Task

1.    Clearly state your final research idea

2.    Briefly discuss the data you will require to answer your research question

3.    Report and discuss descriptive (summary statistics) of the key variables you will be using for your analysis

4.    Discuss issues you have run into thus far

5.    Outline steps for completion, including your planned extension2.

Your Research Proposal

1.  Introduction: Research problem, context & research question

Introduce the topic and context: Briefly state the context of your research and why is it important (both generally and as it relates to the economics literature). State the research problem in the opening paragraph – what is the area of     conflict, concern, or controversy; something that needs solution? Identify an issue. Reference the problem using the  literature. Example:

“In the wake of the Great Recession, there were renewed concerns that the severe economic crisis couldfuel a             resurgence in crime (see Colvin 2009,for example). These concerns echoed ideas dating back to the Great Depression of the 1930s and recent discussions about the relationship between economic crises, more broadly, and crime

(Fishback, Johnson, and Kantor 2010; UNODC 2012) … … …. Brazil’s trade liberalization had a unique

feature: it was close to a once-and-for-all event, with tariffs being reduced between1990 and 1995 and remaining

approximately constant afterwards. This allows us to empirically characterize the dynamic response of crime rates to the trade-induced regional economic shocks. It also allows us to explore the timing of the responses of potential         mechanisms and to assess their relevance in explaining the observed response of crime. The Brazilian context is        particularly appealing because it is characterized by high incidence of crime. ”

Identify the research gap/gap in the literature: Include a brief discussion on what is missing in the literature - deficiency or lack of evidence in relation to the problem? Example:

“The literature on economic cycles, labor market conditions, and crime has recurrently investigated these issues, but identification remains a major challenge (e.g., Cook and Zarkin 1985, Raphael and Winter-Ebmer 2001, and Finklea 2011). Despite its relevance in the public debate and important welfare implications, there are still open questions    regarding the effect of economic shocks on criminal activity and even more on the mechanisms through which these   effects may play out. ”

Research question/objective/hypothesis: Make it clear at the outset:

✓ What question(s) are you asking/addressing?

✓ What hypothesis are you testing?

Clearly state your final research objective/question. Create a sentence that begins with “The purpose/objective of this study is . . .” or pose it as a question. What we would like to see is a well-defined research question or a problem that requires economic analysis.  It must be well motivated (in terms of the economics literature or the proposed                methodology),feasible (in terms of time and resources available to you) and innovative (adds value to current            literature).  Provide rationale for your research (justify your plan with reference to the literature, cite at least one high quality reference in support of your claim).

Significance: Why the research problem is important. For example, the proposed study is significant since it addresses the sustainable development goals of inequality and poverty.

Contribution of the study: How the study addresses a specific gap in the literature and hence, adds value to the scholarly literature on the subject. For example:

“This paper contributes to the literature infour dimensions. First, we provide credible estimates of the effect of          economic shocks on criminal activity and make progress in understanding the mechanisms behind this effect. Second, there is very little evidence on the effect of economic conditions on crime in developing countries with high incidence of crime … …”

Clarity, Rationale & Innovation

Your research statement must have these three elements.

Clarity.  This is self-explanatory. Your research idea must be clear – give specifics/details. Avoid vague and general statements.

Rationale: Justify your research idea. Why did you choose to answer this research question/or choose to test this         hypothesis? Refer to the context (see above) and gap in the literature (see above). ‘Rationale’ should be an explanation that justifies the need for the study. Should be evidenced-based  - always provide a high-quality citation supporting      your claim.

Innovation: Why is your proposed research meaningful or interesting? What value does it add to the existing           literature? How are you advancing knowledge? Ideally, cite a high-quality reference of from the literature in support of your claim. For example:

“ ….. we develop a strategy to estimate boundsfor the effect of labor market conditions on crime. Our methodological innovation shows that one can exploit the distinct dynamic effects of a single shock to achieve partial identification.     The preferred estimatesfrom our baseline specication lead to lower and upper boundsfor the elasticity of crime with respect to the employment rate …. ..The combination of our natural experiment with our empirical strategy allows us   to make progress relative to the previous literature and to provide bounds on the effect of local labor market                conditions on crime. This is only possible because the shock captures an event that is discrete in time andpermanent,  which allows us to exploit the evolution of its effects over time. ”

Also refer to contribution (see above).

Feasibility & Plan B?

