Note: It is necessary (but not sufficient), to pass the exam in order to pass the course.

About This Unit

The aim of the Unit is to provide students with an experience of current research in a wide variety of areas of Economic Theory, Applied Economics and Economic System Design. In this unit students will attend a Research Seminar each week during the Session. The Seminar will discuss papers in Economic Theory, Applied Economics and Economic System Design. The Seminar will also reflect on a variety of methodological approaches. Weekly written work will provide students with an opportunity to make careful evaluations of the research papers presented and discussed. Participation in the seminars provides a forum for students to engage with leading edge research in their field. They will evaluate strengths and weaknesses in the work of other scholars, learn to think more clearly about their own work, and develop the ability to critique research and scholarship in Economics. In addition there will be an opportunity for students to engage in their own piece of guided research, via the Research Project.

Classes and Requirements

You must:

• Attend all seminar classes and seminars during Session 2, 2017.

• Arrive at each class having read the assigned research paper, or Section thereof.

• Complete other weekly assignments as specified.

• Complete the Research Project

• Complete the final assessment task (The Exam).

Technology Used and Required

Students require computer technology sufficient to regularly access the ECON910  iLearn webpage and the Departmental Research Seminar Series webpages via the internet.

Research and Practice

• This unit may use research by Macquarie University researchers
• This unit may use research from external sources. This unit gives you opportunities to learn how to critique current research at the frontiers of your discipline as a prelude to later conducting your own research

A - General Economics and Teaching

Journal of Economic Education

Journal of Applied Econometrics

B - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology

Cambridge Journal of Economics

Journal of the History of Ideas

European Journal of the History of Economic Thought

C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods

Journal of Mathematical Economics

Econometrica

Journal of Econometrics

Review of Economics and Statistics

Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics

Empirical Economics

D - Microeconomics

Journal of Economic Theory

Review of Economic Studies

American Economic Review

International Economic Review

Economic Theory

Applied Economics

European Economic Review

Applied Economics Letters

Economics Letters

Economic Record

E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

Review of Economic Studies

American Economic Review

International Economic Review

Journal of Monetary Economics

Money, Credit and Banking

Journal of Macroeconomics

European Economic Review

Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control

International Journal of Forecasting

Journal of Forecasting

Applied Economics

Applied Economics Letters

Economics Letters

Economic Record

F - International Economics

Journal of International Economics

(plus many of the journals listed above)

G - Financial Economics

Journal of Finance

(plus many of the journals listed above)

H - Public Economics

Journal of Public Economic Theory

Public Economics

(plus many of the journals listed above)

I - Health, Education, and Welfare

Journal of Health Economics

(plus many of the journals listed above)

J - Labor and Demographic Economics

Journal of Labour Economics

Journal of Population Economics

(plus many of the journals listed above)

K - Law and Economics

Journal of Law and Economics

Journal of Law, Economics and Organisation

(plus many of the journals listed above)

L - Industrial Organization

Journal of Industrial Economics

International Journal of Game Theory

(plus many of the journals listed above)

N - Economic History

Journal of Economic History

(plus many of the journals listed above)

O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth

Journal of Economic Development

(plus many of the journals listed above)

P - Economic Systems

Economic Systems

Journal of Computational Economics

(plus many of the journals listed above)

Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics

Journal of Agricultural Economics

(plus many of the journals listed above)

R - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics

Journal of Regional Economics

(plus many of the journals listed above)

Y - Miscellaneous Categories

Journal of Defense Economics

(plus many of the journals listed above)

Z - Other Special Topics

Journal of Cultural Economics

(plus many of the journals listed above)

1. Papers in the Economics Literature fall, roughly, into three broad categories:

(a). Pure Theory;

(b). Applied Economics/Econometrics;

(c). System Design.

Each week an attempt will be made to find a paper from each of these categories.  Because no one approach to summarizing and critiquing papers is relevant to each of these categories, what follows are some general principles that may be more or less relevant in any particular realization.

2(a) Format, content and organization

There is no word limit (upper or lower) on your summary. So, if you write it, I’ll read it – however long or short it is.  What matters here is the quality of your attempts to come to grips with the papers you will be reading, not some arbitrary quantity measure.

2(b) The basic research question of the paper

What is the research question?

2(c) Introduction and Motivation

What motivation did the author(s) give for the research?

Did the author(s) motivate the paper adequately? Why do you say that?

Did they convince you of the importance of the study? Why or why not?

Did the author(s) effectively locate their research in the existing literature?

3.1 (For Pure Theory papers):

Critique, analyse and review the:

(i) Axioms/Assumptions;

(ii) Definitions;

(iii) Theorems;

(iv) Proof Techniques used;

(v) Main result established in the paper.

3.2 (For Applied Econometrics Papers):

Critique, analyse and review the:

(i) Formulation of the hypothesis(es) or model(s) in the paper;

(ii) Independent and dependent variables examined in the research;

(iii) Relationship between the variables used in the study and the variables in the hypothesis(es) or model(s);

(iv) Econometric methods used in the paper.

