Economics 204: Empirical Economics II

发布时间：2025-10-10

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Economics 204: Empirical Economics II

Welcome to Empirical Economics II (EC204)!

This course builds upon the foundational knowledge you gained in EC203, delving deeper into the exciting world of econometrics and regression analysis. Get ready to explore real-world data, develop hypotheses, and apply your statistical skills to analyze economic phenomena. Prerequisites: EC101 Introductory Microeconomic Analysis and EC102 Introductory Macroeconomic Analysis, and EC203 (or CAS MA 115, CAS MA 213, QST QM 221, or AP Statistics)

Instructor Information

• Dr. Stacey Gelsheimer

• Office: 270 Bay State Rd, Room 310

• Office Hours: TBD

o Our TA will also host office hours.

• Email address: please use Piazza to send me or the TAs a message

o If your question/request related to personal matters, please use a “private post” . If it relates to content, course logistics or anything else that other students may benefit from reading, please post to “entire class”. (You may even get a quicker answer!)

Class Times*:

Section D1: T/Th 11am-12:15pm MCS B33

Section B1: T/Th 12:30-1:45pm CAS 214

Section F1: T/Th 3:30-4:45pm MCS B33

*You are welcome to attend whichever lecture works best for you, even if you are not technically registered for it. This does NOT hold for exam dates; you must attend your registered section for both exams. If capacity constraints begin to cause issues because of this freedom, I will ask that you attend your registered section.

Important BU/Course Dates: See also https://www.bu.edu/reg/calendars/semester/

• Last Day to Add/Drop a Course: September 15th

• Last Day to Drop without a "W": October 6th

• Midterm 1: Thursday, October 9th

• Substitute Monday (we DON’T meet): Tuesday, October 14th

• Last Day to Drop with a "W": November 7th

• Thanksgiving Week (we DON’T meet): Tues, Nov 25th & Thurs, November 27th

• Last Day to Officially Take a Leave of Absence or Withdraw: December 2nd

• Midterm 2: Thursday, November 20th

• Last Day of Class/Final Paper Due: Tuesday, December 10th

• NO FINAL EXAM DURING FINALS WEEK!

Course Requirements

1. Pearson MyLab Homework (Optional*):

o Weekly assignments to reinforce concepts.

o 10% penalty for late submissions (up to 1 day late).

o Lowest 2 homework grades dropped.

*There is a grading scheme that does not factor in HW assignments.

2. Research Paper:

o Apply econometric skills to analyze a research question of your choice.

o Details and guidelines will be provided in class.

o Stata will be required. If you did not learn Stata in EC203, see below.

3. Peer-Reviewed Paper Assignments:

o Assignments related to the final paper, involving peer review and grading.

o NO late submissions, NO exceptions! (Blackboard won’t let you!)

4. Exams:

o Two midterm exams covering material lectures and notes.

o No electronic devices allowed.

o One page, front and back, allowed as a “cheat sheet”

o No makeup exams! If you miss Midterm 1, points will shift to Midterm 2. If you miss Midterm 2, you must take an incomplete grade in the course and make up the exam at the beginning of the following semester.

o Documented emergencies will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Grading

Activity	Grading Scheme 1	Grading Scheme 2
Assigned MyLab Homework	20%	0%
Research Paper	20%	20%
First Midterm Exam	25%	35%
Second Midterm Exam	25%	35%
Peer Reviewed Paper Assignments	10%	10%

• The higher of the two grading schemes will be applied to your final grade.

• Final grades will be curved up if the median grade is lower than a B.

Important Notes:

• Attendance: Not required, but highly encouraged. Lectures will be recorded and posted on OneNote.

• First Day MyLab Access: See below for how to acquire access to our MyLab course through the BU Bookstore’s First Day Program.

• Stata: Access to Stata is required. Options for accessing Stata will be discussed in class and are available on Blackboard. Stata Instructional Videos are available for learning the basics of Stata and highly recommended for those who have never used it (or who don’t feel super confident with their Stata skills). See “How to Use the Instructional Video Series to Learn & Refresh Your Stata Skills” under “All About Stata” on Blackboard.

• Piazza: We will be using Piazza for Q&A. Please post your questions there instead of emailing.

• Educational Resource Center (ERC): The ERC offers free peer tutoring services and is a valuable resource for academic support.

• Peer Writing Tutors Now Available! We have peer writing tutors available to help you improve your final paper! More details will be provided in class (and on Blackboard), but you can schedule your appointment online through WCOnline.