Econ 495/499 Honours Seminar/Honours Essay

Introduction

Econ 495/499

Prof. Nicole M. Fortin

Contact Information

• Nicole Fortin

• Office: Buchanan Tower 1023

• E-mail: nicole.fortin@ubc.ca

• Office Hours: Monday, 1:30-3:30pm

and Wednesday, 1:30-3:00pm (September)

Course Description

The course is a special class for Honours students

• Term 1 (Economics 495)

– classes and computer lab sessions centered on preparation of solid research proposal for the Honours Thesis

– two sets of class meetings of student presentations

• Term 2 (Economics 499)

– mainly personal interactions between students and course instructor and student's own faculty advisors

– one set of class meetings of student presentations

Course Objectives

• Course has two intertwined objectives: (1) Build and develop skills necessary to conduct applied economic research and effectively communicate results

– Bibliographic research (internet and library)

– Critical reading of economics articles

– Data management

– Data analysis

– Regression analysis

– Presentations of economic issues and results

– Writing for economics

Course Objectives

• Course has two intertwined objectives: (2) Apply these skills to production of a major empirical research project

– Working with a faculty advisor

– Prepare an Honours Thesis

– Defend it in front of a committee of three faculty members

• Students are assigned a Faculty Supervisor in late November

• Course website contains important information for the course:

http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/nfortin/econ495/head49515.html

Course Method

• Computer lab sessions 1) using Google Scholar, EconLit, and other web sources to perform

bibliographic search; 2) finding data sources using the internet, the data library, etc.; using

Dropbox as a repository 3) downloading and managing data; using SPSS to read large data files

and convert then into STATA files 4) using STATA to obtain descriptive statistics and estimate cross-

section, time series and panel regressions; 5) incorporating econometric results in table form using a standard

word software (Excel, MS-Word, etc.)

• Applied Econometric Review Lectures 1) Learn use of STATA command for econometric analysis 2) Emphasis correct interpretation of test results

Course Method

• Student-led discussions on key research papers

1) Develop critical reading skills

2) Understand key elements of good papers

3) Learn about compelling identification strategies

• Assignments throughout the term

• Schedule for completion steps for the research paper

• All deadlines are firm

• Each student will make three presentations in front of the class

Class Meetings

• Not as regular as typical lecture-based classes,

– more student-faculty interactions outside of class

– more student participation in class

• Term 1: 2:00 – 3:30:

– Tuesdays: Classroom: Buchanan B312

– Thursdays: Classroom: Buchanan D228

– Thursdays: Computer Lab: Buchanan B125 (Sept –Mid-Oct, Early Nov)

• Term 2: 2:00 – 3:30: Iona Building- TBA

Course Evaluation

ECON495 (Term 1) What? That is? When?/Due Date: How

Much? Topic Choice Meet with Instructor on or before September 28

th Assignment #1: Regression Analysis I September 29

th 10%

Assignment #2: Bibliographic Search October 6th 10%

Assignment #3: Critical Summary of Key Journal

Article October 15

th 10%

Class Presentation Presentation of Key Journal

Article October 20

th ‒ October

29th

10%

Essay Step #1 Research Proposal November 12th 20%

Class Presentation Research Proposal November17th ‒

December 3rd

15%

Essay Step #2: Literature Review December 3

rd 20%

Class Participation 5% Total 100%

Course Evaluation

ECON499(Term 2)

What? That is? When?/Due Date: How

Much?

Essay Step #3 Data and Summary Statistics January 19th 5%

Essay Step #4 Estimation Results February 11th 5%

Class Presentation Presentation of Research Results March 1st- March 17

th 10%

Honours Essay First Complete Draft April 8th 15%

Presentation Essay Defense April 18th-April 26

th 15%

Honours Essay Revised Draft April 29th 45%

Class Participation March Student’s Presentation 5%

Total 100%

The Honours Thesis

• The Honours Thesis can be on any economic question, subject to the approval of the instructor.

– The best essays have a narrow and specific focus;

– they attempt to answer a well-posed economic question for which empirical evidence is useful.

• After writing a research proposal, students are assigned a faculty supervisor. The faculty supervisor and Econ 495/499 instructor will provide guidance with the Essay as the year progresses.

• At the end of the year, students defend their Honours Essay in front of a defense committee consisting of the faculty supervisor, the Econ 495 instructor, and one other faculty member.

Choosing a Topic

• There are three important criteria that a suitable topic will meet:

1) It is a topic that you find interesting, even thrilling.

– It is essential that you find a topic that you are passionate about,

– a topic that you will want to learn more about, and

– that you will be happy to spend hours over the next 8 months thinking about.

Choosing a Topic

• There are three important criteria that a suitable topic will meet:

2) It is a topic that can be linked to the economics literature.

– Basically, it has to be a topic that has or can generate some interest in the profession,

– a topic that allow you to built on the existing literature, and

– to contribute to that literature.

– Originality can come in the angle taken, data sources, and method used to address the issue of interest

– But it is not a prime criteria

Choosing a Topic

• There are three important criteria that a suitable topic will meet:

3) Your topic has to lead to feasible research.

– Suitable, accessible, non-proprietary data.

– Have limited time to conduct the research

– Does not require advanced econometrics that you will learn only in graduate school.

• Conducting your own (internet based) survey experiment is not an option given that

• “Any research involving human participants that is conducted at UBC facilities or by persons connected to the University must be reviewed and approved by one of UBC’s six sanctioned Research Ethics Boards (REBs).”

• Data where subjects have no expectations of privacy do not have to undergo this type of review.

