ECON 395 - Special Topics in Economics

Credits: 3

Prerequisite: ECON 203 or varies with topic. Course emphasis and prerequisites change from term to term and will be announced prior to preregistration. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. A maximum of nine credits chosen from all special topics in economics courses may be used, with permission of the department head, toward requirements for the economics major.

Spring 2022, ECON-395A-01: Special Topics in Economics: Generating Credible Evidence: Advanced Methods for Causal Inference (3). Economists (and social scientists more broadly) are often interested in understanding causal effects. However, distinguishing between causation and correlation can sometimes be tricky. In this course, we will learn about and implement various methodological tools including randomized experiments, difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity design, and instrumental variables models. We will read and discuss papers using these methods. Students will also use statistical software throughout, as we use these methods to replicate results from published papers and apply these methods to other questions and datasets. Shester.

Fall 2021, ECON 395A-01: Special Topics in Economics: Environmental Valuation (3). Prerequisite: ECON 203. This course focuses on advanced knowledge of environmental valuation techniques and how it can be used to inform policy decisions. Both theoretical models and empirical work are discussed. Work includes critiquing literature in the area of environmental valuation and empirical assignments. Kahn.

Fall 2021, ECON 395B-01: Special Topics in Economics: Experimental Economics: Understanding Human Behavior (3). Prerequisites: ECON 210 and ECON 203 or instructor consent as co-requisite. This course focuses on understanding human behavior in response to stimuli. For example, why does the appearance of Tiger Woods in a Nike commercial instill customer faith? Why are consumers confused by the long aisle of breakfast cereals at Walmart? Theoretical and experimental studies of human behavior rely heavily on Economics and Psychology and have answered many such interesting questions. Firms have noticed this research, and have responded with novel marketing decisions. Other actors have also noticed. For example, the research has influenced government advertisements aimed at increasing vaccination rates, lowering public smoking, saving electricity, etc. Students become familiar with state-of-the-art research methodology in experimental economics, where they learn to conduct their own research projects by participating and designing experiments. Students also learn how to describe and interpret well-known results in experimental economics, alongside analyzing and critiquing experimental designs. Upadhyay.