of 40.73 is greater than the critical value of 3.29.
Which of the following is most likely to present a problem in using this regression for
forecasting?
A) Heteroskedasticity.
B) Multicollinearity.
C) Autocorrelation.
Henry Hilton, CFA, is undertaking an analysis of the bicycle industry. He hypothesizes that
bicycle sales (SALES) are a function of three factors: the population under 20 (POP), the level of
disposable income (INCOME), and the number of dollars spent on advertising (ADV). All data are
measured in millions of units. Hilton gathers data for the last 20 years and estimates the
following equation (standard errors in parentheses):
The critical t-statistic for a 95% confidence level is 2.120. Which of the independent variables is
statistically different from zero at the 95% confidence level?
Jacob Warner, CFA, is evaluating a regression analysis recently published in a trade journal that
hypothesizes that the annual performance of the S&P 500 stock index can be explained by
movements in the Federal Funds rate and the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI). Which of the
following statements regarding his analysis is most accurate?
If the p-value of a variable is less than the significance level, the null hypothesis can be
A)
rejected.
If the t-value of a variable is less than the significance level, the null hypothesis should
B)
be rejected.
If the p-value of a variable is less than the significance level, the null hypothesis cannot
C)
be rejected.
Which of the following statements regarding serial correlation that might be encountered in
regression analysis is least accurate?
Assume that in a particular multiple regression model, it is determined that the error terms are
uncorrelated with each other. Which of the following statements is most accurate?
Serial correlation may be present in this multiple regression model, and can be
A)
confirmed only through a Durbin-Watson test.
This model is in accordance with the basic assumptions of multiple regression analysis
B)
because the errors are not serially correlated.
Unconditional heteroskedasticity present in this model should not pose a problem, but
C)
can be corrected by using robust standard errors.
An analyst runs a regression of monthly value-stock returns on five independent variables over
48 months. The total sum of squares is 430, and the sum of squared errors is 170. Test the null
hypothesis at the 2.5% and 5% significance level that all five of the independent variables are
equal to zero.
Wilson estimated a regression that produced the following analysis of variance (ANOVA) table:
Total 400 41
The values of R2 and the F-statistic to test the null hypothesis that slope coefficients on all
variables are equal to zero are:
Miles Mason, CFA, works for ABC Capital, a large money management company based in New
York. Mason has several years of experience as a financial analyst, but is currently working in
the marketing department developing materials to be used by ABC's sales team for both
existing and prospective clients. ABC Capital's client base consists primarily of large net worth
individuals and Fortune 500 companies. ABC invests its clients' money in both publicly traded
mutual funds as well as its own investment funds that are managed in-house. Five years ago,
roughly half of its assets under management were invested in the publicly traded mutual funds,
with the remaining half in the funds managed by ABC's investment team. Currently,
approximately 75% of ABC's assets under management are invested in publicly traded funds,
with the remaining 25% being distributed among ABC's private funds. The managing partners at
ABC would like to shift more of its client's assets away from publicly traded funds into ABC's
proprietary funds, ultimately returning to a 50/50 split of assets between publicly traded funds
and ABC funds. There are three key reasons for this shift in the firm's asset base. First, ABC's in-
house funds have outperformed other funds consistently for the past five years. Second, ABC
can offer its clients a reduced fee structure on funds managed in-house relative to other
publicly traded funds. Lastly, ABC has recently hired a top fund manager away from a
competing investment company and would like to increase his assets under management.
ABC Capital's upper management requested that current clients be surveyed in order to
determine the cause of the shift of assets away from ABC funds. Results of the survey indicated
that clients feel there is a lack of information regarding ABC's funds. Clients would like to see
extensive information about ABC's past performance, as well as a sensitivity analysis showing
how the funds will perform in varying market scenarios. Mason is part of a team that has been
charged by upper management to create a marketing program to present to both current and
potential clients of ABC. He needs to be able to demonstrate a history of strong performance
for the ABC funds, and, while not promising any measure of future performance, project
possible return scenarios. He decides to conduct a regression analysis on all of ABC's in-house
funds. He is going to use 12 independent economic variables in order to predict each particular
fund's return. Mason is very aware of the many factors that could minimize the effectiveness of
his regression model, and if any are present, he knows he must determine if any corrective
actions are necessary. Mason is using a sample size of 121 monthly returns.
