Econ 303: Homework 2

Due Date: Thursday, September 13th by 11:59 PM via DropBox

Instructions: This is an individual assignment. Submissions are due on Thursday, September 6th
by 11:59 PM. Submissions are to be submitted through DropBox on Oaks and are to be MS-
Word or PDF documents. ALL SOLUTIONS ARE TO BE TYPED WITH THE
EXCEPTION FOR HAND DRAWN GRAPHS.
Name
Assignment Econ 303 Homework 2
Problem # Criteria Earned Total Points Weight
A 2 3
B 8 13
C 20 33
D 15 25
E 6 10
F 3 5
G 6 10
Totals 60
Penalty 0
Final Grade

1
Question 1
This question uses the Highway_Accidents Excel file that is posted to Oaks (Content –
Homework). When conducting the statistical analysis be sure to use all the observations. The
workbook contains two tabs: 1) Data; and 2) Variables. Please review the variable tab before
beginning the assignment. The Data worksheet contains 7,313 highway segments from the
Atlanta Metro Area.

Problem Statement: In this problem, we want to investigate contributing factors to fatal car
accidents on interstate and state highways. Additionally, we will focus our investigation on the
number of thru lanes and the traffic level. Other control variables include pavement quality and
pavement roughness.
Part A: Identify the dependent variable.
Part B: State the null and alternative hypothesis for the number of thru lanes and the traffic
level. Assume a two-tailed test.
Part C: Using the Real Stats Excel package or equivalent software, estimate a linear probability
model to answer the problem statement above.1 Include all the dependent variables in your
analysis. Provide the results with your solution.
Part D: Complete Table 1 (see below)
Part E: What factors contribute to the cause of fatal accidents? Note you should rely on the
regression results instead of solely on Table 1.
Part F: Which characteristic (excluding the intercept) leads to the largest, statistically significant
increase in the likelihood of an accident? Justify your answer. Note you should rely on the
regression results instead of solely on Table 1.
Part G: Discuss why it is important to include multiple control variables in the statistical
analysis.

1
Equivalent software includes: The Data Analysis Tool Pack in Excel, MiniTab, SPSS, Stata, or SAS

2
 Table 1: Linear Probability Model Coefficients and P-values

Variable Interpretation of the coefficient Level of Statistical Interpretation of the P-Value

(The impact of a 1 unit increase on the Significance
probability of an fatal accident)
Lanes

AADT No Response Necessary

IRI