EC261: Management of New Technology
Assignment
Many leading and upcoming economists disseminate their work to a wider audience by writing a Vox-EU column on https://voxeu.org/, the policy portal of the Centre for Economic Policy Research.
I would like this module to be an opportunity for you to strengthen your writing skills and critical thinking. For this, I would like you to pick one of the papers listed below and imagine that you are the author(s) of the article you have chosen. The assignment consists in writing a Vox-EU column for the chosen paper.
You can work in pairs or alone on this assignment. In case you decide to work with one of your classmates, each of you will have to submit an identical document and put the other student ID on top of the first page clearly visible in each of the documents. The admin team will shortly send you an email to provide you with further guidelines on this.
All submissions must be presented in typescript (MS Word Format or PDF, 12pt, 1.5 line spacing). The deadline for submitting the essay is May 2, 2024, at midday (12 pm). Note that late submissions will not be accepted unless full details of extenuating circumstances are provided. If you have any query about extenuation, please contact the Economics Department.
See Faser for further details on how to submit your essay.
Write a Vox EU column about one of following studies:
• Bernstein, S., Diamond, R., Jiranaphawiboon, A., McQuade, T. and Pousada, B., 2022. The contribution of high-skilled immigrants to innovation in the United States (No. w30797). National Bureau of Economic Research. Available here.
• Moser, P., 2005. How do patent laws influence innovation? Evidence from nineteenth- century world's fairs. American economic review, 95(4), pp.1214-1236. Available here.
• Webb, M., 2019. The impact of artificial intelligence on the labor market. Available at SSRN 3482150. Available here.
Tips:
a. The Vox column should contain approximately 1500 words (excluding, references, footnotes, or tables).
b. It should be written as if you were the author(s) of the article.
c. The column should be written in a non-technical style. It should not be a newspaper opinion piece, but it should be more accessible than a journal article.
d. Start by mentioning a current policy debate or concern.
e. Do not report regression tables or equations in the text; just give the results in words.
f. Graphs are welcome.
g. Although your column has to be based on one study, you should make clear references to the broad policy debate on the issue discussed.
h. Put the references in as you do in academic papers, not as in blogs. Vox is not a blog.
i. Draw you references mainly from the list of journals * reported below.
Many briefings or commentaries at https://voxeu.org/ are fun to read and can certainly give you some inspiration for your own column. You can find some examples here, here, and here.
*List of journals to consult if you want to add references to your Vox EU column:
Top-5 journals:
• American Economic Review
• Econometrica
• Journal of Political Economy
• Quarterly Journal of Economics
• Review of Economic Studies
Top-field journals:
• American Economic Journal (Applied Economics, Economic Policy, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics)
• Economic Journal
• Journal of Economic Growth
• Journal of Development Economics
• Journal of Human Resources
• Journal of International Economics
• Journal of Labor Economics
• Journal of the European Economic Association
• Review of Economics and Statistics
Second-tier journals:
• European Economic Review
• Economics of Education Review
• Labour Economics
• Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
• Journal of Economic Geography
• Journal of Public Economics
• Journal of Urban Economics
• Management Science
Journals specialised in literature reviews:
• Annual Review of Economics
• Handbooks
• Journal of Economic Literature
• Journal of Economic Perspectives
Working paper series:
• CEPR discussion papers
• IZA discussion papers
• NBER working papers