Regular Meeting

Thursday: 13:15-16:30

1. 13:15-14:15:  Online method lectures (Mainly from AEA Continuing Education)

   • Previous lecture series:

     • Nov 2020 - Jan 2021:  Cross Section Econometrics (AEA Cont Edu 2017)

     • Jan 2021 - Mar 2021: Time-Series Econometrics (AEA Cont Edu 2019)

     • Tutorial on Regression Discontinuity Designs (Chambarlain Seminar)

     • Apr 2021 - Jun 2021: IO (AEA Cont Edu 2021)

     • Jul 2021 - Sept 2021: Labor and Applied Econometrics (AEA Cont Edu 2021)

     • Tutorial on Synthetic Control Methods (Chambarlain Seminar)

     • Tutorial on Estimating Demand for Differentiated Products (Chambarlain Seminar)

     • Oct 2021 - Nov 2021: Mastering Mostly Harmless Econometrics (AEA Cont Edu 2020)

     • Dec 2021 - Feb 2022: STEG (Structural Transformation and Economic Growth) lecture series

     • Mar 2022 - May 2022: DSGE Models and the Role of Finance (AEA Cont Edu 2018)

     • Causal Inference Using Synthetic Controls and RDD (NBER Summer Institute)

     • Mar 2022 - May 2022: STEG Lecture

     • May 2022 - Jul 2022: International Trade (AEA Cont Edu 2019)

     • Oct 2022 - Nov 2022: Mastering Mostly Harmless Econometrics (AEA Cont Edu 2020)

     • The New Difference-in-Differences

     • Jan 2023 - Mar 2023: Labor and Applied Econometrics (AEA Cont Edu 2021)

     • Jul 2023:  Partial identification (Chamberlain Seminar)

     • Oct 2023-Feb 2024: Applied Methods

     • Apr 2024- : Development Economics (AEA Cont Edu 2024)

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2. 14:30-15:15:  Student presentation on a recent or forthcoming paper in top 6 journals + AEJ + EJ, or NBER working papers

   • Top 6 journals: Econometrica, AER, JPE, QJE, REStud, REStat

   • Topics in Fall 2023

     • Economic/social mobility

     • Discrimination

3. 15:20-16:30:  Additional method lectures

   • Or Research proposal/progress on your own projects (≥M2)

Optional: Mondays 12:10-13:30

• Watch web seminars on development economics and related fields at lunchtime.

• Bring your lunchbox and have lunch together while watching the video.

• Watch list: NBER, CEPR-BREAD, RES, STEG, and other conference videos.

• Currently:

Activities and Purposes

• Web lectures on economics and econometrics (AEA-Continuing Education, NBER Summer Institute,...)

  • To strengthen your analytical skills.

  • To understand what you can do and what you cannot do with the data available to you.

  • To enhance the efficiency of academic discussion in the lab.

• Student presentations on recent or forthcoming papers in top journals or NBER working papers on specific topics.

  • To understand and catch up with the frontier of economics research.

  • To "install" the structure of good papers on you.

  • To understand the methodology used in detail.

  • The topic will rotate every 2 months (i.e. 6-7 papers). The first paper of each round should be a seminal paper on that topic.

    • Each student is supposed to list up two papers as the candidate papers (Searching papers is actually a good practice to learn the trend and development of the research).

    • A student coordinator (Hanchen for this term) will make the finalized list of the papers after consulting with me. Please coordinate with each other who will present which paper and when.

  • Topics under consideration include:

    • Labor market

    • Insurance

    • Finance

    • Intrahousehold model

    • Industrial Policy

    • Structural transformation

• Progress report on own research projects

  • I found many students have the same problem in starting and proceeding their research projects, namely, research design and identification strategy. Instead of supervising each student independently, I believe this "group supervision" will help students understand how to start and proceed the research more efficiently. Students will be able to get advice from other students as well.

  • A good research idea will not occur to you all of a sudden. It should be an outcome of iterative process including brain storming, conceptualization, clarifying analytical framework, clarifying contribution to the literature, checking data availability that enables you to estimate the parameters of interests, continuous discussion with others, ...

  • Don't be shy to present your ideas. Don't be afraid of your ideas being criticized. Actually most ideas should be criticized, and thought-provoking ideas will be always criticized.

  • Make presentation slides. Get feedback. Revise your slides. Get feedback. Then your research will proceed.

  • You should ask to yourself: What is the big picture of your research? How will it benefit the science or society?

  • What I (and the audience in seminars and conferences) expect to hear are

    • WHAT IS YOUR INNOVATION?

    • HOW IMPORTANT IS IT?

      • How will that findings change the way we look at this world?

      • How will it solve the puzzle in the literature or fill the existing research gaps?

 Note:

• • Students are strongly recommended to attend the AEDS seminar and other economic seminars.