st: interaction dummy or separate regression

["Khieu, Hinh" <Hdkhieu@usi.edu>]

Dear statalist members,



I have the following model and I am not sure if there is an econometric issue with it. I would appreciate any amount of help. Change in Y = a1*growth opportunities + a2*profit + a3*debt + a4*equity +  a5*dummy (=1 if change in Y is abnormally high, zero otherwise) + a6 * debt * dummy + a7 * equity * dummy, where abnormally high is defined to be whenever change in Y is greater than 2 times the industry average of Y over the last 3 years (t, t-1, and t-2).



I run fixed effects regression with firm and year dummies on the above model for 2 groups of firms: large firms versus small firms. My question is: is there any mechanical or econometric problem with using the dummy for abnormal Y and its interaction with debt and equity? I know I  can split the sample into abnormal Y and normal Y and run two separate regressions. But I want to know specifically if the model above is problematic from an econometric perspective. What if I drop the dummy and keep only the interactions?



Thank you very much for your help in advance.



Regards,

Hinh

*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/