ECON 398 - Topical Research Seminar in Economics

Credits: 3
Planned Offering: Fall, Winter

Prerequisites: ECON 203, 210, and 211 and major standing. Students work through the original literature in a given field within the discipline of economics. Emphasis is on critical understanding of that literature. Required written work and class discussion focus on summarizing and reviewing articles, gaining insight into the current economic knowledge documented in that literature, and identifying research questions implied by that literature. Based upon this review, students write a detailed proposal of an independent research project after which they carry out the project and write a paper documenting their research. Those students who choose to continue in ECON 399 have the opportunity to develop their proposals into complete research papers.

Fall 2013 topics:

ECON 398-01:Seminar in Monetary Policy (3). Prerequisites: ECON 203, 210, and 211 and major standing. This seminar provides a historical overview of economic thought related to monetary policy, develops modern theories of money and central banks, and examines evidence on the effectiveness of the monetary policy. Readings come from the primary academic literature as well as occasional popular media. Each student develops critical thinking and communication skills by presenting some of the course material, and by pursuing an individual research proposal and by presenting the plans for the research to the class. Hooks.

ECON 398-02:Health and Education in Economic Development (3). Prerequisites: ECON 203, 210, and 211 and major standing. A survey of the major issues of health and education economics in developing countries. Economic modeling of health-and education-related issues, from the theoretical/conceptual and empirically. Review of recent literature of the area. Students gain a firm grounding in how economic research is conducted in practice, and then in recent research on health and education in developing countries, before developing their own research proposal. Specific topics may include: supply and demand of health and education; wages and education; health and the labor market, for example the relationship between child labor and child health; maternal education and child health; epidemiology: HIV/AIDS in Africa. Blunch.

ECON 398-03:Micro Topics in Econ History (3). Prerequisites: ECON 203, 210, and 211 and major standing. This seminar examines the empirical literature in several areas of the field including urbanization, segregation, public policy, health, and female labor force participation. Emphasis is on the mid- to late-20th century. Besides serving as an introduction to the literature in microeconomic history, we study the research process employed by applied economists more generally. Students finish the course with an original research proposal in some area of economics. This course depends heavily on student participation and students are expected to lead classroom discussions and to give feedback on each other’s research proposals. Schester.