STANFORD
UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT
OF
ECONOMICS
Economics
101:
Economic
Policy
Analysis
Economic
Development
Fall
2015
Instructor
Eva
Vivalt
Email:
vivalt@stanford.edu
Office
hours:
W
11:30
a.m.
-‐
12:30
p.m.,
347
Landau
Time
and
Location
M,
W
9:30
-‐
11:20
a.m.,
299
Lathrop
Teaching
Assistant
Odyssia
Ng
Email:
odyssia@stanford.edu
Office
hours:
TBA
Prerequisites
51,
52,
102B
and
at
least
2
field
courses
Course
Objective
To
develop
skills
in
order
to
analyze
and
convey
economic
ideas
effectively.
Course
Description
This
course
will
guide
students
towards
writing
an
academic
paper.
Classes
and
sections
will
emphasize
current
econometric
methods.
Students
will
be
expected
to
come
up
with
an
interesting
research
question
and
a
feasible
strategy
for
answering
it.
To
learn
how
to
think
and
write
like
an
economist,
students
will
also
read,
present
and
discuss
academic
papers.
The
papers
discussed
in
this
course
will
relate
to
development
economics
and
best
research
practices.
Course
Policies
No
laptops,
iPhones,
iPads,
etc.
I'll
post
the
lecture
notes
on
the
class
website.
In
addition,
all
courses
taught
in
the
Stanford
Department
of
Economics
are
governed
by
a
common
set
of
course
management
rules.
A
document
explaining
these
rules
is
available
at
http://economics.stanford.edu/undergraduate/economics-‐common-‐syllabus.
Please
familiarize
yourself
with
these
rules
and
contact
me
if
you
have
any
questions.
Grading
Individual
paper
and
presentation:
60%
Research
idea
assignment:
5%
Pre-‐analysis
plan:
5%
First
draft:
10%
Final
paper
presentation:
10%
Final
paper:
25%
Reflection
on
pre-‐analysis
plan:
5%
Short
writing
assignments:
20%
Peer
review
x
2:
10%
each
In-‐class
activities:
20%
Class
presentation:
10%
Class
participation:
10%
No
late
assignments
will
be
accepted.
There
will
be
no
exceptions.
Description
of
Assignments
Research
idea
assignment
(due
Sept.
30)
Each
student
will
write
a
concise
description
of
3
potential
research
projects.
Each
project
description
should
be
no
more
than
1-‐2
paragraphs,
and
the
three
together
should
fill
1
page
single-‐spaced.
Within
each
description,
it
should
be
clear
exactly
what
the
research
question
is,
why
it
is
an
interesting
question
(so
what?),
which
data
will
be
used
to
answer
the
question,
and
how
the
question
will
be
answered
(the
identification
strategy).
These
research
questions
will
be
reviewed,
clarifying
questions
asked,
and
hopefully
one
or
more
of
the
ideas
will
be
approved
as
a
potential
final
paper
topic.
If
more
than
one
idea
is
approved,
the
student
can
pick
any
of
the
approved
topics
to
write
on.
Grades
will
be
assigned
to
each
of
the
three
research
idea
summaries,
but
only
the
best
one
will
count
towards
the
course
grade.
If
no
idea
is
approved,
the
student
will
have
to
redo
the
exercise,
and
a
grade
of
0
will
be
recorded
for
this
portion.
Pre-‐analysis
plan
(due
Oct.
14)
Each
student
must
register
with
the
Open
Science
Foundation
and
upload
a
pre-‐
analysis
plan
of
a
minimum
of
2
single-‐spaced
pages.
Guidelines
will
be
provided
as
to
what
a
pre-‐analysis
plan
should
include.
While
pre-‐analsyis
plans
are
of
more
use
when
one
does
not
yet
have
the
data
in
hand,
this
assignment
serves
two
purposes:
1)
to
further
develop
the
research
idea
and
be
clear
on
the
empirical
methodology;
2)
to
learn
how
to
write
pre-‐analysis
plans.
First
draft
(due
Oct.
28)
Should
be
a
complete
paper
of
the
intended
final
length:
10-‐12
pages
double-‐spaced.
Guidance
will
be
provided
in
class.
Peer
reviews
(due
Nov.
