COURSE AIMS & OBJECTIVES, KEY SKILLS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The purpose of this course is to enable students to explore the connection between economic theory and econometric/statistical methods in their application to issues of global significance.

The course aims at enhancing the ability for logical and structured problem analysis, the ability to  present clearly technical subjects, and their ability to assess real-life economic issues relating them to their studies.

On successful completion of this module students will be able to apply basic economic theory and statistical techniques to issues in applied economics. Also, students will be able to critically assess academic material and data. Independent research skills.

COURSE STRUCTURE

This module comprises weekly face-to-face lectures and seminars of 50 minutes. Precisely, from week 1 to 10 there are 2 lecture. and 1 seminar,  in week 5 there is 1 support session . The lectures  and associated tutorials are clustered around several themes. These themes refer to topics on which economics as a discipline has made some contribution to our understanding of causes, consequences, and policy cures.

LECTURER AND TUTOR CONTACT INFORMATION

Dr Giuseppe Migali, Course Convenor

Email: [email protected]

Office hour: Thursday 11:30-12:30am (virtual contact and in presence, always to be contacted by email first)

Dr Jean-Francois Maystadt

Email: [email protected]

Office hour: Monday 09.00-10.00 (virtual contact and in presence, always to be contacted by email first)

Dr Steve Bradley

Email:s.bradley@lancaster.ac.uk

Office hour: Monday 17.00-18.00 (virtual contact and in presence, always to be contacted by email first)

Tutor

Alessandra Hidalgo Arestegui

Email:a.hidalgoarestegui@lancaster.ac.uk

Office hour: Wednesday (3-4pm)

Utsa Banerjee

u.banerjee1@lancaster.ac.uk

COURSEWORK ASSESSMENT AND TEST DATES

The coursework assessment for this course comprises of a) one compulsory essay of no more than   1,500 words, inclusive of all material submitted apart from the Bibliography, (67% of your overall     coursework mark), and b) a compulsory presentation in one of the tutorial sessions (33% of your      overall coursework mark). The mark is based on the prepared slides, which must be sent by email at least one day in advance (before the tutorial presentation) to the designated tutor. Precise                instructions on the presentation schedule will be discussed during the first week of the term.

For the essay, select one topic from the list below:

1)   Discuss how social experiments can be employed to evaluate new policies and government programmes.

2)   According to the UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 7 million Ukrainians were recorded as refugees across Europe in September 2022. Based on economic theory and empirical evidence, where are Ukrainian refugees likely to migrate and with which consequences for the European countries of Asylum?

3)   Given the sources of climate change, critically appraise the possible national and              international economic policy instruments which could be introduced to slow the rate of change in global temperatures.

Students are required to select one of the above 3 topics by week 4, by communicating their choice to the designated tutor during a weekly seminar. Since there is a limited number of slots per essay, the allocation is on first come first served basis.

Coursework must be submitted electronically through Moodle. When on Moodle you should             navigate to the relevant module page. Here you will find the electronic coursework submission box. Note that your work will be screened using software designed to detect plagiarism. No hard copy    submission is required as the work will be marked electronically using Moodle. The deadline is 12    noon Tuesday, Week 10 for modules which run in Michaelmas Term or Week 20 for modules which run in Lent Term. Do not rely upon someone else to submit your coursework.

COURSEWORK AND TEST RETURN INFORMATION

The coursework will be marked and returned to students within 4 weeks of the test date/submission deadline. Feedback on the coursework is provided through the "Feedback folder” in Moodle.

Students are also encouraged to discuss with the lecturer and/or tutor who marked their script/essay during office hours.

MARKING CRITERIA AND PENALTIES

Marking criteria can be found on pages 20-21 of the Economics Undergraduate Handbook. An electronic copy of this can be found on the ECON Part 1 and ECON Part 2 Moodle pages.

FINAL MARKING INFORMATION

This course is assessed by means of formal examination and coursework. The final exam for the         course is taken in May/June of the current academic year. The final mark for the course is calculated 33% CWA + 67% Exam.

REVISION SESSIONS

You should be aware that there will be revision sessions provided during the Summer term. Please refer to your timetable for dates and times.

RESEARCH ETHICS

In the event that your coursework involves collecting information from or conducting interviews  with individuals you should be aware of the following LUMS research ethics code of conduct. You will need to sign on the coursework submission form that you have followed these guidelines

COURSE TEXT AND RECOMMENDED READING

There is no set textbook for this course. Rather students you should read the articles and book         chapters that have been identified for each weekly tutorial. These readings also support the lecture material. Guidance will be given by your tutor as to which articles are most appropriate to answer   the seminar questions.

SEMINARS

Reading lists and detailed information relevant to the online seminars are in the “Outline for seminar presentation” on Moodle. For each presentation in the seminars students will be expected to cover the following as a minimum:

a) what issues / hypotheses / questions did the authors seek to address and why?

b) How did they seek to address a) i.e. what data and methods were used?

c) What are the key findings of the research?

d) What are the key policy implications of the findings?

e) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

COURSE OUTLINE

Lectures weeks 1-2-3-4 (Giuseppe Migali)

Evaluation methods in Applied Economics: social experiments, natural experiments, quasi- experimental approaches. Examples in health, education, and labor market.

Seminar week 1:

Introduction and allocation of the papers for the compulsory presentations

Paper for week 2:

Katherine Baicker et al. The Oregon Experiment — Effects of Medicaid on Clinical Outcomes The New England Journal of Medicine, May 2, 2013

Paper for week 3:

Alan B. Krueger and Diane M. Whitmore. The effect of attending a small class in the early grades on college-test taking and middle school test results: evidence from project star. The Economic Journal, 111, January 2001, 1-28.

