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Professur für Volkswirtschaftslehre, insbesondere institutioneller Wandel Prof. Dr. Michael Rochlitz
WiSe 2019
Applied Quantitative Research:
New Methods, Tools and Tricks
Syllabus
Course Location: WiWi2 F2340
Time: October 15th 2019 – January 28th 2020, Tuesday, 14:00 – 16:00
Office Hours: upon appointment, WiWi2, Max-von-Laue-Str. 1, Room F 2040 Contact: Tel. +49 (0)421218 66990, [email protected]
Homepage: https://sites.google.com/site/michaelrochlitz/
1. Content
The aim of the course is to provide students with a hands-on introduction to some of the most advanced research methods in economics, such as regression discontinuity design, instrumental variables, differences-in-differences, and a range of experimental approaches to establish causality. The objective of the course is not to enable students to use these methods themselves. Rather, after finishing the class students will be able to understand why and when these methods are useful (1), how they work (2), and be able to follow, evaluate and participate in discussions of research papers that use these methods (3). The ultimate objective of the class is to provide students with an understanding of what a powerful tool applied quantitative research can be to answer questions that otherwise can often not easily be answered.
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2. Course Plan
1) Introduction (October 15th, 2019)
2) Randomized Trials (October 22nd, 2019)
3) Field Experiments (October 29th, 2019)
4) List & Survey Experiments (November 5th, 2019)
5) Lab Experiments (November 12th, 2019)
6) Natural and Quasi-Natural Experiments (November 19th, 2019)
7) Regression Analysis (November 26th, 2019)
8) Instrumental Variables (December 3rd, 2019)
9) Regression Discontinuity Design (December 10th, 2019)
10) Differences-in-Differences (December 17th, 2019)
11) Problems of Ethics, Causality and Validity in Empirical Research (January 7th, 2020)
12) How to Design a Research Project: A Step-by-Step Introduction (January 14th, 2020)
13) Applied Econometric Research: Topics and Questions I (January 21th, 2020)
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3. Key Readings
• Joshua D. Angrist, Jorn-Steffen Pischke (2015) Mastering Metrics: The Path from Cause
to Effect (Princeton University Press)
• Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo (2011) Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way
to Fight Poverty (Public Affairs)
• Mans Söderbom et al. (2015) Empirical Development Economics (Routledge)
• David Szakonyi (2018) Businesspeople in Elected Office: Identifying Private Benefits from Firm-Level Returns, American Political Science Review, 112(2): 322-338.
• David Starbek (2011) Governance and Prison Gangs, American Political Science Review 105(4). 702-716.
• Efraim Benmelech, Claude Berrebi, Esteban Klor (2012), Economic Conditions and the Quality of Suicide Terrorism, The Journal of Politics, 74(1): 113-128.
• Murat Iyigun (2013) Lessons from the Ottoman Harem on Culture, Religion, and Wars, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 61(4): 693-730.
• Andreas Fuchs, Nils-Hendrik Klann (2013) Paying a Visit: The Dalai Lama Effect on International Trade, Journal of International Economics, 91(1): 164-177.
• Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Rachel Glennerster, Dhruva Kothari (2010) Improving Immunisation Coverage in Rural India: Clustered Randomised Controlled Evaluation of Immunisation Campaigns with and without Incentives, British Medical Journal, 340:c2220.
• Ruben Enikolopov, Andrew Beath, Christina Fotini (2017) Direct Democracy and Resource Allocation: Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan, Journal of Development Economics, 124: 199-213.
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4. Grading System
• 1 presentation (25% of the final grade, presentation topics are individually distributed from week to week). Normally, a presentation should be about one of the research papers listed in the syllabus (most of which can be downloaded from StudIP, or obtained through the University Library, www.suub.uni-bremen.de).
• 1 essay (25% of the final grade, to be handed in by December 16th, 2019; ca. 10 000 signs) • 1 project proposal (50% of the final grade, to be handed in by March 1st, 2020, ca. 30 000
signs)
The essay and the project proposal have to be send to me by email no later than the due date at midnight (as a pdf, name_essay.pdf, to [email protected]). For every day that the assignment is handed in late, you will get a reduction of 0.3 points of your grade. Please take care
to register for the exam (“Portfolio”) on Pabo in time (the exact registration period will be announced later in class).
5. Organization of the Seminars
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6. Detailed Course Plan
1. Week (October 14th, 2019): Introduction
Presentation and discussion of the course plan and of the overall topic of the class.
2. Week (October 22nd, 2019): Randomized Trials
Mandatory Reading:
• Esther Duflo, Rachel Glennerster, Michael Kremer (2006) Using Randomization in Development Economics Research: A Toolkit, NBER Technical Working Paper No. 333
3. Week (October 29th, 2019): Field Experiments
Mandatory Reading:
• Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Rachel Glennerster, Dhruva Kothari (2010) Improving immunisation coverage in rural India: clustered randomised controlled evaluation of immunisation campaigns with and without incentives, British Medical Journal (BMJ) 2010; 340:c2220.
4. Week (November 5th, 2019): List & Survey Experiments
Mandatory Reading:
• Daniel Corstange (2012) Vote Trafficking in Lebanon, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 44: 483-505.
5. Week (November 12th, 2019): Lab Experiments
Mandatory Reading:
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6.Week (November 19th, 2019): Natural and Quasi-Natural Experiments
Mandatory Reading:
• Joshua D. Angrist (1990) Lifetime Earnings and the Vietnam Era Draft Lottery: Evidence from Social Security Administrative Records, American Economic Review, 80(3): 313-336.
7. Week (November 26th, 2019): Regression Analysis
Mandatory Reading:
• Stacy Berg Dale, Alan B. Krueger (2002) Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and Unobservables, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(4): 1491-1527.
8. Week (December 3rd, 2019): Instrumental Variables
Mandatory Reading:
• Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, James Robinson (2001) The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation, American Economic Review, 91(5): 1369-1401.
9. Week (December 10th, 2019): Regression Discontinuity Design
Mandatory Reading:
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10. Week (December 17th, 2019): Differences-in-Differences
Mandatory Reading:
• Alessandro Belmonte, Michael Rochlitz (2019) The Political Economy of Collective Memories: Evidence from Russian Politics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, forthcoming
11. Week (January 7th, 2020): Ethics, Causality and Validity
Mandatory Reading:
• Rebecca Morton, Kenneth Williams (2009) From Nature to the Lab: The Methodology of Experimental Political Science and the Study of Causality, Chapters 11 (293-306) & 13 (363-378)
12. Week (January 14th, 2020): How to Design a Research Project: A Step-by-Step Introduction
Mandatory Reading:
• Esther Duflo (2011) How to Find the Right Questions ( https://promarket.org/esther-duflo-how-to-find-the-right-questions/)
13. Week (January 21th, 2020): Applied Econometric Research: Topics and Questions I
Mandatory Reading:
• Andreas Fuchs, Nils-Hendrik Klann (2013) Paying a Visit: The Dalai Lama Effect on International Trade, Journal of International Economics, 91(1): 164-177.
14. Week (January 28th, 2020): Applied Econometric Research: Topics and Questions II
Mandatory Reading:
