How to batch rename variables in esttab

Question

I am using the community-contributed command esttab with the rename() option.

I have a special situation in which I run multiple regressions where each regression has a coefficient that is from a different (similarly-named) variable, but each corresponds to the same idea.

Here is a (very contrived) toy example:

sysuse auto, clear

rename weight mpg1
rename mpg mpg2
rename turn mpg3

I want to display the results of three regressions, but have only one line for mpg1, mpg2, and mpg3 (instead of each one appearing on a separate line).

One way to accomplish this is to do the following:

eststo clear
eststo: quietly reg price mpg1
eststo: quietly reg price mpg2
eststo: quietly reg price mpg3
esttab, rename(mpg1 mpg mpg2 mpg mpg3 mpg)

Can I rename all of the variables at the same time by doing something such as rename(mpg* mpg)?

If I want to run a large number of regressions, it becomes more advantageous to do this instead of writing them all out by hand.

Unknown Unknown · Accepted Answer · 2019-06-18T06:31:16

Stata's rename group command can handle abbreviations and wildcards, unlike the rename() option of estout. However, for the latter, you need to build a list of names and store it in a local macro.

Below you can find an improved version of your toy example code:

sysuse auto, clear
eststo clear

rename (weight mpg turn) mpg#, addnumber

forvalues i = 1 / 3 {
    eststo: quietly reg price mpg`i'
    local mpglist `mpglist' mpg`i' mpg
}

esttab, rename(`mpglist')

------------------------------------------------------------
                      (1)             (2)             (3)   
                    price           price           price   
------------------------------------------------------------
mpg                 2.044***       -238.9***        207.6** 
                   (5.42)         (-4.50)          (2.76)   

_cons              -6.707         11253.1***      -2065.0   
                  (-0.01)          (9.61)         (-0.69)   
------------------------------------------------------------
N                      74              74              74   
------------------------------------------------------------
t statistics in parentheses
* p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001

How to batch rename variables in esttab

1 Answers