ECON 457
Public Economics Research Seminar Spring 2010
Division II
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

In this class, students will learn how to read, critically evaluate, and begin to produce economic research on important and interesting public policy questions. Topics will be selected from across the spectrum of public economics issues and may vary from year to year. Examples of specific topics that may be covered include education, taxation, income inequality, privatization, Social Security, saving behavior, labor supply, anti-poverty policy, health care policy, fiscal policy, political economy, and the economics of crime and corruption (we will typically only cover a subset of these topics). Applications will be drawn from both the United States and other industrialized or developing countries. The course will especially emphasize the critical analysis of empirical evidence on public policy questions.
The Class: Format: a mix of lecture, seminar discussion, and time in a computer lab learning to work with data and estimate econometric models.
Limit: 19
Expected: 19
Class#: 3576
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: a 15- to 20-page research paper (written in stages) that is a combination of a research proposal and an original empirical analysis of data, a series of short papers and empirical exercises, and regular constructive contributions to class discussion
Prerequisites: Economics 253 or 255 or the equivalent. Economics 251, and Economics 120
Enrollment Preferences: senior Economics majors
Unit Notes: ideal preparation for seniors (or juniors, if offered in the spring) interested in writing an ECON thesis, or for students who want a taste of the kind of original empirical research one would do for a thesis without actually having to commit to a thesis
Distributions: Division II

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