Where to Start?

• By now, you should know which areas of economics you are enjoying more than others.

• Specialized areas such public finance, development economics, international trade, labour economics, monetary economics, etc. will have different appeal for different students.

• Once you have identified an area, a typical approach for finding a topic that interests you is to first look at the existing --and preferably recent-literature, through a variety of sources

Where to Start?

• Look at existing literature:

• Syllabus of field courses you have already taken

• Recent working papers. For example, take a look at recent papers on the websites of faculty members at UBC or at the NBER.

• Recent issues of economic journals. Both general interest journals (Canadian Journal of Economics, American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Journals, etc.) and field journals (Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, etc.) are useful places to look at.

Research Tools

Literature Search:

• Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.ca/

– Tip: click on “Cite” to build a bibliography with a quick copy & paste

• EconLit: http://resources.library.ubc.ca/34

• JSTOR: http://resources.library.ubc.ca/49

• SSRN: http://www.ssrn.com/

• NBER: http://www.nber.org/

How to Find Data?

• Once you have a good idea of the topic, you then need to find suitable data set for your projects.

• Usually, the journal articles from your literature search should give their data source, some journals require authors to post their data on-line.

• I also recommend browsing through data resources even if you don’t yet have a clear idea of your topic.

• Many researchers get good paper ideas by noticing interesting data sets.

• The course web site has links to many data sources:

• http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/nfortin/econ495/data49515.html

How to Find Data?

• Another possible option include finding a Canadian data set on which you can reproduce an analysis done for another country (typically the United States) in an existing paper.

• More generally, use same data (or an updated version) as in another paper to explore what happens when a different estimation method or a different underlying economic model (to test different hypotheses with the same data) is used instead

• First trying to replicate an existing study and then going beyond the study with innovative changes can be a very effective way of writing a good empirical paper

How to Find Data?

• Many journals (such as the American Economic Review, and the American Economic Journals) now require authors to post their data on-line

• Many faculty members post the data used in their research on their websites for the purpose of replication studies

Examples of Honours Thesis that extended the work of others

• "Is Cultural Diversity Good for the Economy?" by Wesley Sze

• Extended to following paper adding a distinction between high skilled and low skilled immigrants and estimated the model with Canadian data – Ottaviano, Gianmarco and Giovanni Peri, “The Economic Value of Cultural Diversity:

Evidence from US Cities," Journal of Economic Geography, 6 (2006), 9-44.

• "Rainfall and Riots" by Heather Sarsons (its subsequent publication)

• Sarsons, H. (2015). Rainfall and conflict: A cautionary tale. Journal of Development Economics, 115, 62-72.

• Applied the instrumental variables in the following paper – Miguel, E., Satyanath, S., & Sergenti, E. (2004). Economic shocks and civil conflict: An

instrumental variables approach. Journal of Political Economy, 112(4), 725-753.

• to the case of India and found a flaw

Examples of Honours Thesis

• Make your home advantage count!

Year Title Honours Student Data from

2008 After the Saltpeter War: A Case of Dutch Disease

Pau Milán

Chile

2011 Variations in Schooling Characteristics due to Armed Conflict: Urban and Rural Children in the Familias en Accion Program

Antonio Acevedo

Columbia

2011 Gerrymandering and Voter Turnout: Pack or Crack, Who

Carlos A. Sanchez-Martinez

Venezuela

2014 Import Competition Form China and Labour Markets: Evidence From French Departments

Adrien Jourdain France

2014 The Impact of China’s One Child Policy on Female Labour Force Participation: Evidence from the China Census

Ting Zhang China

Examples of Honours Thesis

• Try to find your instructors in the Complete List of Honours Thesis 1937-2015

Year Title Honours Student

1974 The Retail Price Structure in Canadian Whole Life Insurance

Ralph A. Winter (now at Sauder)

1975 Optimum City Size: An Electric Approach Jim Brander (now at Sauder)

1977

Trade, Competition, and Efficiency: A General Equilibrium Analysis

R.C. Feenstra (now at UC-Davis)

1979

Optimal Harvest Policies for the Tuana-Porpoise Fishery of the Eastern Tropical Pacific

Brian Copeland

1996 Aggregate Labour Market Behaviour Dealing With Heterogeneity in an RBC Economy

Henry E. Siu

What Makes a Good Topic?

• Likely, your first topic idea will be quite broad and to turn it into a workable idea, you will have to narrow it down

• It is a good idea to turn your topic into a question

• The famous 5Ws and 1H of investigative research from the Latin, can help

Quis, quid, quando, ubi, cur, quem ad modum, quibus adminiculis.

(Who, what, when, where, why, in what way, by what means)

– Who is it about?

– What happened?

– When did it take place?

– Where did it take place?

– Why did it happen?

– How did it happen?

When to Start?

• Now! Before all your other assignments pile up

• By the end of September, students must have discussed their topic with me and obtained approval of their topic

• By October 6th, students hand in their bibliographic search

• By October 15th, students hand in a critical review of their key journal article or “stepping stone“ paper

• By October 20th, students present their “stepping stone“ paper in front of the class

Software for Economic Analysis

• SPSS to input and covert large data sets into STATA

• STATA will be used for descriptive statistics and regression analysis

• See course web site for stata guide: http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/nfortin/econ495/stata49515.html

• Excel is preferred to format tables

• Dropbox will be used to store temporary and data files: set up our own account https://www.dropbox.com

• and send me an email to request access to shared course folder

• Given that large files, such as Census files, take a lot of time to upload or download, it is a good idea to invest in a USB key to store the work done in the computer labs.