SemesterFall Semester, 2020
DepartmentMA Program of Economics, First Year PhD Program of Economics, First Year MA Program of Economics, Second Year PhD Program of Economics, Second Year
Course NameLabor Economics (III)
InstructorHUANG PO-CHUN
Credit3.0
Course TypeElective
Prerequisite
Course Objective
Course Description
Course Schedule

Lecture 1: Introduction (9/18)




  •     Meanings of Identification

  •     Reduced Form vs. Structural Model Identification



Lecture 2: Counterfactual Framework and Randomized Controlled Trials (9/25)




  •     Potential Outcomes

  •     Selection Bias

  •     RAND HIE and OHP



Problem Set 1



Lecture 3: Estimating Causal Effects Using Regression Adjustment (10/16)   




  •     Omitted Variable Bias

  •     Practical Regression Hints  

  •     Krueger (1993) + DiNardo and Pischke (1997) 



Lecture 4: Topics on Labor Supply: Static Labor Supply (10/23)




  •     Substitution and Income Effects of Labor Supply

  •     Labor Supply Effect of Unemployment Insurance (UI)

  •     Welfare and EITC 



Lecture 5: Topics on Labor Supply: Intertemporal Labor Supply (10/30)




  •     Farber (2005) + Ashenfelter et. al (2010)

  •     Life-Cycle Labor Supply

  •     Elderly Labor Supply and Retirement Benefits



Lecture 6: Panel Data and Difference-in-Differences (11/6)




  •     Fixed Effect Estimation

  •     Difference-in-Differences

  •     Chu (2015) and Dickert-Conlin, Elder, and Moore (2011)



Mid-Term Presentations (11/13)



Lecture 7: Synthetic Control and Standard Errors




  •     Standard Errors: How Should We View Uncertainty in DD Settings?

  •     Synthetic Control Method

  •     Generalized Synthetic Control



Problem Set 2



Lecture 8: Topics on Labor Demand: Minimum Wage (11/20)




  •     Substitution and Scale Effects of Labor Demand 

  •     Aaronson, French, Sorkin, and To (2018) 

  •     Meer and West (2015)



Lecture 9: Instrumental Variables (11/27)




  •     IV and Simultaneous Equations           

  •     IV and LATE

  •     Angrist and Evans (1998): Labor Supply and Fertility



Lecture 10: Topics on Labor Demand: Bartik Instruments (12/4)




  •     The China Syndrome: Autor et. al (2013)

  •     Bartik Instrument 

  •     Sorkin (2019)



Problem Set 3



Lecture 11: Regression Discontinuity (Kink) Designs I (12/11)




  •     Problem Set 1

  •     Identifying Assumptions and Estimation

  •     IV and RD



Lecture 12: Regression Discontinuity (Kink) Design II (12/18)




  •     Extrapolation of RD

  •     Regression Kink Design

  •     Unemployment Insurance



Lecture 13: Decomposition Methods in Economics (12/25)




  •     Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition

  •     DFL Reweighting Method

  •     Wage Density Decomposition



Problem Set 4



Lecture 14: Sufficient Statistic Approach for Welfare Analysis (1/1)




  •     Basic Search Model

  •     Optimal UI: Baily-Chetty Formula

  •     Consumption Based Approach (Gruber 1997)



Lecture 15: Machine Learning for Applied Econometrics (1/8)




  •     Prediction v.s. Causation

  •     LASSO and Ridge Estimators

  •     Double LASSO



Final Presentations (1/15)



 



 


Teaching Methods
Teaching Assistant
Requirement/Grading

1. 50% Problem Sets 



We will do four problem sets during the course of semester. The problem set questions will include both theoretical questions and statistical analysis of data, which will involve the software package STATA.



2. 50% Paper Proposal:



Each student is required to write a paper proposal. You should arrange to meet with me to talk about a topic for your paper before midterm presentations. Final proposals are due on January 20.



 


Textbook & Reference

Recommended Text for Labor Economics



George Borjas, Labor Economics (6th edition)



Recommended Text for Econometrics:



Joshua D. Angrist and JÖrn-Steffen Pischke (2009), Mostly Harmless Econometrics, Princeton University Press 



Joshua D. Angrist and JÖrn-Steffen Pischke (2016), Mastering 'Metrics, Princeton University Press 



Jeffrey Wooldridge (2015), Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach (6th edition), Cengage 



 



 


Urls about Course
You can download course materials at https://wm5.nccu.edu.tw/mooc/index.php
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