| Unit name | Programme Evaluation with Data Project |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ECONM0008 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Valente |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Economics |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
Many important questions ask “What is the causal effect of X on Y?”. For instance:
What is the effect of unemployment benefits on labour supply?
What is the effect of school closures on COVID-19 cases?
What is the effect of female education on fertility?
What is the effect of the death penalty on crime?
What is the effect of a financial regulation on firm performance?
The key challenge in answering these questions is to ensure that estimates of the effect of X on Y can genuinely be interpreted as causal (rather than just a correlation). If not, then public or private decisions based on these estimates will not have the expected results.
This unit covers the methods most commonly used by applied economists to obtain causal estimates, which are often called “treatment” or “programme” evaluation methods.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit will equip students to apply the principles taught in the core programme units to real-life situations where causal estimates are needed. To do so, it will provide a formal presentation of the methods covered but will focus on the application of these methods to real-life examples.
An overview of content
This course will look at a number of econometric approaches to programme evaluation, including social experiments and “natural experiments” (difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, propensity score matching and regression discontinuity design). We will look at the usefulness and limitations of alternative methods in the context of a number of applications, including the minimum wage, welfare-to-work policies and estimating returns to education.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Students will have a rigorous understanding of the intuition, principles, and requirements for the methods covered to be valid in real-life situations. They will be trained to identify which methods can be used to evaluate causal effects in a variety of applications, and to assess their pros and cons. They will be able to select the approach to be used in real-life situations and to assess the reliability of the resulting estimates.
Learning Outcomes
1- Recognize a range of issues in the evaluation of public policies (which also apply to many other situations where one is interested in estimating causal effects)
2- To be able to apply creatively and independently the methods covered to real-life examples
3- To be able to critically assess the reliability of estimates of causal effects obtained using the methods covered
4- To practice applying the methods taught to real-world data.
How you will learn
The unit comprises a combination of asynchronous and synchronous lectures, workshops and exercise classes.
• A set of asynchronous lectures covering each of the evaluation methods (to meet learning outcome 1).
• Workshops to cover targeted aspects of the material covered in the asynchronous lectures (to meet learning outcome 1). The aspects to be targeted are driven by student demand.
• Exercise classes in which we go through real-world application exercises similar to what is to be expected during the exam (to meet learning outcomes 2 and 3).
• Student group presentations workshop(s) (to meet learning outcomes 2, 3, and 4).
• Revision Q&A workshop during revision week. This helps students assess how well they have met the unit’s learning outcomes ahead of the examination and what they need to focus on in preparation for this examination.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
There are two key components to formative assessment:
• Group presentations on your own original coursework topic. You will receive oral and/or written feedback on this group work to help you when writing-up your individual summative coursework. This typically takes place before the Spring holiday.
• Oral and/or written feedback on answers to previous exam questions to prepare students for the final examination (around revision week).
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
• 3,500-word individual coursework (70% of final mark) assessing ILOs 1-3.
• In-person or online examination in May/June (30% of final mark), assessing ILOs 1-4.
When assessment does not go to plan
• Re-assessment will take the form of a single examination assessing all ILOs in different parts of the examination.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ECONM0008).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