(v) Main result established in the paper.

3.3 (For System Design Papers):

Critique, analyse and review the:

(i) Scope of the system design exercise;

(ii) Theoretical foundations of the system design exercise;

(iii) Empirical foundations of the system design exercise;

(iv) Main result established in the paper.

4. Discussion and conclusions

Did the author(s) draw valid conclusions from their study? Did they relate them to the original research problem?

Did the author(s) discuss the limitations of their research? Were there other limitations that should have been discussed or acknowledged?

Did the author(s) discuss the implications of their findings for practice (economic and/or social decision-making) and/or theory (the advancement of knowledge in the area of the research)? Were there any other implications the author(s) should have stated?

Did the author(s) identify areas for future research arising from their study? Can you identify any others?

5. Presentation

Was the paper well organised and presented? Was it clear and easy to understand?

Were there sections you did not understand and that could have been explained more fully or presented more clearly?

6. Overall Assessment

What is your overall assessment of the paper and the research? Do not repeat everything in your review but provide a brief (one paragraph) overall assessment of the paper. Was the research generally well motivated and conducted such that you learnt something interesting and important from the paper? Do you think the paper should have been published? Why do you say that?

7. References

If you have referred to other papers or materials in your review, provide full bibliographical details in a list of references.

8. In summary …

Try to ‘get inside the paper’. Try to understand the author(s)’ thinking and the ins-and-outs of their argument. This is a difficult and time consuming thing to do – but very rewarding, and so much more satisfying than trying to skim over the top.

Consultation time: Tuesday 2pm – 5pm, Wednesday 2pm-5pm, Friday 2pm – 5pm                                             

You are encouraged to seek help at a time that is convenient to you from a staff member teaching on this unit during their regular consultation hours. In special circumstances, an appointment may be made outside regular consultation hours.  Staff will not conduct consultations by email. You may, however, phone staff during their consultation hours.

In order to gain access to staff located at levels 2 – 6 of building E4A during their consultation hours please ring the staff member from the phones available in the lobby (phone numbers of relevant staff members will be provided on iLearn and are available next to the phones).

Students experiencing significant difficulties with any topic in the unit must seek assistance immediately.

Preamble to the Reading List

As you know, the Master of Research in Economics (MRes) is a combination of advanced coursework and research training. The principal aim of the MRes Program is to prepare students for the highest level of academic achievement, the PhD – although students can exit the Program at various sub points along the way.

In order to achieve its aims, the MRES takes well performing graduates and provides them with a deep and thorough exposure to advanced coursework, along with immersion in a period of rigorous research training – at a level needed to ready students for future supervised, independent research work at the highest level. One part of that immersion in a period of rigorous research training, is this course, ECON910  Research in Economics .

Each week in this course you will Critique, Analyze and Review papers, or parts of papers, drawn from the research literature in Economics. Each week you will need to turn in your RPR’s . I’ll mark them and return them to you.

Please Note:  The papers you will be dealing with here are from the research literature in Economics. They can therefore tough going and sometimes even very tough going.

DO NOT DISPAIR if you don’t immediately understand everything about every paper that you encounter – especially in the early days of the course. Just do your best with each paper you study and remember that we will be working together on this for at least a whole semester.

The scope of the research literature in Economics

The term ‘research literature in Economics’ has been bandied about quite a bit so far in this Unit Outline, so what does the term mean. Specifically, what is the scope of the phrase ‘Research Literature in Economics’?

At a broad brush level, it is possible to identify three major (to some extent overlapping) strands and paper types, in the economics literature:

1. Economic theory papers (ETP’s);

2. Applied economics papers (AEP’s);

3. Economic system design papers (SDP’s).

As Seminar 1 is devoted to an elaboration of this point of view, I won’t go on about it further here. Except to say that each strand of the literature has a rich array of things to teach us – and intriguing areas for possible further research. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seminar 1

“An Overview of the Research Literature in Economics”: Lecture by Tony Bryant.

Seminar 2

(ETP): Oded Stark and Agnieszka Dorn (2013), “Do family ties with those left behind intensify or weaken migrants’ assimilation?”, Economics Letters, Vol. 118(1), January 2013, pp. 1 – 5.

[Note: In preparing a review of a theory paper you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The axioms or assumptions; (ii) Definitions; (iii) Theorems; (iv) Proof techniques used; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(AEP): Doerrenberg, P. and S. Siegloch (2014), “Is soccer good for you? The motivational impact of big sporting events on the unemployed”, Economics Letters, 123, pp. 66–69.

[Note: In preparing a review of an applied paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) Formulation of the hypothesis(es) or model(s) in the paper; (ii) Independent and dependent variables examined in the research; (iii) Relationship between the variables used in the study and the variables in the hypothesis(es) or model(s); (iv) Econometric methods used in the paper; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(SDP): Kooreman, P. (2013), “Rational students and resit exams”, Economics Letters 118, pp. 213–215.

[Note: In preparing a review of a system design paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The nature and scope of the system design exercise being undertaken; (ii) Theoretical foundations of the system design exercise; (iii) Empirical foundations of the system design exercise; (iv) Main result established in the paper].

