polars-reg 0.1.4

Fast econometric regressions for Python — OLS, IV, panel, probit/logit with robust and clustered SEs, built on Polars and Rust

polars_reg

Fast econometric regressions for Python, built on Polars and Rust. Covers OLS, IV, panel, and limited-dependent-variable models with robust and clustered standard errors — validated against Stata and R to 5+ decimal places. Also accepts pandas DataFrames.

The computational backend is written in Rust (via PyO3), with parallel demeaning and sandwich estimators powered by Rayon. On fixed-effects and clustered models, polars_reg matches or beats R/fixest and is 2–8× faster than statsmodels, pyfixest, and linearmodels.

Features

Regression Estimators

• OLS / WLS — analytic weights (weights=) and frequency weights (fweights=)
• High-dimensional fixed effects — reghdfe-style absorption via iterative demeaning
• 2SLS / IV with first-stage F-statistics and weak instrument diagnostics
• LIML — limited information maximum likelihood
• GMM-IV — two-step efficient GMM with Hansen J test
• Panel: fixed effects (within), random effects (Swamy-Arora GLS), first-difference
• Dynamic panel GMM: Arellano-Bond (difference GMM) and Blundell-Bond (system GMM)
• Probit / Logit — MLE with marginal effects and odds ratios
• Quantile regression — median and arbitrary quantiles via IRLS
• PPML — Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood for count/gravity models

Standard Errors

• Robust — HC0, HC1 (Stata's robust), HC2, HC3
• Clustered — one-way and multi-way (Cameron-Gelbach-Miller)
• HAC — Newey-West for time series
• Driscoll-Kraay — robust to cross-sectional dependence in panels
• Bootstrap — pairs bootstrap and wild cluster bootstrap (Webb 6-point)

Convenience Features

• GroupBy regression — run any estimator per group (e.g., per stock or industry)
• regtable — side-by-side regression tables (estout/esttab-style) with LaTeX and HTML export
• Coefficient plots and added-variable plots via Altair
• Diagnostics — Wald test, Hausman test (FE vs RE), Kleibergen-Paap, Stock-Yogo weak IV
• Formula API with interaction terms (x1*x2, x1:x2) and indicator expansion (i.group)

Validation

• Stata equivalence — to_stata() generates the matching Stata command for any specification
• R equivalence — to_r() generates the matching fixest/lm call
• Automated comparison — compare_stata() and compare_r() run the command and diff coefficients

Performance

Wall-clock time across dataset sizes (1K–1M rows), compared to statsmodels, pyfixest, linearmodels, R/fixest, and Stata:

• Plain OLS: statsmodels is faster below ~100K rows due to lower call overhead
• FE, IV, and clustered models: polars_reg is consistently faster than other Python packages, especially at smaller N
• At large N: performance converges with R/fixest — the difference between the two is roughly negligible

Reproduce with python benchmarks/generate_chart.py (requires R with fixest; Stata optional).

Installation

pip install polars_reg

Quick Start

import polars as pl
import polars_reg as pr

df = pl.read_csv("data.csv")

# OLS with robust standard errors
result = pr.ols("y ~ x1 + x2 + x3", data=df, vcov="HC1")
print(result.summary())

# OLS with absorbed fixed effects and clustered SEs (like Stata's reghdfe)
result = pr.ols("y ~ x1 + x2 | firm_id + year_id", data=df, cluster=["firm_id"])

# IV / 2SLS
result = pr.iv2sls("y ~ x_exog || x_endog ~ z1 + z2", data=df)

# Panel fixed effects
result = pr.panel_fe("y ~ x1 + x2", data=df, entity="firm_id", time="year_id")

# GroupBy: run regression per industry
grp = pr.groupby_reg(pr.ols, "y ~ x1 + x2", df, group_by="industry")
grp.coef_table()  # stacked Polars DataFrame

# Side-by-side comparison table
pr.regtable(m1, m2, m3, labels=["OLS", "Robust", "FE"])

# Probit / Logit
result = pr.logit("y_binary ~ x1 + x2", data=df, cluster="firm_id")
pr.marginal_effects(result, at="mean")
pr.odds_ratios(result)

# Quantile regression (median)
result = pr.quantreg("y ~ x1 + x2", data=df, tau=0.5)

# Dynamic panel GMM
result = pr.panel_ab("y ~ x1", data=df, entity="firm_id", time="year_id")
result = pr.panel_sys_gmm("y ~ x1", data=df, entity="firm_id", time="year_id")

