This course is an introduction to rigorous and policy-relevant impact evaluation techniques for postgraduate students in economics and public policy. The course’s main emphasis is on evaluating the effect of a policy or a naturally occurring event on the economic and social well being of individuals who are exposed to the event. The course has a strong focus on applications – although students will be expected to fully understand the conceptual underpinnings of each technique.

On completion of the course, students will: 

1. Understand the reasoning behind and the rationale of major impact evaluation techniques.
2. Be able to determine the appropriate technique in order to rigorously evaluate the impact of an event.
3. Be equipped to apply those techniques in a real-world setting.

in-class participation (15%), weekly report (0%), referee report (35%), presentation (15%), final exam (35%)

Lecture of 2-3 hours per week.

Tutorial of 1-2 hours per week, to train students in using Stata, a popular data analysis software.

none

Graduate-level microeconomics and introductory level econometrics.  Students are expected to have completed IDEC8017 Econometric Techniques or equivalent.

Various academic journals, book chapters, and technical papers on relevant issues

The required technology is already available at the Crawford School.