Question #63 - 65 of 144 Question ID: 1508634
A) Durbin-Watson.
B) Breusch-Godfrey.
C) Breusch-Pagan.
If a regression equation shows that no individual t-tests are significant, but the F-statistic is
significant, the regression probably exhibits:
A) serial correlation.
B) multicollinearity.
C) heteroskedasticity.
A fund has changed managers twice during the past 10 years. An analyst wishes to measure
whether either of the changes in managers has had an impact on performance. R is the return
on the fund, and M is the return on a market index. Which of the following regression
equations can appropriately measure the desired impacts?
A) The desired impact cannot be measured.
R = a + bM + c1D1 + c2D2 + ε, where D1 = 1 if the return is from the first manager, and
B)
D2 = 1 if the return is from the third manager.
where Sales is dollar sales in millions, R&D is research and development expenditures
in millions, ADV is dollar amount spent on advertising in millions, and COMP is the
number of competitors in the industry.
If R&D and advertising expenditures are $1 million each and there are 5 competitors,
A)
expected sales are $9.5 million.
One more competitor will mean $3 million less in sales (holding everything else
B)
constant).
If a company spends $1 more on R&D (holding everything else constant), sales are
C)
expected to increase by $1.5 million.
Which of the following conditions will least likely affect the statistical inference about
regression parameters by itself?
A) Multicollinearity.
B) Unconditional heteroskedasticity.
C) Model misspecification.
Peter Pun, an enrolled candidate for the CFA Level II examination, has decided to perform a
calendar test to examine whether there is any abnormal return associated with investments
and disinvestments made in blue-chip stocks on particular days of the week. As a proxy for
blue-chips, he has decided to use the S&P 500 Index. The analysis will involve the use of dummy
variables and is based on the past 780 trading days. Here are selected findings of his study:
RSS 0.0039
SSE 0.9534
SST 0.9573
R-squared 0.004
SEE 0.035
Jessica Jones, CFA, a friend of Peter, overhears that he is interested in regression analysis and
warns him that whenever heteroskedasticity is present in multiple regression, it could
undermine the regression results. She mentions that one easy way to spot conditional
heteroskedasticity is through a scatter plot, but she adds that there is a more formal test.
Unfortunately, she can't quite remember its name. Jessica believes that heteroskedasticity can
be rectified using White-corrected standard errors. Her son Jonathan who has also taken part in
the discussion, hears this comment and argues that White corrections would typically reduce
the number of Type I errors in financial data.
What can be said of the overall explanatory power of the model at the 5% significance?
A) Neither is correct.
B) Both are correct.
C) One is correct.
Vijay Shapule, CFA, is investigating the application of the Fama-French three-factor model
(Model 1) for the Indian stock market for the period 2001–2011 (120 months). Using the
dependent variable as annualized return (%), the results of the analysis are shown in Indian
Equities—Fama-French Model.
R-squared 0.36
SSE 38.00
AIC –129.99
BIC –118.84
Shapule then modifies the model to include a liquidity factor. Results for this four-factor model
(Model 2) are shown in Revised Fama-French Model With Liquidity Factor
R-squared 0.39
SSE 34.00
AIC –141.34
BIC –127.40
A) 0.39.
B) 0.37.
C) 0.36.
The F-statistic for testing H0: coefficient of LIQ = 0 versus Ha: coefficient of LIQ ≠ 0 is closest to:
A) 13.53.
B) 5.45.
C) 2.11.
What is the predicted return for a stock using Model 1 when SMB = 3.30, HML = 1.25 and Rm-Rf
= 5?
