MSc Economics / Course details

Year of entry: 2025

Course unit details:
Applied Development Economics Project (ADEP)

Course unit fact file
Unit code ECON60552
Credit rating 15
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

 

Aims: To provide students with practical experience of applied development research.

 

Pre/co-requisites

Unit title Unit code Requirement type Description
Macroeconomic Theory ECON60111 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Introduction to Econometrics ECON60611 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Econometric Methods for Development MGDI60031 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Econometric Methods ECON61001 Co-Requisite Compulsory
ECON60611 or ECON61011 or MGDI60031 is a Pre-Requisite for ECON60552

Aims

To provide students with practical experience of applied development research.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students should be able to:
(a) demonstrate an understanding of the use of real world data sets;
(b) construct and apply a model to such data;
(c) apply an appropriate set of tests to assess the robustness of their model and
(d) present their results in an appropriate manner.

Syllabus

Provisional

Background: It is assumed that the students have the necessary background as far as the execution of the estimation stage is concerned, based on the QM courses they have taken in the first semester. However, supporting lectures will be given on aspects of estimation and the interpretation of results. In addition, the tutorials will cover the use of the STATA estimation package.

ADEP Supporting Lectures: A set of supporting lectures will be delivered in the first half of the semester.

The following topics will be covered:

Lecture 1   On Preparing the ADEP and examples of projects: Providing a set of guidelines on how to carry out applied work. Outlining the way of carrying out the projects and of testing hypothesis.  (YZ)

Lecture 2   Highlighting data problems relevant to developing countries and ways of tackling them  & Examples of Projects (YZ)

Lecture 3   Review of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Specification Tests using STATA (KI)

Lecture 4   Selected Topics on Cross-Sectional Econometrics (Instrumental Variable) and an Introduction to Static Panel Data Models (KI)

Lecture 5   Panel-Data Models (An application of Static Panel Models and An introduct

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures and Tutorials

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Written assignment (inc essay) 10%
Report 90%

Recommended reading

There is no reading list for this course. However, the following text is the most useful in terms of approach, background and data. It will be the basis of several examples used in lectures and tutorials:

Måns Söderbom, Francis Teal, Markus Eberhardt, Simon Quinn, Andrew Zeitlin (2014), Empirical Development Economics, Routledge.

Mukherjee, C., While, H. and Wuyts, M. (1998) Econometrics and Data Analysis for Developing Countries, Routledge, London and New York.

Other useful references

Wooldridge, M, (2006) Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach, Third Edition, Thomson South-Western Publishing

Greene, W. (2006) Econometric Analysis: 5th Edition Prentice Hall.

Baltagi, B. (2013). Econometric analysis of panel data. 5th Edition, John Wiley & Sons.

Angrist, J. D.; Pischke, J. S. (2008). Mostly harmless econometrics: An empiricist's companion. Princeton University Press.

Angrist, J.D. and Pischke, J.S. (2014). Mastering'metrics: The path from cause to effect. Princeton University Press.

Gujarati, D. (2003) Basic Econometrics, McGraw-Hill Education

 

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 14
Tutorials 6
Independent study hours
Independent study 130

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Chenyang Wang Unit coordinator
Yin-Fang Zhang Unit coordinator

Additional notes

 

 

Return to course details