Requirements for the Applied Econometrics ECON 6910
Term Paper
The final paper is due on 9th of May by 11:59pm (this is a few days after our last class session). Please email me a soft copy of your term paper at [email protected]. The Stata code should appear at the end of your paper as an appendix.
In the last class session (May 6th in class) each person will present their findings (5-7 minute limit) in class. You will be graded by your classmates on your in-class presentation. The final grade of the term paper assignment is worth 45% of your overall grade. The in-class presentation grade is worth 20% of the term paper grade and will be assigned to you by your peers, I will assign the other 80% of the term paper grade based on the paper itself.
A one-page proposal of your paper is due by the 4th of March. I will make comments on your one-page proposal and return them to you in class a week later. I encourage you to set up a time to talk to me about your proposals via zoom if you like (either before or after you have completed the one pager).
You should identify a specific economic problem and focus on a well-defined research question that can be empirically tested.
The following is expected from your term paper (1) It should identify a specific economic problem and focus on a well specified research question; (2) Research the topic of interest, include a brief review of the literature, not exceeding 2 pages; (3) Formulate an econometric specification, and determine what data you will need to collect to answer your research question; (3) Use or compile a data source to analyze the issue and to answer the question (identify the source in the text); (4) Empirically test your model using the estimation strategies taught in class (include all Stata programming code (appendix) and results with your paper); (5) test for estimation problems and make any necessary corrections; (6) Analyze your results; and (7) provide concluding remarks. Correct bibliographic/reference management is required. Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQL_7C-YqBk) is a youtube video that shows how to use a free reference management software (Zotero or Mendeley), that will make this easy for you. Please use one of these software packages to keep track of your references! The text of the paper should be no more than ten pages (double-spaced, 1-inch margin, 12-point font). Papers will be graded on correct application of econometric methods, the logic of whether your proposed data analysis can answer the economic question you pose, correct grammar and spelling, and correct bibliography/reference management.
The following may help you to structure your paper. Please do not feel that you must follow it directly, and do not limit yourself to just these questions.
1) Abstract: The abstract of the paper must provide a brief description of the problem in hand and the main findings. The abstract must not exceed 150 words.
2) Introduction: This is the most important section of the paper and should summarize the main objective and the findings of your research. I recommend following Keith Head’s “Introduction Formula” which you can find at this website. http://blogs.ubc.ca/khead/research/research-advice/formula
3) Literature Review: Discuss the main findings so far outlined by other authors in the field. Explain clearly the existing research methodology used to address the objective outlined by you.
4) Empirical Specification: Before you write out the empirical specification, describe the theoretical foundations or economic logic behind the specification. Carefully write out the econometric specification you wish to estimate along with the assumptions that are necessary to obtain unbiased and consistent estimates.
5) Data: Describe the data source, variable names and how each are defined or constructed. Why is this data appropriate to answer the empirical question in hand? The reader must have no difficulty in determining how the sample was constructed. Also discuss any potential problems and limitations with your data here.
6) Results: The results must include detailed discussion of the regression estimates, alternate functional form. specification; compare your findings across specifications. Discuss potential problem with the results obtained. Are you able to correct for these problems, if yes, do correct for them using the techniques taught in this course. Use all the regression techniques and methods taught in this class that can be applied to your work.
7) Conclusion: Briefly summarize the main findings of your paper. Discuss the use and application of your findings.
List of data sources
1.The Fordham University Library Web page is an excellent starting point: http://www.library.fordham.edu/ . Once you are here you should click on the Data Bases and Indexes Link Under Electronic Resources. Next click on the General Periodical Indexes link. Here you will find links to Lexis -Nexus and JSTOR, among other useful sites. The Business and Economics Link (on the Databases and Indexes page) has many other great links to directories and company industry information.
2. Data sources for development:
http://ipl.econ.duke.edu/dthomas/dev_data/index.html
3. World Bank Data, for a specific (free) data query on Development Data from past 5 years from the World Development Indicators,
go to: http://devdata.worldbank.org/data-query/.
4. Hussman Econometrics, links to data sources for interest rates, stock market data, money supply, economic and fiscal data, exchange rates and commodity prices, international financial statistics: www.hussmanfunds.com
5. National Bureau of Economic Research (macroeconomics, international economics, business, consumer, etc.): http://www.nber.org/data_index.html
6. Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Unemployment and Price Indices): http://www.bls.gov/data/
7. Penn World Tables/International Macro Data: http://datacentre.chass.utoronto.ca/pwt/index.html
8. United Nations Statistics Division: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm
9. OECD Data: http://www.oecd.org/els/health/data.
10. Household level and individual level data from developing countries:
World bank living standards measurement survey: www.worldbank.org/lsms/
11. Sebastian Krantz has created a site that scrapes published paper websites that include the data and code for the paper. This site includes links to the data and code the authors provided when they published their paper for more than 8475 economics articles (as of Aug. 15, 2023). You can’t just copy someone else’s paper, but this could be a very useful site to find datasets. https://ejd.econ.mathematik.uni-ulm.de/
12. This set of slides from Emilia Tjernstrom is useful in learning details of how to navigate google scholar to find papers for the background/literature review part your term papers. She also has some slides on how to use google scholar to find datasets. https://slides.com/emiliatjernstrom/finding-sources