Minor Deepening Minor: Economic Research for Econometricians
- Category
- Deepening minor
- Minor code
- FEB53116
- Duration
- 8 weeks
Content
The minor aims to broaden as well as deepen the knowledge and understanding of economics for individuals trained in econometrics on several dimensions.
- Using microeconomic theory to understand strategic interactions
- Looking at recent developments in macroeconomics in both theory and practice
- Reviewing popular micro-econometric methods used in empirical papers
A particular emphasis of this minor is the development of economic research skills. The reading material for this minor will thus mostly be based on published academic papers.
Learning objectives
The goal of this minor is to introduce students to important macroeconomic and microeconomic problems and theories that modern economic research focuses on. A further key objective is to teach students how they can use empirical methods to systematically think about the relationships between microeconomic and aggregate variables.
Special aspects
This minor is only accessible to ESE students who have a strong econometrics background.
This means that it is open to all bachelor students from one of the econometrics tracks and to those from the economics track who have obtained high grades in statistical and mathematical based courses.
Overview modules
Module 1: Theoretical Microeconomics
EC: 4
Content: This module begins with an introduction to/refresher of game theory to lay the methodological foundations. In the rest of the course we consider classical strategic problems of individual interaction such as
- problems of coordination
- communication and information exchange
- contests & tournaments
- bargaining
After a general analysis of these strategic situations, we apply the framework to questions of economic relevance.
Teaching methods: Lectures
Teaching materials: Lecture Slides and Scientific Papers
Contact hours: 6 per week for 1st 4 weeks
Self study: 14 per week for 1st 4 weeks
Module 2: Macroeconomics: Theory and Practice
EC: 4
Content: In this module we will study the long run behaviour of economy and its short-run fluctuations.
In the first part (long-run), we will cover economic growth and unemployment.
In the second part (short-run), the focus will be on the consumption, investment and asset prices’ determination.
The models presented in this course are an introduction to modern macroeconomics and build on the 1st year macroeconomics course. We will study the applications of the models using academic papers.
Teaching methods: Lecture
Teaching materials: Lecture Slides and Scientific Papers
Contact hours: 6 per week for 1st 4 weeks
Self study: 14 per week for 1st 4 weeks
Module 3: Applied Micro-Econometrics Methods
ECTS: 4
Content: The module is about micro-econometric empirical strategies used to estimate causal relationships that are of interest to economists. These include:
- Lab & field experiments
- Randomized control trials
- Differencein-differences
- Propensity score matching
- Instrumental variables
- Regression discontinuity
The module will describe the advantages (and disadvantages) of these different empirical strategies to identify the causal effect of a treatment. Students will learn what kind of identifying assumptions different empirical strategies are based on. We will also appraise which data requirements have to be met for the successful application of a particular strategy.
This will be done, for each method in turn, by:
1. reviewing the econometric theory behind the various methods
2. go through empirical papers which have successfully applied these
Teaching methods: Lectures
Teaching materials: Lecture Slides and Scientific Papers
Contact hours: 12 per week for final 3 weeks
Self study: 28 per week for final 3 weeks
Examination
Method of examination
Module 1: Participation: 10%; Course Work: 20%; Written Exam: 70%
Module 2: Participation: 10%; Course Work: 20%; Written Exam: 70%
Module 3: Participation: 10%; Course Work: 20%; Research Paper: 70%
Composition final grade
Module1: 32%
Module 2: 32%
Module 3: 36%
Students need to obtain an average of 5.5 over all modules to pass the minor and cannot get a grade below 4.5 in any of the modules.
Feedback
Feedback on exam or essay by appointment with instructor of module
Contact information
Olivier Marie
marie@ese.eur.nl
010-4081393
room: E1-08
Faculty website
https://sites.google.com/site/oliviermarie/
Registration
Please read the application procedure for more information.