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Lower limit on R squared with two weak regressors

Question

OLS regressions of yy on x1x_1 alone and on x2x_2 alone (each with an intercept) both have R2=0.05R^2=0.05. What is the largest value that is guaranteed to bound the R2R^2 of the regression of yy on both x1x_1 and x2x_2 from below?

Short answer

0.050.05. Including an extra regressor cannot reduce the explained variance, so the joint R2R^2 is at least 0.050.05; it equals 0.050.05 when, for instance, x2x_2 is identical to x1x_1 and adds no information.

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