A) 6.80%.
B) 7.88%.
C) 9.58%.
Vikas Rathod, an enrolled candidate for the CFA Level II examination, has decided to perform a
calendar test to examine whether there is any abnormal return associated with investments
and disinvestments made in blue-chip stocks on particular days of the week. As a proxy for
blue-chips, he has decided to use the S&P 500 index. The analysis will involve the use of dummy
variables and is based on the past 780 trading days. Here are selected findings of his study:
RSS 0.0039
SSE 0.9534
SST 0.9573
R-squared 0.004
SEE 0.035
Jessica Jones, CFA, a friend of Rathod, overhears that he is interested in regression analysis and
warns him that whenever heteroskedasticity is present in multiple regression this could
undermine the regression results. She mentions that one easy way to spot conditional
heteroskedasticity is through a scatter plot, but she adds that there is a more formal test.
Unfortunately, she can't quite remember its name. Jessica believes that heteroskedasticity can
be rectified using White-corrected standard errors. Her son Jonathan who has also taken part in
the discussion, hears this comment and argues that White correction would typically reduce the
number of Type I errors in financial data.
Question #78 - 80 of 144 Question ID: 1651804
A) Five.
B) Six.
C) Four.
Are Jessica and her son Jonathan, correct in terms of the method used to correct for
heteroskedasticity and the likely effects?
An analyst regresses the return of a S&P 500 index fund against the S&P 500, and also
regresses the return of an active manager against the S&P 500. The analyst uses the last five
years of data in both regressions. Without making any other assumptions, which of the
following is most accurate? The index fund:
regression should have higher sum of squares regression as a ratio to the total sum of
A)
squares.
B) should have a lower coefficient of determination.
C) should have a higher coefficient on the independent variable.
Suppose the analyst wants to add a dummy variable for whether a person has a business
college degree and an engineering degree. What is the CORRECT representation if a person has
both degrees?
Business Engineering
Degree Dummy Degree Dummy
Variable Variable
A) 0 1
B) 0 0
C) 1 1
It is possible for the adjusted-R2 to decline as more variables are added to the multiple
B)
regression.
For the past several years, these marketing plans seemed to be successful, providing a
significant boost in sales to those specific products highlighted by the marketing efforts.
However, for the past year, revenues have been flat, even though marketing expenditures
increased slightly. Brent is concerned that the expensive seasonal marketing campaigns are
simply no longer generating the desired returns, and should either be significantly modified or
eliminated altogether. He proposes that the company hire additional, permanent salespeople
to focus on selling Mega Flowers' high-margin products all year long. The chief operating officer,
David Johnson, disagrees with Brent. He believes that although last year's results were
disappointing, the marketing campaign has demonstrated impressive results for the past five
years, and should be continued. His belief is that the prior years' performance can be used as a
gauge for future results, and that a simple increase in the sales force will not bring about the
desired results.
Brent gathers information regarding quarterly sales revenue and marketing expenditures for
the past five years. Based upon historical data, Brent derives the following regression equation
for Mega Flowers (stated in millions of dollars):
Brent shows the equation to Johnson and tells him, "This equation shows that a $1 million
increase in marketing expenditures will increase the independent variable by $1 .6 million, all
other factors being equal." Johnson replies , "It also appears that sales will equal $12.6 million if
all independent variables are equal to zero."
Statement 1: The BIC metric usually imposes a higher penalty for overfitting than AIC.
Statement 2: AIC is used if the goal is to have a better forecast, while BIC is used if the
goal is a better goodness of fit.
Assuming that next year's marketing expenditures are $3,500,000 and there are five
salespeople, predicted sales for Mega Flowers should will be:
A) $11,600,000.
B) $24,000,000.
C) $24,200,000.
Brent would like to further investigate whether at least one of the independent variables can
explain a significant portion of the variation of the dependent variable. Which of the following
methods would be best for Brent to use?
A) The F-statistic.
