Pablo Hernández de Cos: Econometric methods and empirical analysis of microdata in honour of Manuel Arellano

Welcoming remarks by Mr Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of the Bank of Spain, to the conference on econometric methods and empirical analysis of microdata in honour of Manuel Arellano, Madrid, 11 July 2022. 

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Good morning, and welcome to this conference on econometric methods and empirical analysis of microdata in honour of Manuel Arellano, one of our country's leading economists and a key figure in the field of econometrics at international level. Let me take this opportunity to, once again, congratulate professor Arellano on all his important achievements. We are indeed very honoured at the Banco the España to have Manuel with us at the CEMFI.

In his recent acceptance speech at the award ceremony of the King of Spain's Prize for Economics, Manuel Arellano argued that a nation without good administrative data is like a hospital system without access to advanced magnetic resonance equipment.

I couldn't agree more with this comparison. To have an accurate diagnosis of the problems of an economy it is crucial to be able to observe economic reality in sufficient detail. And, the analysis of an economy in high resolution is possible thanks to the empirical analysis of data, of microdata in particular, using, of course, the appropriate econometric methods.