StataTex Blog – tips for Stata LaTeX and other useful resources for economists

Add normal distribution to kernel density plot in Stata

This might be already implemented in the most recent version of Stata, but I just came across the problem that there seems to be no straightforward way to combine a kernel density plot (i.e. kdensity) with a normal distribution of the underlying variable.

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Information about Stata macros: number of elements and order within locals and globals

Especially when running loops (see our posts here), it can be important to get more information about a macro, such as the length, or its first or last element.

Useful string functions in Stata (updated list)

Most often when I search the internet for help on Stata, it is probably when I need to work with string variables (such as names). There are some very good summaries that cover aspects of string variables (e.g., this page). In this post –which will be continuously updated– we present random string functions that we think are extremely useful for Stata users.

Format how locals are displayed in Stata

Often I use locals to calculate something (such as the mean of a variable for a specific group) and use this in a loop (say, over groups or over years). If you, for example, want to calculate the share of observations that belong to one group (say: female==1), you could simply write

Piecewise execution of do-files in Stata

Do-files in Stata easily get a bit lengthy. Of course, you can try to shorten do-files and distribute code onto several do-files and have one master file that runs all of the respective sub-do-files (which are included by do dosubfile1.do). Alternatively, you can leave the do-file longish but write your code such that you only run parts of the code at once:

Numbering in LaTeX documents

Manuscripts typically contain many different types of numbering: page numbering, sections, subsections, figures, tables etc.

Multiple lines commands in Stata

Many Stata commands get easily quite long. Take, for example, a command to generate a figure – possibly the layout definitions are quite lengthy and difficult to read. Stretching commands over several lines makes it much easier to write and read, and less prone to errors.

Equation numbering in Microsoft Word

From time to time, I need to write articles in Microsoft Word. When I then also need to include Equations in the Word document, I realise (again) why I so much prefer to use LaTeX. Today I came across a simple way of having Equation numbering included in a word document (although it is natively not supported). Well, it is supported but only above or below a formula…

Economics journals BibTex styles (.bst)

Over and over again we were searching for BibTeX styles files (.bst) that follow the required styles of specific journals. So we decided to create a list ourselves. If you have any additions or corrections, please lets us know!