B) The multiple coefficient of determination.
C) An ANOVA table.
Alex Wade, CFA, is analyzing the result of a regression analysis comparing the performance of
gold stocks versus a broad equity market index. Wade believes that first lag serial correlation
may be present and, in order to prove his theory, should use which of the following methods to
detect its presence?
Werner Baltz, CFA, has regressed 30 years of data to forecast future sales for National Motor
Company based on the percent change in gross domestic product (GDP) and the change in
retail price of a U.S. gallon of fuel. The results are presented below.
Standard Error of
Predictor Coefficient
the Coefficient
Intercept 78 13.710
Regression 291.30
Error 27 132.12
Total 29 423.42
Question #89 - 91 of 144 Question ID: 1479910
If GDP rises 2.2% and the price of fuels falls $0.15, Baltz's model will predict Company sales to
be (in $ millions) closest to:
A) $82.00.
B) $128.00.
C) $206.00.
Baltz proceeds to test the hypothesis that none of the independent variables has significant
explanatory power. He concludes that, at a 5% level of significance:
all of the independent variables have explanatory power, because the calculated F-
A)
statistic exceeds its critical value.
none of the independent variables has explanatory power, because the calculated F-
B)
statistic does not exceed its critical value.
at least one of the independent variables has explanatory power, because the
C)
calculated F-statistic exceeds its critical value.
A) computed F-statistic.
B) coefficient estimates.
C) computed t-statistic.
A) Slope coefficient.
B) p-value.
C) Intercept term.
An analyst is trying to determine whether fund return performance is persistent. The analyst
divides funds into three groups based on whether their return performance was in the top
third (group 1), middle third (group 2), or bottom third (group 3) during the previous year. The
manager then creates the following equation: R = a + b1D1 + b2D2 + b3D3 + ε, where R is return
premium on the fund (the return minus the return on the S&P 500 benchmark) and Di is equal
to 1 if the fund is in group i. Assuming no other information, this equation will suffer from:
A) serial correlation.
B) heteroskedasticity.
C) multicollinearity.
Consider the following estimated regression equation, with calculated t-statistics of the
estimates as indicated:
with a PI calculated t-statistic of 0.45, a TEEN calculated t-statistic of 2.2, and an INS
calculated t-statistic of 0.63.
The equation was estimated over 40 companies. Using a 5% level of significance, which of the
independent variables significantly different from zero?
A) TEEN only.
B) PI and INS only.
C) PI only.
Consider the following model of earnings (EPS) regressed against dummy variables for the
quarters:
where:
Which of the following statements regarding this model is most accurate? The:
Coefficient Estimates
Standard Error of
Parameter Coefficient
Coefficient
Other Data:
The percentage of the total variation in quarterly stock returns explained by the independent
variables is closest to:
A) 32%.
B) 47%.
C) 42%.
What is the predicted quarterly stock return, given the following forecasts?
A) 4.4%.
B) 4.7%.
C) 5.0%.
Question #99 - 99 of 144 Question ID: 1586010
Assuming a restricted model with all three variables removed and a 5% level of significance, the
most appropriate conclusion is:
With an F-statistic of 2.66, we fail to reject the null hypothesis of all slope coefficients
A)
equal to zero.
With an F-statistic of 24.54, we reject the null hypothesis that all the slope coefficients
B)
are equal to zero.
With an F-statistic of 0.472, we fail to reject the null hypothesis of all coefficients equal
C)
to zero.
Which of the following questions is least likely answered by using a qualitative dependent
variable?
Based on the following company-specific financial ratios, will company ABC enter
A)
bankruptcy?
Based on the following subsidiary and competition variables, will company XYZ divest
B)
itself of a subsidiary?
Based on the following executive-specific and company-specific variables, how many
C)
shares will be acquired through the exercise of executive stock options?
Raul Gloucester, CFA, is analyzing the returns of a fund that his company offers. He tests the
fund's sensitivity to a small capitalization index and a large capitalization index, as well as to
whether the January effect plays a role in the fund's performance. He uses two years of monthly
returns data, and runs a regression of the fund's return on the indexes and a January-effect
qualitative variable. The "January" variable is 1 for the month of January and zero for all other
months. The results of the regression are shown in the tables below.
Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.817088
R2 0.667632
Adjusted R2 0.617777
Observations 24
ANOVA
df SS MS
Total 23 164.9963
The percent of the variation in the fund's return that is explained by the regression is:
A) 66.76%.
B) 81.71%.
C) 61.78%.
No, because the BG statistic is less than the critical test statistic of 3.49, we don't have
A)
evidence of serial correlation.
No, because the BG statistic is less than the critical test statistic of 3.55, we don't have
B)
evidence of serial correlation.
Yes, because the BG statistic exceeds the critical test statistic of 3.16, there is evidence
C)
of serial correlation.
Gloucester subsequently revises the model to exclude the small cap index and finds that the
revised model has a RSS of 106.332. Which of the following statements is most accurate? At a
5% level of significance, the test statistic:
of 1.40 indicates that we cannot reject the hypothesis that the coefficient of small-cap
A)
index is not significantly different from 0.
of 13.39 indicates that we cannot reject the hypothesis that the coefficient of small-cap
B)
index is significantly different from 0.
of 4.35 indicates that we cannot reject the hypothesis that the coefficient of small-cap
C)
index is significantly different from 0.
In the month of January, if both the small and large capitalization index have a zero return, we
would expect the fund to have a return equal to:
A) 2.799.
B) 2.322.
C) 2.561.
Assuming (for this question only) that the F-test was significant but that the t-tests of the
independent variables were insignificant, this would most likely suggest:
A) multicollinearity.
B) serial correlation.
C) conditional heteroskedasticity.
Question #107 of 144 Question ID: 1479878
Regression 20 1 20
Error 80 20 4
Total 100 21
The F-statistic for a test of joint significance of all the slope coefficients is closest to:
A) 0.2.
B) 0.05.
C) 5.
Dave Turner is a security analyst who is using regression analysis to determine how well two
factors explain returns for common stocks. The independent variables are the natural
logarithm of the number of analysts following the companies, Ln(no. of analysts), and the
natural logarithm of the market value of the companies, Ln(market value). The regression
output generated from a statistical program is given in the following tables. Each p-value
corresponds to a two-tail test.
Turner plans to use the result in the analysis of two investments. WLK Corp. has twelve analysts
following it and a market capitalization of $2.33 billion. NGR Corp. has two analysts following it
and a market capitalization of $47 million.
Standard Error of
Variable Coefficient t-statistic p-value
the Coefficient
If the number of analysts on NGR Corp. were to double to 4, the change in the forecast of NGR
would be closest to?
A) −0.035.
B) −0.055.
C) −0.019.
Based on a R2 calculated from the information in Table 2, the analyst should conclude that the
number of analysts and ln(market value) of the firm explain:
What is the F-statistic for the hypothesis that all slope coefficients are not statistically
significantly different from 0? And, what can be concluded from its value at a 1% level of
significance?
A) F = 17.00, reject a hypothesis that both of the slope coefficients are equal to zero.
B) F = 1.97, fail to reject a hypothesis that both of the slope coefficients are equal to zero.
C) F = 5.80, reject a hypothesis that both of the slope coefficients are equal to zero.
Upon further analysis, Turner concludes that multicollinearity is a problem. What might have
prompted this further analysis and what is intuition behind the conclusion?
At least one of the t-statistics was not significant, the F-statistic was significant, and a
A) positive relationship between the number of analysts and the size of the firm would be
expected.
At least one of the t-statistics was not significant, the F-statistic was significant, and an
B)
intercept not significantly different from zero would be expected.
At least one of the t-statistics was not significant, the F-statistic was not significant, and
C) a positive relationship between the number of analysts and the size of the firm would
be expected.
