Research Project Design

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course is the prerequisite for the Senior Seminar (IECO-401). The objectives of the course are: (i) to develop students’ ability to critically read empirical research papers; (ii) to extend students’ command of econometric methods; (iii) to provide practice presenting sophisticated empirical work both orally and in writing. The primary outcome will be a detailed proposal for a substantial empirical research project. The proposal will include a literature review, a detailed description of the data and proof that the data are in hand, and an outline of the research plan to be carried out during the spring semester Senior Seminar. Research topics and methods will be introduced through readings in several fields of economics, including development, experimental, health, international, political economy, and urban. Lectures will focus on the empirical methods used in the papers; the methods covered will include randomized trials, quasi and natural experiments, regression discontinuity methods, instrumental variables, quantile regression, etc. Students will make in-class presentations on the readings and will prepare “referee reports” on two papers each.