MA Economics

The aim of this course is to equip students with the tools necessary to understand and evaluate applied economic research, and lay a foundation upon which they can develop and carry out their own high quality research. Students will learn the importance of causal identification. The course will combine the explanation of different econometric methods used by economists to identify causal relationships with the analysis of specific applications of those methods to various topics in applied microeconomics. The methods covered will include: descriptive analysis, randomised control trials, differences-in-differences, instrumental variables, and regression discontinuity design. Applications of these methods will be considered in various fields including labour economics, development economics, health economics, environmental economics, and political economy. Students will also learn how to apply the techniques in practice to actual data using econometric software.

Pre-requisite: Knowledge of introductory econometrics.

The aim of this course is to equip students with the tools necessary to understand and evaluate applied economic research, and lay a foundation upon which they can develop and carry out their own high quality research. Students will learn the importance of causal identification. The course will combine the explanation of different econometric methods used by economists to identify causal relationships with the analysis of specific applications of those methods to various topics in applied microeconomics. The methods covered will include: descriptive analysis, randomised control trials, differences-in-differences, instrumental variables, and regression discontinuity design. Applications of these methods will be considered in various fields including labour economics, development economics, health economics, environmental economics, and political economy. Students will also learn how to apply the techniques in practice to actual data using econometric software.

At the end of the course, through reading references and attending lectures, students should be able to:

(i) understand and explain empirical methods used in applied microeconomics, and how those methods can be applied in various contexts.

(ii) demonstrate a critical insight into the empirical models, particularly their strengths, assumptions and shortcomings

(iii) perform data analysis and apply techniques using econometrics software.

Provisional

A preliminary list of topics includes:

(i)       Descriptive data analysis with applications from labour economics and environmental economics

(ii)       Randomised control trials with an application from development economics

(iii)      Differences-in-differences with an application from health economics

(iv)      Instrumental variables estimation with an application from labour economics

(v)      Regression discontinuity design with applications from political economy and public economics

Tutorials will take place during lecture slots and will include the application of econometrics software (either Stata or R).
 

Lectures and tutorials

The primary texts for the course will be: 

“Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion” by Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke (2008), Princeton University Press.

and/or:

“Mastering Metrics: The Path from Cause to Effect” by Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke (2014), Princeton University Press.

Although some of the technical aspects included in the reading will be covered in class, the focus will be predominantly on the intuition behind the different econometric methods and how to apply them to different research questions. Other relevant textbooks include:

“Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach” by Jeffrey Wooldridge, South-Western.

Most of the reading will come from published research papers provided by the lecturer during the course.