Course Catalog
Applied Econometrics II
94-835
Units: 6
Description
Applied Econometrics II is the second course in a two-course sequence designed to teach the essentials of econometric methodology. The course focuses on estimating the causal effect of a treatment on an outcome. It covers regression discontinuity, difference-in-differences, event study analysis, and synthetic control methods. It is a hands-on course. Students learn to read and interpret existing studies and also conduct econometric analyses of their own.
Learning Outcomes
During the course, students will:
- Learn how regression discontinuity is used to draw inferences about causal effects from rules constraining human behavior.
- Use difference-in-differences techniques to study causality when experiments happen naturally in society.
- Apply event study analysis and synthetic control methods to tackle causal questions when there are multiple natural experiments, or small sample sizes.
- Learn to read and interpret existing econometric studies.
- Conduct econometric analyses of their own.
- Become competent and confident in the use of Stata to conduct empirical analyses.
Prerequisites Description
94-834 (Applied Econometrics I) and a solid grounding in basic statistics, at the level of 90-711 (Empirical Methods for Public Policy and Management), 90-786 (Intermediate Empirical Methods), or 95-796 (Statistics for IT Managers).