Course Schedule

Lecture Before Class Assignments and Deadlines Lab
1
1/12
Causation 		Read
  • MM, Chapters 1 and 2
  • Harding et al, “Evaluating Contradictory Experimental and Non-experimental Estimates of Neighborhood Effects on Economic Outcomes for Adults” NBER Working Paper February 2021. [link]
    • Read pages 1 to 14.
  • Supplemental
    • Helpful overview: Imbens and Wooldridge, 2009. “Econometrics of Program Evaluation,” Journal of Economic Literature. [link]
    • Example of controlling for observables: Brooks et al, “The Cabals of a Few or the Confusion of a Multitude” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 2011. [link]
    • Unit of observation discussion by Social Security
Assigned
2
1/19
Fixed Effects 		Read
  • MM, Chapter 2, cont'd
  • Black, Sandra et al., 2005. “The More the Merrier? The Effect of Family Size and Birth Order on Childrens' Education” [link]
    • skip III.D.-III.G., and sections V & VI
x
3
1/26
Difference-in-differences 1 		Read
  • MM, Chapter 5
  • Autor, David et al, “The Impact of Disability Benefits on Labor Supply: Evidence from the VA's Disability Compensation Program,” Working paper 2015. [link]
    • Skim section 5
Due
  • Problem Set 1
  • One-page proposal
Assigned
4
2/2
Difference-in-differences 2 		Read
  • Goodman-Bacon, Andrew. “Public Insurance and Mortality: Evidence from Medicaid Implementation”, Journal of Political Economy , 2018. [link]
    • Read sections 1 to 4
    • Read section 5 A and B, section 6
  • Supplemental
    • A interesting event study example: Garcia-Jimeno, Iglesias and Yildrim, “Information Networks and Collective Action: Evidence from the Women’s Temperance Crusade”, American Economic Review, 2022. [link]
    • Milligan, Kevin. “Subsidizing the Stork: New Evidence on Tax Incentives and Fertility” Review of Economics and Statistics, 2005. [link]
      • Skip Section 5
    • Bertrand et al. “How Much Should We Trust Differences-in-differences Estimates?” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2004. [link]
      • Skim Section 4, with the exception of 4C, which you should read carefully
x
5
2/9
Instrumental Variables 1 		Read
  • MM, Chapter 3
  • Angrist and Kreuger, “Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1991. [link]
    • Section II.C is optional
Due
  • Problem Set 2
Assigned
6
2/16
Instrumental Variables 2 		Read
  • split the class between
    • Collins and Margo, “The Economic Aftermath of the 1960s Riots in American Cities: Evidence from Property Values”, Journal of Economic History. 2007. [link]
    • Nguyen, Luu, “Are Credit Markets Still Local? Evidence from Bank Branch Closings” working paper, 2017. [link]
      • through page 20 is sufficient
  • Supplemental
    • When rain isn't a good instrument: Sarsons, Heather, “Rainfall and conflict: A cautionary tale”, Journal of Development Economics, July 2015. [link]
    • Bound, Baker and Jaeger, “Problems with Instrumental Variables Estimation When the Correlation Between the Instruments and the Endogeneous Explanatory Variable is Weak,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, 1995. [link]
    • An entertaining lament from David Jaeger on the fate of this critique
x
7
2/23
Regression Discontinuity 1 		Read
  • MM, Chapter 4
  • Anderson, Michael L., “Subways, Strikes and Slowdowns: The Impacts of Public Transit on Traffic Congestion” American Economic Review, 2014. [link]
    • Focus on Section 3, which we will discuss in class
  • Supplemental
    • Lee and Lemiuex, “Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics,” NBER Working Paper 14723, 2009. [link]
Handout
8
3/2
Regression Discontinuity 2 		Read
  • Manoli and Turner, “Cash-on-Hand and College Enrollment: Evidence from Population Tax Data and the Earned Income Tax Credit” [link]
    • Read through Section 3.3; skim 3.4
  • discuss fuzzy RD, RD kink
Due
  • Problem Set 3
9
3/9
Matching 1 		Read
  • Todd, Petra, “A Practical Guide to Implementing Matching Estimators,” Unpublished notes, 1999. [link]
  • Brooks, Leah, “Volunteering to be Taxed: Business Improvement Districts and the Provision of Public Safety,” Journal of Public Economics 2008. [link]
    • Ignore Section 6
  • Supplemental
    • Great notes on matching here
 Handout Due
  • Quantitative summary
3/16
Spring Break 		No Class
10
3/23
Matching 2 		Read
  • Abadie, Alberto, “Using Synthetic Controls: Feasibility, Data Requirements, and Methodological Aspects”, Journal of Economic Literature, 2021. [link]
    • Read 1, 2, 3 (skim 3.5), 4, 6, and 7. Skim 8 if you please.
  • Supplemental
    • Abadie, Diamond and Hainmueller, “Comparative Politics and the Synthetic Control Method,” American Journal of Political Science, 2015.[link]
    • Pac et al, “Paid Family Leave and Breastfeeding: Evidence from California”, NBER Working Paper 25784, 2019.[link]
 Handout
11
3/30
Workshop 		Read
  • First half class: Cameron, A. Colin and Douglas L. Miller, “A Practitioner's Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference,” Journal of Human Resources, 2015. [link]
    • Read only sections 1, 2 A-C, 4, 5A
12
4/6
Presentations 		See presentations folder in google drive for assignments
13
4/13
Consultations 		No synchronous or in-person class
  • sign up for consultations -- see consultations folder in google drive
14
4/20
Presentations
.
4/22
Due
  • replication paper
Done! Have a good summer