Semiparametric and nonparametric estimation have
attracted a great deal of attention from statisticians
and theoretical econometricians in the past decade. Various
new models have been proposed, and new methods for estimating
those models have been suggested. These new models and
methods are scattered in various academic journals and
are not easily accessible to other researchers. Moreover,
the new methods are technical, not easily understood by
nonexperts such as graduate students and applied econometricians.
Horowitz has two goals in his book Semiparametric Methods
in Econometrics. First, he wants to provide a central
place for those who want to check out the semiparametric
literature. Second, he wants to present technical materials
in a nontechnical way so that graduate students and applied
econometricians who often do not have expertise in this
area can comprehend the new methods. In my view, Horowitz
has achieved both goals.