1. Clearly state why your plan is feasible. For example:

“Given the time and resources available to me, I am confident that I will be able to submit a high-quality research      project in time. My project is based on DHS data, which is publicly available and is easy to access. I am working on   the research question which has been prescribed by the instructors (the effect of household wealth on health outcomes of children). Stata codesfor the instrumental variable model are straightforward as plenty of resources are available on econometric modelling with Stata. We also have access to resourcesfrom Stata Master class. ”

2.Mention a Plan B if your Plan A fails for some reason (for example, you are not able to handle the data set/ or statistical models/ or codes for his project).

2.   Approach

Keep in mind that you are undertaking an empirical research project. The research question is answered by formulating a hypothesis and testing it using an appropriate dataset and relevant statistical and econometric techniques.

For empirical projects, this implies (1) a clear statement of the hypothesis, (2) clear and concise description of data (3) clear and concise description of the statistical and econometric technique used; including a justification of why it is the most appropriate empirical strategy.

2.1 Data

At the minimum you must mention:

✓ Data source  (name the Survey)

✓ Survey Location

✓ Type of data: experimental/observational

✓ Sampling size and strategy: For example, out of 10,000 working age population residing in the village, a random sample of 1000 individuals were selected, stratified by gender.

✓ What information was collected in the survey

✓ Duration/Year of survey

2.2 Key Variables

1.   Clearly state the key variables you will be using in your model. Justification for including these variables should follow from the literature. For example:

Key explanatory and outcome variable: “ … we construct a measure of trade-induced shocks to local economies      based on changes in sector-specific tariffs and on the initial sectoral composition of employment in each region, using the methodology proposed by Topalova (2010) and rationalized and refined by Kovak (2013) … We measure crime      using homicide data compiled by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, which are the only crime data that can be                consistently compared across regions of the countryfor extended periods of time. ”

Controls: “We usefour waves of the Brazilian Demographic Census covering thirty years  (1980–2010)to compute    several variables of interest. First, we use the census to construct the two main labor market outcomes at the               individual level, namely, total labor market earnings and employment status (employed or not employed). We also use individual-level data to estimate per capita household income inequality and socio-demographic characteristics          (education, age, and urban location)when necessary. In addition, we use the census data to estimate the number of   workers employed in occupations related to public safety in each region. … We obtain annual spending and revenue   at the municipality levelfrom the Ministry of Finance …..”

2.   Report Summary Statistics of Variables  (outcome variable, key explanatory variable, control variables). Example:

Important notes

Do NOT include screenshots or copies of published tables or figures from other sources in your paper. You should report the table/or figure that  you have created along with appropriate notes.

Do NOT take screenshots or regression output from Stata. Your figures / tables should be “real” tables and high- quality (high-resolution) graphics.

That said, do not focus too much on the formatting of your table at this point. It takes time to learn to generate beautiful tables (and figures).

2.3  Empirical strategy:

Clearly state your empirical strategy. Justify why this is the most appropriate technique to answer your research question/or test your hypothesis.

We exploit the 1990s trade liberalization in Brazil as a natural experiment generating exogenous shocks to local economies ….. Our empirical strategy investigates how crime rates evolved in each local economy as liberalization tookplace, tracing out its effects over the medium- and long run horizons.

3.   Challenges

Describe any challenges you have faced so far, and how you approached solving them. Reflect on what you’ve learned from the exercise thus far. For example,

If you are unable to access the data, process it andproduce summary statistics of key variables  …

…describe the reasons why you are submitting your assignment without reporting the preliminary descriptive              statistics. Is it due to software access? Coding issues (for example, the code is too complicated or there is a substantive coding error that you have been unable to solve)? Mismatch of software version? Whatever your challenges, discuss   what steps you have taken to overcome them and what the outcome has been. Give yourself a pat on the shoulder for   persisting with this difficult task and reflect on what remains to be done.

If you have successfully reproduced relevant tables /figures…

…comment on your experience in general (after you give yourself a little high five!). Has it been a smooth process, or did you face issues along the way? If so, how did you go about addressing them?

5 Roadmap

Present a week-by-week plan of the steps towards completion your project. Suggested outline below

[Note : this is just a guideline – you must add relevant details specific to your project].

Weeks 5-6

•    Access the data, clean and process it, produce summary statistics of key variables.

Weeks 7-9

•    Familiarize myself with the data beyond descriptive statistics.

•    Continue refining methods needed to answer my research question. Note: think about- What do you want to test? How will you test this hypothesis? Which statistical tests will answer your research question?