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ECON 503: Econometrics

Final Project

One goal of Econometrics is to introduce students to econometric modeling techniques that they can apply in their own research and career. To this end, each group (max of four students) is expected to write a paper to address an economic question of interest using the techniques that are covered in this class. The paper should be at most 5-7 pages long. The research paper is due on May 6th by 5 PM on Compass.

Here are some examples of appropriate topics:

· How does a person’s education affect their hourly wage?

· Does international aid increase or decrease economic growth in developing economies?

· Has NAFTA hurt the US textile industry?

· Do immigrants lower the wages of native workers?

· Are blacks, women, Hispanics, etc. discriminated against in the labor market?

· To test the Random Walk Hypothesis of Aggregate Consumption

Evaluation

This list is by no means exhaustive. A solid, coherent, creative paper will receive an A. Here are some tips on what is expected:

Review of Literature: What have other economists said on the subject? What does economic theory predict you will find in your empirical analysis? You must include citations. While the use of popular news sources (such as The Economist, The New York Times, or The Wall Street Journal) is encouraged, your paper must cite at least two academic papers. A paper is considered academic if it is published in a peer-reviewed journal or NBER working papers. Some examples are: American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Political Economy, etc. Your review of literature is expected to explain current perspectives on the topic and to provide context for your contribution.

Data: Once you have a question, you must locate data to answer the question. Good resources for data are the U.S. Census (www.census.gov), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov), and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (www.bea.gov), FRED Economic Data, IMF (www.imf.org), PENN World Tables, World Bank (www.worldbank.org) although there are many, many other data sources out there. You can also access lots of databases through the library system online.

Empirical Application: Much of this class is devoted to regression and hypothesis testing.  You should be able to apply these techniques, and others, using the data set you have chosen. To receive a good grade, these concepts must be applied correctly. You must check the assumptions of every statistical method you use. If it appears the assumptions are not valid, try to find a way to correct the problem. If it cannot be corrected, you must explain how the violation of your assumption affects your results.

Interpretation: Is what you found in the data consistent with economic theory on the subject? What do your regression coefficients imply about your chosen question? You will not receive a good grade if you just present a bunch of numbers and leave it to the reader to come up with their own conclusions. You need to thoroughly explain the results to the reader.

In-Class Tutorials

To write a paper using data, you will need to use a statistical software program such as Stata, R, SPSS, or SAS. While you are free to use any program you wish, review sessions will be devoted to presenting tutorials on how to apply what you’ve learned in class in the programs Stata and R.

If you have a question or problem with your Stata or R code, please make every effort to find the solution yourself.  There are ample resources available for free online to familiarize yourself with these programs in addition to the in-class tutorials.  Working through the code diligently on your own is the only way to truly learn, and these skills will be invaluable on the job market or in a PhD program. We may also devote a small amount of class time to going through data websites and demonstrating how to use the library system online to access economics journals.

If you have ideas for your project and want to chat about them, please feel free to email us or stop by office hours.