4)
Each
student
will
randomly
be
assigned
to
review
two
other
students'
first
drafts.
Your
reviews
will
be
graded
on
their
quality,
but
they
will
not
enter
into
the
grades
given
to
the
students'
first
drafts.
Final
paper
presentation
(Nov.
30
or
Dec.
2)
These
should
be
10-‐15
minutes
long.
It
is
recommended
that
you
use
PowerPoint
or
LaTeX
to
create
slides
that
provide
a
clear
and
succinct
overview
of
your
paper.
Practice
more
than
you
think
you
need
to.
You
may
wish
to
form
groups
and
practice
your
presentation
to
each
other
beforehand.
Final
paper
(due
Dec.
4)
10-‐12
pages
double-‐spaced.
Guidance
will
be
provided
in
class.
Reflection
on
pre-‐analysis
plan
(due
Dec.
4)
Students
will
write
a
short
reflection
on
what
they
learned
from
using
a
pre-‐analysis
plan
and
how
their
research
may
have
diverged
from
the
plan.
Students
should
include
examples
of
results
they
could
have
obtained
in
the
absence
of
a
pre-‐
analysis
plan.
Class
presentation
Each
student
will
prepare
a
short
(10-‐15
minute)
presentation
on
one
of
the
papers
to
be
discussed
in
this
class,
leading
the
class
through
the
paper's
motivation,
empirical
strategy,
and
findings.
Presentations
should
be
clear
on
what
the
author(s)
did
and
why
and
offer
a
thoughtful
critique.
Class
participation
This
will
be
based
on
engagement
in
the
classroom.
Students
should
come
to
class
prepared
to
discuss
each
day's
readings.
Students
are
also
expected
to
ask
good
questions
/
make
good
comments
on
each
other's
presentations.
Schedule
and
Reading
List
(subject
to
change)
Date
Topic
Sept.
21
Course
introduction
and
patterns
of
economic
development
-‐
Rosling,
Hans:
http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen
-‐
Sen,
Amartya.
“The
Concept
of
Development,”
Handbook
of
Development
Economics,
Volume
1,
Edited
by
H.
Chenery
and
T.N.
Srinivasan,
Elsevier
Science
Publishers,
1998.
-‐
Myrskyla,
Mikko,
Hans-‐Peter
Kohler
and
Francesco
Billari.
"Advances
in
Development
Reverse
Fertility
Declines",
Nature,
vol.
460
(2009).
Sept.
23
Measuring
poverty,
inequality,
well-‐being
-‐
Ravallion,
Martin.
"On
Multidimensional
Indices
of
Poverty",
Journal
of
Economic
Inequality,
vol.
9(2)
(2011).
-‐
Frey,
Bruno
S.
and
Alois
Stutzer.
"What
Can
Economists
Learn
from
Happiness
Research?",
Journal
of
Economic
Literature,
vol.
40(2)
(2002).
-‐
Diener,
Ed
and
Robert
Biswas-‐Diener.
"Will
Money
Increase
Subjective
Well-‐
Being?",
Social
Indicators
Research,
vol.
57(2)
(2002).
-‐
Pritchett,
Lant.
"Divergence,
Big
Time",
Journal
of
Economic
Perspectives,
vol.
11
(3)
(1997).
-‐
Sala-‐i-‐Martin,
Xavier.
"The
World
Distribution
of
Income:
Falling
Poverty
and...
Convergence,
Period",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
vol.
121(2)
(2006).
-‐
Deaton,
Angus.
"Measuring
Poverty
in
a
Growing
World
(Or
Measuring
Growth
in
a
Poor
World)",
Review
of
Economics
and
Statistics,
vol.
87
(1)
(2005).
Sept.
28
Research
credibility
and
transparency
-‐
Casey,
Katherine,
Rachel
Glennerster
and
Edward
Miguel.
"Reshaping
Institutions:
Evidence
on
Aid
Impacts
Using
a
Pre-‐Analysis
Plan",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
vol.
127(4)
(2012).
-‐
Brodeur,
Abel,
Mathias
Lé,
Marc
Sangnier
and
Yanos
Zylberberg.
"Star
Wars:
The
Empirics
Strike
Back",
AEJ
Applied
Economics,
forthcoming.
