Causal Inference in Emperical Economics - 5 ECTS

We, as human beings, tend to attribute cause and effect to observations quite quickly, even if such a causal relationship does not really exist. Causal inference is the science of the study of causal relationships and gives us tools to study rigorously if an intervention, action, or treatment actually causally determines a certain outcome. Causal inference is part of the answer to questions such as “What is the impact of heat on women’s reproductive health?”, “What is the effect of minimum wages on employment?”, or “To what extent do increases in food prices increase conflict?”

Introduction

In this “Causal Inference in Empirical Economics” course development economists from Wageningen University (WUR), and Utrecht University (UU), will teach state-of-the-art causal inference methods for both experimental and quasi-experimental designs, and help students to apply these to their own research designs.

The course will be taught fully online.

Learning objectives

After successful completion of this course, participants are expected to be able to:

1. Use economic theory to design a (quasi) experiment
2. Apply and evaluate statistical techniques in terms of valid causal inference
3. Appraise various experimental design choices
4. Appraise various quasi-experimental methods

Course entry requirements

• DEC-32806 Impact Assessment of Policies and Programmes at WUR or ECRMRS1 Econometric Methods 1 at UU or a similar course at another university, and
• YSS-34306 Advanced Econometrics at WUR or ECRMRS1 Econometric methods 2 + Research skills: Data handling at UU or a similar course at another university, and
• Being able to program in Stata.

Activities

• Lectures: The course material will be discussed in eight interactive lectures of about two hours
• Paper presentations: Students will present relevant papers related to causal inference in small groups (see schedule)
• Assignments: Students will work on a Pre-Analysis Plan for their thesis or a PhD chapter, which they will submit in two parts

Feedback

• Question hours to discuss progress with the Pre-Analysis Plan

AI Statement

Please pay attention the WUR and UU statements on the use of GenAI

Examination

The student needs to pass each:
A. Two assignments (pass/fail grading)
B. Written in-person exam with open questions (minimum 5.5 to pass)

Practical information

• Credits: 5 ECTS
• Language of instruction: English
• To minimize disruption of the course schedule (we have people joining from several locations in the Netherlands and perhaps abroad), the course will be taught online on MS Teams. If the situation allows, we will try to organize some meetings in person.

Staff

The course team consists of:

• Dr. Elena Fumagalli
• Dr. Robert Sparrow
• Dr. Maarten Voors
• Dr. Karlijn Morsink (course coordinator)

Student presentations

You will be divided into groups, and during each student presentation session groups will organise 30 minute presentations.

Tentative schedule Week 1: From Theory to design
1-9	10.00-12.00	Class 1: Lecture
2-9	10.00-12.00	Class 2: Lecture
Week 2: One-sided and two-sided non-compliance
8-9	10.00-12.00	Class 3: Lecture
9-9	10.00-12.00	Class 4: Student presentations
Week 3: Experimental research design
14-9	9.30-11.30	Class 5: Lecture
15-9	9.30-11.30	Class 6: Lecture and student presentations
17-9	10.00-11.00	Q&A Assignment Pre-analysis Plan - Part 1 (PAP)
Week 4: Experimental research design
21-9	23.59	Deadline PAP Part 1
21-9	9.30-11.30	Class 7: Lecture
23-9	9.30-11.30	Class 8: Lecture and student presentations
Week 5: Quasi-experimental methods I
29-9	9.00-11.00	Class 9: Lecture
30-9	9.30-11.30	Class 10: Student presentations
Week 6: Quasi-experimental methods II
5-10	9.30-11.30	Class 11: Lecture
7-10	9.30-11.30	Q&A PAP part 2
Week 7: Quasi-experimental methods III
12-10	9.30-11.30	Class 12: Lecture
14-10	9.30-11.30	Class 13: Student presentations
19-10	23.59	Deadline submission PAP part 2
Week 8: Exam
TBD		In-person exam Wageningen with online provision for those on fieldwork (only after approval)

More details on the programme can be found in the course manual.

 

Course fee 

WGS PhDs with TSP, UU PhDs, UG PhDs, WU MSc, UU MSc	€ 0
a) All other PhD candidates b) Postdocs and staff of the above mentioned Graduate Schools	€ 650
All others	€ 975

 

Cancellation conditions:

The participants can cancel their registration free of charge 1 month before the course starts. A cancellation fee of 100% applies if a participant cancels his/her registration less than 1 month prior to the start of the course.

The organisers have the right to cancel the course no later than one month before the planned course start date in the case that the number of registrations does not reach the minimum.

The participants will be notified of any changes at their e-mail addresses.