Econometrics Proposal STATA Required

You have to pick a topic to analyze. Please pick a topic and give me the reasonings behind your choice before starting the assignment. Topic should specify your dependent variable and your independent variable of interest. I will get the topic of your choice approved by 10/3, the proposal is due on 10/6. Please follow the rubric carefully. You are only doing the proposal part of the assignment.

Research Paper
Eco 441K
Fall 2023
Grading Policy
Approximate Paper
Length
With Tables
Requirement
Topic
Proposal
First Draft
Final Paper
Percentage of
Final Grade
0
3-4 pages
7-10 pages
10-15 pages
5
15
10
30
Topic
Topic should be approved by instructor or TA
before you submit your proposal
◼ The goal is to identify a topic for your
independent paper
◼ Upload your Topic/Paper Title in Canvas as
text
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You do not need to have an empirical model
Try to upload your topics by 9/29
Choosing a Topic
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Topic should specify your dependent variable and your
independent variable of interest.
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Title of your paper (e.g. Effect of Minimum Wage on Crime Rates)
Empirical research focuses on testing one specific hypothesis.
◼ Uncertainty about the outcome
◼ Previous literature is ambiguous
◼ Economic theory does not give a clear prediction
There may be many empirical issues that are new or could be
explored more fully.
◼ Opioid crisis, marijuana legalization, maternal mortality in
the US, tax cuts, effect of___ on Covid infections
◼ Alternatively, you may be interested in determining whether
the empirical results found in one of your course readings
can be supported using more recent data.
Choosing a Topic (cts)
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You may want to pursue a topic you have written about for an upper
level economics course.
A step towards thesis
Can I use Obesity Rate as dependent variable?
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Need to use a different unit of analysis
Reverse causality
Undergraduates sometimes wish to write on a topic that, although
interesting and important, is in an area in which they have not taken
any courses (e.g., economics of the arts). Consequently, they must
spend a considerable amount of time learning about the field before
they can begin to apply econometrics tools. Such topics may be more
suitable for your honor thesis than this class.
Proposal
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Due on October 6
The purpose of the proposal is to narrow down on a testable
hypothesis and to motivate the study to the reader.
Proposals will include
◼ the research question you want to address,
◼ Unit of analysis (state level, school level, country level,
etc.)
◼ discuss the importance of your study (i.e. why it is an
important public policy issue)
◼ literature review.
Revised proposals become introductions to the research paper.
Graded based on writing quality.
First Draft
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First drafts are due on October 27
First drafts should include
◼ A revised introduction
First drafts should add:
◼ Empirical model
◼ A data section
◼ Preliminary empirical results
◼ Brief conclusions and policy implications
Revised Final Paper
Final paper is due on December 12
◼ Revised papers will
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address instructor and/or TA comments
◼ add the abstract and diagnostic tests
◼ add alternative specifications and revise empirical
results based on results of diagnostic tests
◼ point out avenues for future research
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shortcomings of the data and of the paper in general
Grading Criteria
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Innovation & novelty: demonstration of independence of thought or approach in
terms of the research question asked, methodology or the data analyzed
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Contribution to existing literature
Research hypothesis: a well-defined question or problem that requires economic
analysis and that is narrow, feasible (in terms of the available data) and well
motivated
Empirical method: a well developed empirical model that addresses the topic of
interest
Data: well chosen data that helps economic inquiry
Structure: easy to follow structure (introduction, empirical model, data,
empirical results, conclusions & policy implications)
Style: writing should be informative, clear and concise
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Readable sentences
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Well-defined key terms
Proposal Discussion
Eco 441K
Due Date: October 6
Topic Due Date: Before Proposal (ideally 9/29)
Next lab is converted to office hours
(in-person (BRB 3.116) and on zoom,
Meeting ID: 975 9048 2650)
Short Paper Feedback
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Little original writing in Introduction
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Original external sources
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Too many quotes, little original argumentation
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Relationship between obesity and chosen independent variable was not explained
Literature review:
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Not related to main variable
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Lacked summary and /or structure
Empirical model did not match variables in Table 2 or did not contain all variables that were
given
Data
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Variable definitions were not explained
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Table 1 not discussed in text
Discussion of empirical results
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Regression coefficients vs. correlation
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Multivariate regression vs. bias
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P-values (1%, 5%, 10%)
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Sign of the coefficient was ignored
Inconsistent conclusions
Missing / improper in-text citations
Grading Policy
Requirement
Topic
Proposal
First Draft
Final Paper
Approximate
Paper Length
With Tables
Percentage of
Final Grade
3-4 pages
7-10 pages
10-15 pages
5
15
10
30
Posting a Topic in Canvas
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Identify dependent variable, independent variable and unit of
analysis
Make sure to address my comments and read feedback in
Canvas
Going beyond proposal
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Make sure you have at least 30 observations in your sample
Make sure your paper will contain multivariate regression
Proposal
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Due on 10/6
The purpose of the proposal is to narrow down on a testable hypothesis and to
motivate the study to the reader.
Proposals convey 4 things:
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the research question you want to address,
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why is the question important
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Identify gaps in previous literature
List reasons for government intervention
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Positive and negative externalities
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Imperfect information
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Myopic behavior
how is your paper going to address the question
literature review.
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Dependent and independent variable of interest
Unit of analysis (e.g. state level, time series, etc.)
Canvas → Research Help → Articles
Revised proposals become introductions to the research paper.
Literature Review
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Choose some form (e.g. chronological or thematic) to organize your
literature review. Random listing and summary of several sources is
not acceptable
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Early studies on Medicaid expansion vs. later studies
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International studies of school vouchers vs. US based studies
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Policy vs. empirical evidence (e.g. common core)
Literature review must be unbiased
Use proper in-text citations
Literature review search by
data source
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The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
(ICPSR) maintains and provides access to thousands of social
science datasets for research and instruction. This is a good first
place to start when looking for social science data for secondary
analysis.
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Canvas → Research Help → Statistics & Data
Create your own data set from existing publicly available data
sources at the state or country level
Do not create your own survey
Grading Rubric
Organization of ideas and points within each section
• Ideas are well-sequenced
• Explanations of ideas are well-organized
• Importance of the study is presented
• Project is clearly explained
20
Logic
• Logical line of ideas is clear
• Literature review is structured
• Presented evidence relies on peer reviewed publications
• Current state of literature is summarized
20
Paragraphs
• Length of paragraphs is appropriate
• Paragraphs are well-structured
Sentence structure and grammar
• Sentences are complete , Grammar is correct
5
Vocabulary
• Word choice is good
• Words are used correctly
Style
• Appropriately formal (not too informal)
Quality of expression
• Clear
• Thoughts are explained fully
References
• Appropriate citations of external sources in the text
• Proposal includes reference page with full citations
5
On-time submission
10
15
5
10
10
Writing Center Help
Writing Center offers 45-minute writing
appointments to undergraduate and
graduate students at UT Austin
◼ One-on-One Consultations. Students can
sign up at uwc.utexas.edu.
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