Paper for week 4:

DiTella, Rafael and Schargrodsky, Ernesto. Do Police Reduce Crime? Estimates Using the Allocation of Police Forces after a Terrorist Attack. American Economic Review. 2004.

Paper for week 5:

Galiani, Sebastian et al. Water for Life: The Impact of the Privatization of Water Services on Child Mortality. Journal of Political Economy. 2005.

Reading:

Aviva Aron-Dine, Liran Einav, and Amy Finkelstein, “The RAND Health Insurance Experiment, Three Decades Later” Journal of Economic Perspectives —Volume 27, Number 1 —Winter 2013 — Pages    197– 222

Alan B. Krueger, “Experimental Estimates of Education Production Functions” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1999

David Card and Alan  B.  Krueger,  “School  Resources and Student  Outcomes: An Overview of the Literature and New Evidence from North and South Carolina” Journal of Economic Perspectives — Volume 10, Number 4 — Fall 1996 — Pages 31–50

David Card and Alan B. Krueger, “Minimum wages and employment: a case study of the fast-food industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania”, American Economic Review, 1994, Vol. 84 N.4

Miller, Sarah and Johnson, Norman and Wherry, Laura R

“Medicaid and mortality: new evidence from linked survey and administrative data”, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2019

Lectures week 5

Crime and punishment: An economic analysis of the causes, cures and consequences of crime

(Steve Bradley)

Paper for week 9:

V. Bhaskar, r. Linacre and S. Machin (2017) “The Economic Functioning of Online Drugs Markets”, Discussion Paper 1490, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

Reading:

Erhlic, I. (2010) The market model of crime: a short review and new directions, Chapter 1 in Benson, B. L. and Zimmerman (Eds) Handbook on the Economics of Crime, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham.

Angela K. Dills, Miron, J.A. and Summers, G. (2008) What do economists know about crime?, NBER Working Paper 13759

J. J. Donohue III (2007) “Economic Models of Crime and Punishment”, Social Research, vol 74, No. 2, pp379-412.

S. D. Levitt and T. J. miles (2006) “ Economic Contributions to the Understanding of Crime”, Annual Review of Law and Social Science, vol 2, 147-64.

Chalfin, A. and McCrary, J. (2014) Criminal Deterrence: A Review of the Literature, mimeo.

Brian, B., Jaitman, L. and Stephen Machin (2014) ‘Crime deterrence: Evidence form the London 2011 riots’, The Economic Journal, 124 (May), 480–506.

B. Bell, A. Bindler and S Machin (2014) “Crime Scars: Recessions and the Making of Career Criminals”, Discussion Paper 1284, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

Lectures  weeks 6-7-8

Migration and Development (Jean-Francois Maystadt)

Paper for week 6:

Beegle, K., J. De Weerdt and S. Dercon (2011), “Migration and Economic Mobility in Tanzania : Evidence from a Tracking Survey”, The Review of Economics and Statistics 93(3): 1010-1033.

Paper for week 7:

Yang, Dean (2008), “International Migration, Remittances, and Household Investment: Evidence from Philippine Migrants’ Exchange Rate Shocks”, Economic Journal 118: 591-630.

Paper for week 8:

Maystadt, J.-F. and Ph. Verwimp (2014), “Winners and Losers among a refugee-hosting population”, Economic Development and Cultural Change 62(4):769-809.

Reading:

Beegle, K., J. De Weerdt and S. Dercon (2011), “Migration and Economic Mobility in Tanzania : Evidence from a Tracking Survey”, The Review of Economics and Statistics 93(3): 1010-1033.

Docquier, Frederic and Hillel Rapoport (2012)”Globalization, brain drain and development”, Journal of Economic Literature 50(3): 681-730.

Gibson J., D. McKenzie and S. Stillman (2011), “The impacts of international migration on remaining household members: Omnibus results from a migration lottery program”, The Review of Economics and Statistics 93(4): 1297-1318.

Michael Clemens (2011), “Economics and emigration: Trillion-dollar bills on the sidewalk?”, Journal of Economic Perspectives 25(3): 83– 106.

Michael Clemens and Lant Pritchett (2008), “Income Per Natural: Measuring Development for People rather than Places”, Population and Development Review 34 (3): 395–434.

Marchiori Luca, Jean-Francois Maystadt and Ingmar Schumacher (2012), “Weather Variations and   Migration in Sub-Saharan Africa”, Journal ofEnvironmental Economics and Management 63(3):355- 374.

Maystadt, J.-F. and Ph. Verwimp (2014), “Winners and Losers among a refugee-hosting population”, Economic development and Cultural Change 62(4):769-809.

Ruiz, I., Vargas-Silva, C. (2013), “The economics of forced migration.” Journal ofDevelopment Studies, 49: 772–784.

Yang, Dean (2008), “International Migration, Remittances, and Household Investment: Evidence from Philippine Migrants’ Exchange Rate Shocks”, Economic Journal 118: 591-630.

Lectures weeks 9-10

Climate change, environmental pollution and policy responses (Steve Bradley)

Readings for lecture week 10:

W.D. Nordhaus and A. Moffat “A Survey of Global Impacts of Climate Change: Replication, Survey Methods, and Statistical Analysis”, Working Paper 23646, NBER Cambridge, Mass.

Olmstead, S. M. and Stavins, R.N. (2010) ‘Three key elements of post-2012 international climate policy architecture’, Discussion Paper 10-18, Harvard Environmental Economics Program,            Department of Economics, Harvard University.

Paper for week 10:

Hsiang, S.M. and Amire, S.J. (2014) ‘The causal effect of environmental catastrophe on long-run economic growth: Evidence from 6,700 cyclones’, NBER Working Paper 20352