# PPML (Poisson / gravity model)
result = pr.ppml("count ~ x1 + x2", data=df, cluster=["firm_id"])

# Coefficient plot (interactive Altair chart)
result.coefplot()
pr.coefplot(m1, m2, m3, labels=["OLS", "IV", "FE"])

# Added-variable (partial regression) plot
result.avplot("x1")

# Out-of-sample prediction
preds = result.predict(new_df)
intervals = result.predict_interval(new_df, alpha=0.05)  # fit, se, lower, upper

# Access results
result.coefficients  # coefficient vector
result.se            # standard errors
result.tstat         # t-statistics
result.pvalue        # p-values
result.confint()     # confidence intervals
result.coef_table()  # Polars DataFrame
result.wald_test(R)  # Wald test for linear restrictions
result.predict(new_df)   # out-of-sample predictions
result.coefplot()        # coefficient plot
result.avplot()          # added-variable plots

Formula Syntax

Formula	Meaning	Stata	R
y ~ x1 + x2	OLS	reg y x1 x2	lm(y ~ x1 + x2)
y ~ x1 + x2 - 1	No intercept	reg y x1 x2, noconstant	lm(y ~ x1 + x2 - 1)
y ~ x1 | fe1 + fe2	Absorbed FE	reghdfe y x1, absorb(fe1 fe2)	feols(y ~ x1 | fe1 + fe2)
y ~ x1 || x_end ~ z1 + z2	IV/2SLS	ivregress 2sls y x1 (x_end = z1 z2)	feols(y ~ x1 | 0 | x_end ~ z1 + z2)
y ~ x1 | fe1 | x_end ~ z1	IV + FE	ivreghdfe y x1 (x_end = z1), absorb(fe1)	feols(y ~ x1 | fe1 | x_end ~ z1)
y ~ x1*x2	Full factorial	reg y c.x1##c.x2	lm(y ~ x1 * x2)
y ~ x1:x2	Interaction only	reg y c.x1#c.x2	lm(y ~ x1:x2)
y ~ i.group + x1	Indicator dummies	reg y i.group x1	lm(y ~ factor(group) + x1)
y ~ i.group*x1	Indicator × continuous	reg y i.group#c.x1	lm(y ~ factor(group) * x1)

Estimators

Function	Description
ols()	OLS/WLS with optional FE absorption
iv2sls()	Two-stage least squares
liml()	Limited information maximum likelihood
gmm_iv()	Two-step efficient GMM
panel_fe()	Panel fixed effects (within)
panel_re()	Panel random effects (Swamy-Arora GLS)
panel_fd()	Panel first-difference
panel_ab()	Arellano-Bond dynamic panel GMM
panel_sys_gmm()	Blundell-Bond system GMM
probit()	Probit MLE
logit()	Logit MLE
quantreg()	Quantile regression (IRLS + bootstrap)
ppml()	Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood
coefplot()	Coefficient plot with CIs (Altair)
groupby_reg()	Run any estimator per group
regtable()	Side-by-side regression table
marginal_effects()	Probit/logit marginal effects
odds_ratios()	Logit odds ratios with delta-method SEs
hausman_test()	Hausman specification test (FE vs RE)

Standard Error Options

• vcov="iid" — homoskedastic (default)
• vcov="HC1" — heteroskedasticity-robust (Stata's robust)
• vcov="HC0", "HC2", "HC3" — other HC variants
• cluster=["firm_id"] — one-way clustered
• cluster=["firm_id", "year_id"] — two-way clustered (Cameron-Gelbach-Miller)
• vcov="NW" — Newey-West HAC (requires time=)
• vcov="DK" — Driscoll-Kraay (requires time=)
• vcov="bootstrap" — pairs bootstrap
• vcov="wildboot" — wild cluster bootstrap (requires cluster=)

Stata / R Equivalence

Generate equivalent code to verify results in Stata or R:

# Stata code
print(pr.to_stata("ols", "y ~ x1 + x2 | firm_id", cluster=["firm_id"]))
# → reghdfe y x1 x2, absorb(firm_id) vce(cluster firm_id)

# R code
print(pr.to_r("ols", "y ~ x1 + x2 | firm_id", cluster=["firm_id"]))
# → library(fixest)
#   model <- feols(y ~ x1 + x2 | firm_id, data=df, vcov=~firm_id)

Documentation

• Showcase notebook — full tour of all features (rendered PDF)
• API reference — generate locally with uv run pdoc polars_reg --docformat google (serves at http://localhost:8080), or build static HTML with uv run pdoc polars_reg -o docs/api --docformat google

Requirements

• Python >= 3.11
• Polars >= 1.0
• NumPy >= 1.24
• SciPy >= 1.10
• pandas (optional — for pandas DataFrame input)
• Altair (optional — for plotting)