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| Semester | spring semester 2020 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | William Georg Jack (jack.william@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Economic development is a process of trial and error, innovation and experimentation, success and failure. Given the right institutions, some not unfavorable resource endowments, and a bit of luck, incomes can grow, health can improve, and human development can flourish; other times, things don’t turn out so well. While the last 150 years have seen broad improvements in well -being around the world, and deep reductions in poverty have been achieved in just the last 25 years, there remains huge disparities in living standard between and within countries. There is much work to be done before we can claim to have reached a just, prosperous, and sustainable world. Given the urgency of development challenges, it is imperative that we learn quickly from our mistakes and build robustly on our successes. The hope is that by understanding what kinds of innovations and policies “work” to improve the lives of the deprived and vulnerable, and how they work, we might be better placed to accelerate the process of development more generally. To that end, this course will provide an overview of empirical methods and analytical techniques for assessing the impact and effectiveness of development innovations at both the product and policy levels Part I: Methodology (Online course) 1. Motivation 2. RCT basics 3. Statistical inference – basics 4. Statistical inference – more advanced 5. Regression analysis 6. RCTs – further topics 7. Power calculations 8. Difference in differences 9. Regression discontinuity designs Part II: Empirical applications (in-person lectures) Review of RCT and quasi-experimental studies in the developing world |
| Bibliography | There is no textbook for this course. As background, I invite students to read the following books prior to the course: • Banerjee, Abhijit V. & Esther Duflo (2011): Poor Economics, Random House • Duflo, Esther, Rachel Glennerster, and Michael Kremer (2007): “Using randomization in development economics research: a toolkit,” Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper No 6059. • Deaton, Angus and Nancy Cartwright (2016): “Understanding and misunderstanding Randomized Controlled Trials,” NBER Working Paper No 22595. • Karlan, Dean and Jacob Appel (2012): More Than Good Intentions, Plume. I will provide further readings to complement each lecture. |
| Comments | The class will meet online via ZOOM. Attendance and good preparation are prerequisites for being a valuable participant in the class. You are expected to attend every class. Time Schedule: Monday 29.06.2020: 15:00 - 17:30 Tuesday 30.06.2020: 15:00 - 17:30 Wednesday 01.07.2020: 15:00 - 17:30 Thursday 02.07.2020:15:00 - 17:30 Monday 06.07.2020: 15:00 - 17:30 Tuesday 07.07.2020:15:00 - 17:30 Wednesday 08.07.2020: 15:00 - 17:30 Thursday 09.07.2020: 15:00 - 17:30 |
| Weblink | Weblink |
| Admission requirements | Recommended Prerequisites: Solid understanding of business and economics on the BA level. Intermediate Microeconomics (10134) Introduction to Econometrics (Einführung in die Ökonometrie, 10172) |
| Course application | There will be an orientation for all Summer School courses an 19 February 2020, 6-7 pm in room S15, Economics Department. All applications have to be processed through the Summer School office. Please fill in the application form, which can be found on the weblink: https://wwz.unibas.ch/de/summer-school/howtoapply/ |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
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No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Specialization Module: International Trade, Growth and the Environment (Master's Studies: Business and Economics) |
| Assessment format | end-of-semester examination |
| Assessment details | tba |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Registration/deregistration: faculty |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | 1-6 0,1 |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Business and Economics , studiendekanat-wwz@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Faculty of Business and Economics |