Economic Modeling for Applied Economists

The purpose of this course is to develop formal tools for building formal, theoretical economic models to support empirical research. This class is aimed at graduate students conducting applied research who have begun conducting independent research. The class will first introduce and review important topics from game theory used in constructing models, but with an applied focus, taking into account common data restrictions and limitations. Emphasis will be placed on tools which can be used to complement existing research goals. Students will be expected to participate in class discussions, weekly assignments, and presentations/reviews of existing papers. Class time will be split between lectures and group discussions/presentations. The main deliverable for the course is to add a formal modeling section to an existing/ongoing independent research project.