Henry Hilton, CFA, is undertaking an analysis of the bicycle industry. He hypothesizes that
bicycle sales (SALES) are a function of three factors: the population under 20 (POP), the level of
disposable income (INCOME), and the number of dollars spent on advertising (ADV). All data are
measured in millions of units. Hilton gathers data for the last 20 years. Which of the follow
regression equations correctly represents Hilton's hypothesis?
A regression with three independent variables have VIF values of 3, 4, and 2 for the first,
second, and third independent variables, respectively. Which of the following conclusions is
most appropriate?
Lynn Carter, CFA, is an analyst in the research department for Smith Brothers in New York. She
follows several industries, as well as the top companies in each industry. She provides research
materials for both the equity traders for Smith Brothers as well as their retail customers. She
routinely performs regression analysis on those companies that she follows to identify any
emerging trends that could affect investment decisions.
Due to recent layoffs at the company, there has been some consolidation in the research
department. Two research analysts have been laid off, and their workload will now be
distributed among the remaining four analysts. In addition to her current workload, Carter will
now be responsible for providing research on the airline industry. Pinnacle Airlines, a leader in
the industry, represents a large holding in Smith Brothers' portfolio. Looking back over past
research on Pinnacle, Carter recognizes that the company historically has been a strong
performer in what is considered to be a very competitive industry. The stock price over the last
52-week period has outperformed that of other industry leaders, although Pinnacle's net
income has remained flat. Carter wonders if the stock price of Pinnacle has become overvalued
relative to its peer group in the market, and wants to determine if the timing is right for Smith
Brothers to decrease its position in Pinnacle.
Carter decides to run a regression analysis, using the monthly returns of Pinnacle stock as the
dependent variable and monthly returns of the airlines industry as the independent variable.
df SS Mean Square
Source
(Degrees of Freedom) (Sum of Squares) (SS/df)
Based upon the information presented in the ANOVA table, what is the coefficient of
determination?
0.839, indicating that company returns explain about 83.9% of the variability of
A)
industry returns.
0.084, indicating that the variability of industry returns explains about 8.4% of the
B)
variability of company returns.
0.916, indicating that the variability of industry returns explains about 91.6% of the
C)
variability of company returns.
Based upon her analysis, Carter has derived the following regression equation: Ŷ = 1.75 +
3.25X1. The predicted value of the Y variable equals 50.50, if the:
Carter realizes that although regression analysis is a useful tool when analyzing investments,
there are certain limitations. Carter made a list of points describing limitations that Smith
Brothers equity traders should be aware of when applying her research to their investment
decisions.
When reviewing Carter's list, one of the Smith Brothers' equity traders points out that not all of
the points describe regression analysis limitations. Which of Carter's points most accurately
describes the limitations to regression analysis?
A) Points 2, 3, and 4.
B) Points 1, 3, and 4.
C) Points 1, 2, and 3.
The management of a large restaurant chain believes that revenue growth is dependent upon
the month of the year. Using a standard 12 month calendar, how many dummy variables must
be used in a regression model that will test whether revenue growth differs by month?
A) 11.
B) 13.
C) 12.
Question #119 of 144 Question ID: 1472011
Consider the following graph of residuals and the regression line from a time-series regression:
A) heteroskedasticity.
B) autocorrelation.
C) homoskedasticity.
Quin Tan Liu, CFA, is looking at the retail property sector for her manager. She is undertaking a
top down review as she feels this is the best way to analyze the industry segment. To predict
U.S. property starts (housing), she has used regression analysis.
Given these variables the following output was generated from 30 years of data:
Exhibit 1 – Results from Regressing Housing Starts (in Millions) on Interest Rates and GDP
Per Capita
Total 29 6.327
Observations 30
Durbin-Watson 1.22
Interest rate = 7%
Using the regression model represented in Exhibit 1, what is the predicted number of housing
starts for 20X7?
A) 1,394,420.
B) 1,751,000.
C) 1,394.
Question #121 - 122 of 144 Question ID: 1685254
Which of the following statements best describes the explanatory power of the estimated
regression?
Which of the following is the least appropriate statement in relation to R-square and adjusted
R-square:
Jessica Jenkins, CFA, is looking at the retail property sector for her manager. She is undertaking
a top down review as she feels this is the best way to analyze the industry segment. To predict
U.S. property starts (housing), she has used regression analysis.
Given these variables, the following output was generated from 30 years of data:
Exhibit 1 – Results from regressing housing starts (in millions) on interest rates and GDP
per capita
ANOVA df SS MSS F
Total 29 6.327
Observations 30
Durbin-Watson 1.27
Interest rate = 7%
Using the regression model represented in Exhibit 1, what is the predicted number of housing
starts for 20X7?
A) 1,394.
B) 1,394,420.
C) 1,751,000.
Which of the following statements best describes the explanatory power of the estimated
regression?
The large F-statistic indicates that both independent variables help explain changes in
A)
housing starts.
The residual standard error of only 0.3 indicates that the regression equation is a good
B)
fit for the sample data.
C) The independent variables explain 61.58% of the variation in housing starts.
Which of the following is the least appropriate statement in relation to R-square and adjusted
R-square?
Adjusted R-square decreases when the added independent variable adds little value to
A)
the regression model.
R-square typically increases when new independent variables are added to the
B)
regression.
Adjusted R-square can be higher than the coefficient of determination for a model with
C)
a good fit.
Henry Hilton, CFA, is undertaking an analysis of the bicycle industry. He hypothesizes that
bicycle sales (SALES) are a function of three factors: the population under 20 (POP), the level of
disposable income (INCOME), and the number of dollars spent on advertising (ADV). All data are
measured in millions of units. Hilton gathers data for the last 20 years and estimates the
following equation (standard errors in parentheses):
For next year, Hilton estimates the following parameters: (1) the population under 20 will be
120 million, (2) disposable income will be $300,000,000, and (3) advertising expenditures will be
$100,000,000. Based on these estimates and the regression equation, what are predicted sales
for the industry for next year?
A) $557,143,000.
B) $509,980,000.
C) $656,991,000.
A high-yield bond analyst is trying to develop an equation using financial ratios to estimate the
probability of a company defaulting on its bonds. A technique that can be used to develop this
equation is:
Using a recent analysis of salaries (in $1,000) of financial analysts, Timbadia runs a regression of
salaries on education, experience, and gender. (Gender equals one for men and zero for
women.) The regression results from a sample of 230 financial analysts are presented below,
with t-statistics in parenthesis.
Timbadia also runs a multiple regression to gain a better understanding of the relationship
between lumber sales, housing starts, and commercial construction. The regression uses a
large data set of lumber sales as the dependent variable with housing starts and commercial
construction as the independent variables. The results of the regression are:
Finally, Timbadia runs a regression between the returns on a stock and its industry index with
the following results:
What is the expected salary (in $1,000) of a woman with 16 years of education and 10 years of
experience?
A) 59.18.
B) 65.48.
C) 54.98.
If the return on the industry index is 4%, the stock's expected return would be:
A) 7.6%.
B) 9.7%.
C) 11.2%.
The percentage of the variation in the stock return explained by the variation in the industry
index return is closest to:
A) 84.9%.
B) 63.2%.
C) 72.1%.
Which of the following statements least accurately describes one of the fundamental multiple
regression assumptions?
An analyst is trying to estimate the beta for a fund. The analyst estimates a regression equation
in which the fund returns are the dependent variable and the Wilshire 5000 is the independent
variable, using monthly data over the past five years. The analyst finds that the correlation
between the square of the residuals of the regression and the Wilshire 5000 is 0.2. Which of the
following is most accurate, assuming a 0.05 level of significance? There is:
One of the underlying assumptions of a multiple regression is that the variance of the residuals
is constant for various levels of the independent variables. This quality is referred to as:
A) a linear relationship.
