ECN 723: Applied Research Methods

Fall 2024

Course Description and Objectives

Calendar description

In this course students acquire the skills needed to write a research paper in economics. The course covers different strategies and techniques involved in academic research and the students apply these strategies in the writing of a semester-long research paper. Students receive feedback on each step of the writing process through one-on-one meetings with the instructor.

Specific course objectives

This course has two main objectives. First, the course familiarizes students with the techniques and software involved in designing general equilibrium models, widely used by government institutions and central banks to make quantitative predictions about the economy-wide effects of issues like climate change, trade liberalization or changes in fiscal and monetary policy. Second, the course develops the skills that students need to write a research paper in economics.

Pre-requisites: ECN 600, ECN 620, ECN 700 and ECN 702

Reference Textbooks

Mary E. Burfisher. Introduction to Computable General Equilibrium Models, Second Edition (2017). Cambridge University Press.

Steven A. Greenlaw. Doing Economics: A Guide to Understanding and Carrying Out Economic Research (2006). Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.

Articles and materials posted on D2L Brightspace.

Course Details

Teaching Methods

Lectures (three hours per week)

 Thursdays, 6:00pm-9:00pm POD351

Lectures

Due to the practical aspect of this course, lectures are delivered in-person and scheduled in a computer lab. The course uses licensed software and databases, which is installed in the lab computers. Older versions of the software and database can be freely accessed online through the GTAP website.

Even though attending lectures is not mandatory, it is strongly recommended. Lectures are divided in two parts: in the first part the instructor covers specific general equilibrium techniques that are often used in analyzing economic problems, software packages used for these analyses and/or writing techniques related to writing research papers in economics. In the second part of the lecture students apply these methods and techniques to either assigned problems or to their own research paper.

IMPORTANT NOTE: if you expect that you will not be able to attend most of the lectures, please, contact the instructor AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to discuss alternative arrangements.

Course Evaluation

Assignments

During the semester, students need to hand in (for credit) class assignments and/or preliminary drafts of the different sections of their paper to show their progress and to receive feedback. The nature and due dates for these drafts are described on the course outline below under “Assignments”. Each assignment is worth up to 5% of the course grade.

No-penalty extension period: Assignments will be accepted up to 48 hours after the due date without any penalty. Assignments will not be accepted after the extension period.

Research Paper

The research paper is the major component of this course. The course covers techniques on how to write each specific section of the paper. Students are required to apply those techniques to their own research paper and to hand in their work periodically during the semester. After receiving the instructor’s feedback, students revise each section of the paper and compile them together into a first draft. This first draft is further revised into a final draft of the paper that includes comments and suggestions received from the instructor and from the rest of the class during the paper’s presentation (see the course schedule for more details). Research papers for which little or no work in progress is submitted during the semester will not be accepted.

Research papers should be 10-15 pages long (double spaced, 12pt font, normal 1” margins, including tables), and include all the sections outlined in the research project template posted on the D2L course webpage. Research projects have to apply the general equilibrium techniques learned in class to an economic issue of the student’s choice. Students have to present a proposal for their research paper, which needs to be approved by the instructor. Research papers for which a proposal has not been approved will not be accepted.

Conference Presentation

Students will prepare a brief PowerPoint presentation and share their research with the rest of the class in a two-day conference presentation at the end of the semester. Students will organize in sessions of 3-4 presenters, based on their paper topics, and will have 8-10 minutes each to present their research.