-‐
McKenzie,
David:
http://blogs.worldbank.org/impactevaluations/a-‐pre-‐
analysis-‐plan-‐checklist
Sept.
30
External
validity
-‐
Allcott,
Hunt.
"Site
Selection
Bias
in
Program
Evaluation",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
(2015).
-‐
Vivalt,
Eva.
"How
Much
Can
We
Generalize?
Measuring
the
External
Validity
of
Impact
Evaluations",
working
paper
(2015).
Oct.
5
Aid
-‐
Easterly,
William.
"Can
the
West
Save
Africa?",
Journal
of
Economic
Literature,
vol.
47(2)
(2009).
-‐
Burnside,
Craig
and
David
Dollar.
"Aid,
Policies,
and
Growth",
American
Economic
Review,
vol.
90(4)
(2002).
-‐
Kuziemko,
Ilyana
and
Eric
Werker.
"How
Much
Is
a
Seat
on
the
Security
Council
Worth?
Foreign
Aid
and
Bribery
at
the
United
Nations",
Journal
of
Political
Economy,
vol.
114(5)
(2006).
-‐
Rajan,
Raghuram
and
Arvind
Subramanian,."Aid,
Dutch
Disease,
and
Manufacturing
Growth",
Journal
of
Development
Economics,
vol.
94(1)
(2011).
Oct.
7
Trade
and
FDI
-‐
Donaldson,
David.
"Railroads
of
Raj:
Estimating
the
Impact
of
Transportation
Infrastructure",
American
Economic
Review,
forthcoming.
-‐
Javorcik,
Beata
Smarzynska.
"Does
Foreign
Direct
Investment
Increase
the
Productivity
of
Domestic
Firms?
In
Search
of
Spillovers
Through
Backward
Linkages",
American
Economic
Review,
vol.
94(3)
(2004).
-‐
Goldberg,
Pinelopi
K.,
Amit
Khandelwal,
Nina
Pavcnik
and
Petia
Topalova.
"Imported
Intermediate
Inputs
and
Domestic
Product
Growth:
Evidence
from
India",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
forthcoming.
Oct.
12
Private
sector
development
-‐
De
Mel,
Suresh,
David
McKenzie
and
Christopher
Woodruff.
"Returns
to
Capital
in
Microenterprises:
Evidence
from
a
Field
Experiment",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
vol.
123(4)
(2008).
-‐
Bloom,
Nicholas,
Benn
Eifert,
Aprajit
Mahajan,
David
McKenzie
and
John
Roberts.
"Does
Management
Matter:
Evidence
from
India",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
vol.
128(1)
(2013).
-‐
Hsieh,
Chang-‐Tai
and
Peter
J.
Klenow.
"Misallocation
and
Manufacturing
TFP
in
China
and
India",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
vol.
124(4)
(2009).
Oct.
14
Good
governance
and
institutions
-‐
Acemoglu,
Daron,
Simon
Johnson
and
James
A.
Robinson.
"The
Colonial
Origins
of
Comparative
Development:
An
Empirical
Investigation",
American
Economic
Review,
vol.
91(5)
(2001).
-‐
Drazen,
Allan
and
Marcela
Eslava.
"Electoral
Manipulation
via
Voter-‐Friendly
Spending:
Theory
and
Evidence",
Journal
of
Development
Economics,
vol.
92(1)
(2010).
-‐
Olken,
Ben.
"Monitoring
Corruption:
Evidence
from
a
Field
Experiment
in
Indonesia",
Journal
of
Political
Economy,
vol.
115(2)
(2007).
Oct.
19
Conflict
-‐
Blattman,
Chris
and
Jeannie
Annan.
"The
Consequences
of
Child
Soldiering",
The
Review
of
Economics
and
Statistics,
vol.
92(4)
(2010).
-‐
Miguel,
Edward,
Shanker
Satyanath
and
Ernest
Sergenti.
"Economic
Shocks
and
Civil
Conflict:
An
Instrumental
Variables
Approach",
Journal
of
Political
Economy,
vol.
112(4)
(2004).
Oct.
21
Behavioral
influences
-‐
Banerjee,
Abhijit
and
Sendhil
Mullainathan.
