This essay focuses on the early years of panel data econometrics and two seminal papers by Yair Mundlak (1961) and Pietro Balestra and Marc Nerlove (1966). The issue of latent individual heterogeneity was identified as a central problem. One main ambition was to get a clear understanding of how...

Econometricians have from the start considered historical knowledge of their own discipline as reflexive knowledge useful for delineating their discipline, that is, for setting its disciplinary boundaries with respect to its aims, its methods, and its scientific values. As such, the histories...

The title hints at the attention given to the lack of probability considerations in the econometric work of the recognized pioneer of econometrics, Ragnar Frisch. Clues to a better understanding of his position may be found in his comprehensive archive and correspondence. This essay gives a...