AEP-21306 Econometrics

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Assumed knowledge on:

YSS-20306 Quantitative and Qualitative Research Techniques in the Social Sciences; MAT-20306 Advanced Statistics; MAT-22306 Quantitative Research Methodology and Statistics.

Continuation courses:

AEP-60306 Advanced Econometrics.

Contents:

Social scientists are often interested in relationships between different variables, e.g. consumption and prices. The objective of econometrics is to quantify such relationships using available data and statistical techniques and to interpret and use the resulting outcomes. So, econometrics is the interaction between (economic) theory, data and statistical methods (e.g. estimation and testing). The interaction of these three elements makes econometrics interesting and a must for the dedicated social scientist. The use of econometric tools stretches from economic and business disciplines to social science fields like sociology and history.
The course helps to understand a number of econometric issues and techniques, where emphasis is on applying econometrics to research questions in the broad field of social sciences.

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- compare similarities and differences of various econometric techniques;
- translate social sciences theories into simple econometric models;
- interpret econometric analyses performed by others;
- analyse the quality of econometric analyses;
- construct simple economic models and estimate them using econometric techniques;
- perform statistical tests on these models to answer research questions.

Activities:

- attending lectures and studying the reader and book;
- attending practical sessions doing exercises and discussing the outcomes;
- attending computer practicals to work on exercises using econometric software (STATA).

Examination:

- written exam with 4 open questions (75%);
- six assignments (25%).
Minimum mark for the written exam is 5.0.

Literature:

Course guide available on a Blackboard site.
Handbook: C. Dougherty (2011). Introduction to Econometrics. 4th ed. Oxford University Press.
Syllabus Econometrics by C. Gardebroek and E.J. Bakker (exercises for practical's).