"The
Shape
of
Temptation:
Implications
for
the
Economic
Lives
of
the
Poor",
working
paper
(2010).
-‐
Ashraf,
Nava,
Dean
Karlan
and
Wesley
Yin.
"Tying
Odysseus
to
the
Mast:
Evidence
from
a
Commitment
Savings
Product
in
the
Philippines",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
vol.
121(2)
(2006).
Oct.
26
Health
-‐
Kremer,
Michael
and
Edward
Miguel.
"Worms:
Identifying
Impacts
on
Education
and
Health
in
the
Presence
of
Treatment
Externalities",
Econometrica,
vol.
72(1)
(2004).
-‐
Cohen,
Jessica
and
Pascaline
Dupas.
"Free
Distribution
or
Cost-‐Sharing?
Evidence
from
a
Randomized
Malaria
Prevention
Experiment",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
vol.
125(1)
(2010).
Oct.
28
Education
-‐
Maccini,
Sharon
and
Dean
Yang.
"Under
the
weather:
health,
schooling,
and
economic
consequences
of
early-‐life
rainfall",
American
Economic
Review,
vol.
99(3)
(2009).
-‐
Baird,
Sarah,
Craig
McIntosh
and
Berk
Ozler.
"Cash
or
Condition?
Evidence
from
a
Cash
Transfer
Experiment",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
vol.
126
(4)
(2011).
Nov.
2
Gender
-‐
Beaman,
Lori,
Raghabendra
Chattopadhyay,
Esther
Duflo,
Rohini
Pande
and
Petia
Topalova.
"Powerful
Women:
Does
Exposure
Reduce
Bias?"
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
vol.
124(4)
(2009).
-‐
Bandiera,
Oriana,
Niklas
Buehren,
Robin
Burgess,
Markus
Goldstein,
Selim
Gulesci,
Imran
Rasul
and
Munshi
Sulaiman.
"Women’s
Empowerment
in
Action:
Evidence
from
a
Randomized
Control
Trial
in
Africa",
working
paper
(2014).
Nov.
4
Environment
-‐
Grossman,
Gene
and
Alan
Krueger.
"Economic
Growth
and
the
Environment",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
vol.
110(2)
(1995).
-‐
Hsiang,
Solomon,
Marshall
Burke
and
Edward
Miguel.
"Quantifying
the
Influence
of
Climate
on
Human
Conflict",
Science,
vol.
341(6151)
(2013).
Nov.
9
Migration
and
employment
-‐
Michael
Clemens.
"Economics
and
Emigration:
Trillian-‐Dollar
Bills
on
the
Sidewalk?",
Journal
of
Economic
Perspectives,
vol.
25(3)
(2011).
-‐
Şahin,
Ayşegül,
Joseph
Song,
Giorgio
Topa,
and
Giovanni
L.
Violante.
"Mismatch
Unemployment",
American
Economic
Review,
vol.
104(11)
(2014).
Nov.
11
Innovation
-‐
Dercon,
Stefan
and
Luc
Christiaensen.
"Consumption
Risk,
Technology
Adoption
and
Poverty
Traps:
Evidence
from
Ethiopia",
Journal
of
Development
Economics,
vol.
96(2)
(2011).
-‐
Aghion,
Philippe
and
Peter
Howitt.
"A
Model
of
Growth
Through
Creative
Destruction",
Econometrica,
vol.
60(2)
(1992).
-‐
Hausmann,
Ricardo
and
Dani
Rodrik.
"Economic
Development
as
Self-‐Discovery",
Journal
of
Development
Economics,
vol.
72(2)
(2003).
Nov.
16
No
class.
Individual
meetings
with
professor
Nov.
18
Apps
for
development
-‐
Aker,
Jenny
C.
and
Isaac
M.
Mbiti.
"Mobile
Phones
and
Economic
Development
in
Africa",
Journal
of
Economic
Perspectives
24(3)
(2010).
-‐
Jensen,
Robert.
"The
Digital
Provide:
Information
(Technology),
Market
Performance
and
Welfare
in
the
South
Indian
Fisheries
Sector",
Quarterly
Journal
of
Economics,
vol.
122(3)
(2007).
Nov.
30
Presentations
Dec.
2
Presentations