Stata is required for the course. Any version of Stata is acceptable, so if you already own a copy or get it from some other source this is fine. The cheapest is Small Stata (the student version) and this will be fine unless you plan on working with exceptionally large data sets. Students in this class can order Stata online starting 08/01/09. Use BGECON for the GRADPLAN ID, choose what you would like to order and enter shipping and billing information. The student version is only valid for one year. A User's Guide is also available and is optional.

Requirements: Midterm exam, 5k word paper, final exam and homework.

Homework: No late homework is accepted (see due dates below). All homework is submitted electronically in Excel with the format lastname_200f09h_no.xls (e.g. I would submit my homework number 3 as Gibson_200f09h3.xls.) Do not change the format of the questions since some questions will be graded electronically and you will not get credit for right answers in the wrong place. Answers generally go in yellow shaded boxes. All proofs must be typed out in Excel. No supplementary work will be accepted. The lowest homework will be dropped in computing the final grade.

Paper: The paper is an original research project with actual data. It is strongly suggested that you do some preliminary research to find an econometric model that you can update or extend. Journals, such as the American Economic Review or the Journal of Political Economy will have many relevant articles. More recent numbers, however, might be very difficult to read and understand. It is perhaps a better idea to look at older issues, even as far back as the 1950s, for simpler and more straightforward examples of applied models that could be updated. Papers will be graded on how well the research is presented, relevance of the model, the adequacy of the data set and how possible objections are anticipated and dealt with. A good paper need not be at the frontiers of econometric sophistication, but will be well researched, documented and formatted according to instructions given in class. See below for dates for first and final drafts of the paper. No late papers accepted.

Grading: Midterm, Final, paper, homework all 25 % of your grade.

Supercrunchers Ian Ayers discusses many examples of how the methods of this class are used in the real world.