Applied Econometric Policy Evaluation (p)

After completing the course the student is expected to be able to:

Knowledge:

• Be introduced to the counterfactual set-up and the key treatment parameters we seek to estimate.
• Understand how the estimated treatment parameters rely on specific identifying assumptions.
• Have learned a list of research designs that have been used in the literature.
• Understand how arguments in favor of a research design are developed in research articles.

Skills:

• Set-up appropriate evaluation designs matching specific empirical applications.
• Discuss the identifying assumptions and use regressions or descriptive data analysis to assess the assumptions.
• Implement an empirical policy evaluation analysis using Stata.

Competences:

• Formulate an empirical research question.
• Develop a policy evaluation research design.
• Identify how to exploit variation induced by a policy to set-up a credible research design.
• Apply the appropriate econometric techniques to the policy evaluation problems using micro data.
• Develop arguments supporting an identification strategy.
• Assess the identification strategies in existing research papers as well as in their own analyses.