Course Schedule

Lecture Before Class Assignments and Deadlines Lab
1
1/13
Causation 		Read
  • MM, Chapters 1 and 2
  • Causation handout
  • Supplemental
    • Helpful overview: Imbens and Wooldridge, 2009. “Econometrics of Program Evaluation,” Journal of Economic Literature. [link]
    • Example of controlling for observables: Brooks et al, “The Cabals of a Few or the Confusion of a Multitude” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 2011. [link]
    • Unit of observation discussion by Social Security
Watch
Assigned
1/20
MLK Day 		No class
2
1/27
Fixed Effects 		Read
  • MM, Chapter 2, cont'd
  • Black, Sandra et al., 2005. “The More the Merrier? The Effect of Family Size and Birth Order on Childrens' Education” [link]
    • skip III.D.-III.G., and sections V & VI
Watch
x
3
2/3
Difference-in-differences 1 		Read
  • MM, Chapter 5
  • Autor, David et al, “The Impact of Disability Benefits on Labor Supply: Evidence from the VA's Disability Compensation Program,” Working paper 2015. [link]
    • Skim section 5
Watch
Due
  • Problem Set 1
  • One-page proposal
Assigned
  • Problem Set 2
4
2/10
Difference-in-differences 2 		Read
  • Milligan, Kevin. “Subsidizing the Stork: New Evidence on Tax Incentives and Fertility” Review of Economics and Statistics, 2005. [link]
    • Skip Section 5
  • Bertrand et al. “How Much Should We Trust Differences-in-differences Estimates?” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2004. [link]
    • Skim Section 4, with the exception of 4C, which you should read carefully
Watch
x
5
2/17
Instrumental Variables 1 		Read
  • MM, Chapter 3
  • Angrist and Kreuger, “Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1991. [link]
    • Section II.C is optional
Watch
Due
  • Problem Set 2
Assigned
  • Problem Set 3
6
2/24
Instrumental Variables 2 		Read
  • split the class between
    • Collins and Margo, “The Economic Aftermath of the 1960s Riots in American Cities: Evidence from Property Values”, Journal of Economic History. 2007. [link]
    • Nguyen, Luu, “Are Credit Markets Still Local? Evidence from Bank Branch Closings” working paper, 2017. [link]
      • through page 20 is sufficient
  • Supplemental
    • Bound, Baker and Jaeger, “Problems with Instrumental Variables Estimation When the Correlation Between the Instruments and the Endogeneous Explanatory Variable is Weak,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, 1995. [link]
    • An entertaining lament from David Jaeger on the fate of this critique
Watch
7
3/3
Regression Discontinuity 1 		Read
  • MM, Chapter 4
  • Anderson, Michael L., “Subways, Strikes and Slowdowns: The Impacts of Public Transit on Traffic Congestion” American Economic Review, 2014. [link]
    • Focus on Section 3, which what we will discuss in class
  • Supplemental
    • Lee and Lemiuex, “Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics,” NBER Working Paper 14723, 2009. [link]
Watch
Handout
  • Quantitative progress instructions
x
8
3/10
Regression Discontinuity 2 		Read
  • Manoli and Turner, “Cash-on-Hand and College Enrollment: Evidence from Population Tax Data and the Earned Income Tax Credit” [link]
    • Read through Section 3.3; skim 3.4
  • discuss fuzzy RD, RD kink
Watch
Due
  • Problem Set 3
3/17
Spring Break 		No Class
9
3/24
Matching 1 		Read
  • Todd, Petra, “A Practical Guide to Implementing Matching Estimators,” Unpublished notes, 1999. [link]
  • Brooks, Leah, “Volunteering to be Taxed: Business Improvement Districts and the Provision of Public Safety,” Journal of Public Economics 2008. [link]
    • Ignore Section 6
Watch
Handout
Due
  • Quantitative summary
10
3/31
Matching 2 		Read
  • Split class between
    • Abadie, Diamond and Hainmueller, “Comparative Politics and the Synthetic Control Method,” American Journal of Political Science, 2015.[link]
    • Pac et al, “Paid Family Leave and Breastfeeding: Evidence from California”, NBER Working Paper 25784, 2019.[link]
Watch
Handout
  • Final paper instructions
  • Presentation instructions
11
4/7
Workshop
12
4/14
Consultations 		No synchronous class
13
4/21
Presentations 		Responsibilities
  • Presentation groups
  • you will pre-record your presentation
  • more instructions coming
14
4/28
Structural Estimation 		Lecture content
  • No reading required.
  • Readings referenced in the lecture
    • Taylor, Lucian “ Why are CEOs rarely fired?” Journal of Finance, 2010. [link]
    • Wiswall, Matthew. “ Liscensing and Occupational Sorting in the Market for Teachers ”, Working paper, 2010. [link]
    • Alvin Murphy, Sebastian Galiani, and Juan Pantano. “Estimating Neighborhood Choice Models: Lessons from a Housing Assistance Experiment”, American Economic Review, vol. 105, no. 11, November 2015. [link]
 Due
  • replication paper
Done! Have a good summer