Economic Policy Analysis - JEM028

• Title: Economic Policy Analysis
• Guaranteed by: Institute of Economic Studies (23-IES)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2014
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 5
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (unknown)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: cancelled
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment; priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
• Guarantor: prof. Ing. Štěpán Jurajda, Ph.D.

Annotation

English

Last update: JURAJDA (04.08.2010)

Empirical labor economics, with its focus on quantifying the effects of labor-market policies including anti-discrimination legislation or tax policies, is becoming ever more important thanks to the world-wide move towards evidence-based policy formation. This course therefore starts with an overview of empirical identification strategies developed in labor economics and then covers several examples of their application to illustrate their use.

Czech

Last update: JURAJDA (04.08.2010)

Empirická ekonomie práce v nedávné době rozvinula metodiky hodnocení ekonomických opatření, které jsou aplikovatelné v mnoha oborech ekonomie. Rostoucí zájem o tyto metody souvisí s celosvětovým rozmachem tzv. evidence-based policy, tj. využívání empirických odhadů efektů intervencí pro řízení hospodářské politiky. Tento kurs představí různé identifikační strategie a odhadovací postupy jak teoreticky, tak s pomocí příkladů odhadování efektů politik zaměstnanosti či anti-diskriminační politiky. Po úvodu věnovaném obecně empirickým metodám odhadovaní efektů politik se druhá část kursu věnuje nabídkové straně trhu práce, tj. rozhodování pracujících o participaci na trhu práce a jejich investicím do vzdělání (lidského kapitálu). Třetí část kursu se zabývá teoriemi diskriminace a empirickým testováním diskriminačního chování s důrazem na existující studie z českého trhu práce.

Aim of the course

English

Last update: JURAJDA (04.08.2010)

The course will allow the student to understand identification strategies used to empirically evaluate government policies using the example of labor market policies.We will focus on labor supply decisions of workers and on testing for discrimination in more detail.

Czech

Last update: JURAJDA (04.08.2010)

Kurs umožní pochopení empirických metod vyhodnocování dopadů ekonomických opatření na příkladě politik trhu práce. Detailní pozornost bude věnována především participačním rozhodnutím pracujících a otázkám diskriminace.

Literature

English

Last update: JURAJDA (06.05.2008)

The main textbook for the course is Labor Economics by Pierre Cahuc and André Zylberg, MIT Press 2004.

Other useful texts are

• Borjas, G. Labor Economics,

• Ehrenberg, R., and R. Smith Modern Labor Economics,

• Wooldridge, J. Introductory Econometrics, and, of course,

• The Handbook of Labor Economics [HLE].

Additional articles and texts will be recommended for reading throughout the course.

Czech

Last update: JURAJDA (06.05.2008)

Literatura:

The main textbook for the course is Labor Economics by Pierre Cahuc and André Zylberg, MIT Press 2004.

Other useful texts are

• Borjas, G. Labor Economics,

• Ehrenberg, R., and R. Smith Modern Labor Economics,

• Wooldridge, J. Introductory Econometrics, and, of course,

• The Handbook of Labor Economics [HLE].

Additional articles and texts will be recommended for reading throughout the course.

Teaching methods

English

Last update: JURAJDA (06.05.2008)

The course consists of lectures only. No exercise sessions are planned.

Czech

Last update: JURAJDA (06.05.2008)

Metodou výuky jsou přednášky.

Syllabus

English

Last update: JURAJDA (27.09.2010)

Introduction and Motivation: Definition and estimation of causal effects. Example of linking theory to empirics and defining a causal question in the study of wage distributions.

1. Empirical Analysis in Economics: Causation vs. correlation. The experimental setup and solution to the identification problem. A simultaneous equations reminder. Causal or descriptive evidence in regression analysis? The search for additional control variables (and the matching approach) as opposed to the search for exogenous sources of identification (and the instrumental variables and sample selection approaches). Natural experiments. Group-level variation and identification (including difference in differences). Regression discontinuity. Matching.

2. Labor Supply and Human Capital: The decision to work in economic theory: static and life cycle labor supply. Empirical methods: from Tobit to Heckman's sample selection correction. Difference in differences by Eissa and Liebman (1996). Income elasticity, not hours. Household production and leisure. Job search. Human capital: Mincerian returns: Card (2000). Relative supply of labor and wage inequality: Card and Lemieux (2001).

3. Discrimination: The theory: taste-based discrimination (Becker, 1957) and statistical discrimination (Phelps, 1972, and Arrow, 1973). Descriptive empirics: the Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions and the wage gap studies (Olivetti and Petrongolo, 2005). Wage gap and segregation. Czech labor-market gender facts. Testing for Discrimination: Competition and discrimination. Wage gaps and pre-market characteristics (Neal and Johnson, 1996). Tests of statistical discrimination (Altonji and Pierret, 2001). Direct tests in specific settings: in sports, in arts (Goldin and Rouse, 2001), in field studies (Bertrand and Mullainathan, 2003).

Entry requirements

English

Last update: JURAJDA (06.05.2008)

Prerequisites consist of basic-to-intermediate microeconomics and a basic course in econometrics.

Czech

Last update: JURAJDA (06.05.2008)

Prerequisites consist of basic-to-intermediate microeconomics and a basic course in econometrics. The course is offered in English so a solid command of the English language will come in handy too.