B) homoskedasticity.
C) a normal distribution.
Jill Wentraub is an analyst with the retail industry. She is modeling a company's sales over time
and has noticed a quarterly seasonal pattern. If she includes dummy variables to represent the
seasonality component of the sales she must use:
Variable p-value
Intercept 0.0201
X1 0.0284
X2 0.0310
X3 0.0143
George Smith, an analyst with Great Lakes Investments, has created a comprehensive report on
the pharmaceutical industry at the request of his boss. The Great Lakes portfolio currently has
a significant exposure to the pharmaceuticals industry through its large equity position in the
top two pharmaceutical manufacturers. His boss requested that Smith determine a way to
accurately forecast pharmaceutical sales in order for Great Lakes to identify further investment
opportunities in the industry as well as to minimize their exposure to downturns in the market.
Smith realized that there are many factors that could possibly have an impact on sales, and he
must identify a method that can quantify their effect. Smith used a multiple regression analysis
with five independent variables to predict industry sales. His goal is to not only identify
relationships that are statistically significant, but economically significant as well. The
assumptions of his model are fairly standard: a linear relationship exists between the
dependent and independent variables, the independent variables are not random, and the
expected value of the error term is zero.
Smith is confident with the results presented in his report. He has already done some
hypothesis testing for statistical significance, including calculating a t-statistic and conducting a
two-tailed test where the null hypothesis is that the regression coefficient is equal to zero
versus the alternative that it is not. He feels that he has done a thorough job on the report and
is ready to answer any questions posed by his boss.
However, Smith's boss, John Sutter, is concerned that in his analysis, Smith has ignored several
potential problems with the regression model that may affect his conclusions. He knows that
when any of the basic assumptions of a regression model are violated, any results drawn for
the model are questionable. He asks Smith to go back and carefully examine the effects of
heteroskedasticity, multicollinearity, and serial correlation on his model. In specific, he wants
Smith to make suggestions regarding how to detect these errors and to correct problems that
he encounters.
Sutter has detected the presence of conditional heteroskedasticity in Smith's report. This is
evidence that:
Suppose there is evidence that the variance of the error term is correlated with the values of
the independent variables. The most likely effect on the statistical inferences Smith can make
from the regressions results using financial data is to commit a:
Type I error by incorrectly failing to reject the null hypothesis that the regression
A)
parameters are equal to zero.
Type II error by incorrectly failing to reject the null hypothesis that the regression
B)
parameters are equal to zero.
Type I error by incorrectly rejecting the null hypotheses that the regression parameters
C)
are equal to zero.
Question #139 - 140 of 144 Question ID: 1479942
Which of the following is most likely to indicate that two or more of the independent variables,
or linear combinations of independent variables, may be highly correlated with each other?
Unless otherwise noted, significant and insignificant mean significantly different from zero and
not significantly different from zero, respectively.
The R2 is high, the F-statistic is significant and the t-statistics on the individual slope
B)
coefficients are insignificant.
The R2 is high, the F-statistic is significant and the t-statistics on the individual slope
C)
coefficients are significant.
Using the Durbin-Watson test statistic, Smith rejects the null hypothesis suggested by the test.
This is evidence that:
A) two or more of the independent variables are highly correlated with each other.
B) the error term is normally distributed.
C) the error terms are correlated with each other.
When two or more of the independent variables in a multiple regression are correlated with
each other, the condition is called:
A) multicollinearity.
B) conditional heteroskedasticity.
C) serial correlation.
Which of the following statements regarding the results of a regression analysis is least
accurate? The:
slope coefficient in a multiple regression is the change in the dependent variable for a
A)
one-unit change in the independent variable, holding all other variables constant.
slope coefficient in a multiple regression is the value of the dependent variable for a
B)
given value of the independent variable.
C) slope coefficients in the multiple regression are referred to as partial betas.