Seminar 3

(ETP): Kenneth W. Clements (2008), “Price elasticities of demand are minus one-half”, Economics Letters, 99, pp. 490 – 493.

[Note: In preparing a review of a theory paper you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The axioms or assumptions; (ii) Definitions; (iii) Theorems; (iv) Proof techniques used; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(AEP): Hosseinkouchack, M. and M. H. Wolters (2013), “Do large recessions reduce output permanently?”, Economics Letters, 121, pp. 516–519.

[Note: In preparing a review of an applied paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) Formulation of the hypothesis(es) or model(s) in the paper; (ii) Independent and dependent variables examined in the research; (iii) Relationship between the variables used in the study and the variables in the hypothesis(es) or model(s); (iv) Econometric methods used in the paper; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(SDP): Jochen Michaelis and Benjamin Schwanebeck (2016), “Examination rules and student effort”, Economics Letters, 145, pp. 65–68.

[Note: In preparing a review of a system design paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The nature and scope of the system design exercise being undertaken; (ii) Theoretical foundations of the system design exercise; (iii) Empirical foundations of the system design exercise; (iv) Main result established in the paper].

Seminar 4

(ETP): Sproule, R. (2013), “A systematic analysis of the links amongst the Marshallian, Hicksian, and Frischian demand functions: A note”, Economics Letters, 121, pp. 555–557.

[Note: In preparing a review of a theory paper you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The axioms or assumptions; (ii) Definitions; (iii) Theorems; (iv) Proof techniques used; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(AEP): F. Chantreuil and I. Lebon (2015), “Gender contribution to income inequality”, Economics Letters 133 pp. 27–30.

[Note: In preparing a review of an applied paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) Formulation of the hypothesis(es) or model(s) in the paper; (ii) Independent and dependent variables examined in the research; (iii) Relationship between the variables used in the study and the variables in the hypothesis(es) or model(s); (iv) Econometric methods used in the paper; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(SDP): L. Wang (2015), “Fertility and unemployment in a social security system”, Economics Letters 133 pp. 19–23.

[Note: In preparing a review of a system design paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The nature and scope of the system design exercise being undertaken; (ii) Theoretical foundations of the system design exercise; (iii) Empirical foundations of the system design exercise; (iv) Main result established in the paper].

Seminar 5

(ETP): A. Snow and R. S. Warren Jr. (2015), “Pigou’s Law and the proportionality of income and price elasticities of demand”, Economics Letters 132 pp. 136–138

[Note: In preparing a review of a theory paper you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The axioms or assumptions; (ii) Definitions; (iii) Theorems; (iv) Proof techniques used; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(AEP): A. Ojede (2015), “Is inflation in developing countries driven by low productivity or monetary growth?”, Economics Letters 133 pp. 96–99.

[Note: In preparing a review of an applied paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) Formulation of the hypothesis(es) or model(s) in the paper; (ii) Independent and dependent variables examined in the research; (iii) Relationship between the variables used in the study and the variables in the hypothesis(es) or model(s); (iv) Econometric methods used in the paper; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(SDP): A. Zapechelnyuk (2015), “An axiomatization of multiple-choice test scoring”, Economics Letters, 132 pp. 24–27.

[Note: In preparing a review of a system design paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The nature and scope of the system design exercise being undertaken; (ii) Theoretical foundations of the system design exercise; (iii) Empirical foundations of the system design exercise; (iv) Main result established in the paper].

Seminar 6

(ETP): Nadia Burani and Arsen Palestini (2016), “What determines volunteer work? On the effects of adverse selection and intrinsic motivation”, Economics Letters, 144, pp. 29–32.

[Note: In preparing a review of a theory paper you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The axioms or assumptions; (ii) Definitions; (iii) Theorems; (iv) Proof techniques used; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(AEP): M. Li and J. Tobias (2006), “Calculus attainment and grades received in intermediate economic theory”, Journal of Applied Econometrics, 21, pp. 893 – 96.

[Note: In preparing a review of an applied paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) Formulation of the hypothesis(es) or model(s) in the paper; (ii) Independent and dependent variables examined in the research; (iii) Relationship between the variables used in the study and the variables in the hypothesis(es) or model(s); (iv) Econometric methods used in the paper; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(SDP): Anna Dodonova and Yuri Khoroshilov (2014), “Compensation and performance: An experimental study”, Economics Letters, 124, pp. 304 – 307.

[Note: In preparing a review of a system design paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The nature and scope of the system design exercise being undertaken; (ii) Theoretical foundations of the system design exercise; (iii) Empirical foundations of the system design exercise; (iv) Main result established in the paper].

Seminar 7

(ETP): Mark Voorneveld (2014), “From preferences to Leontief utility”, Economic Theory Bulletin, 2, pp. 197–204.

[Note: In preparing a review of a theory paper you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The axioms or assumptions; (ii) Definitions; (iii) Theorems; (iv) Proof techniques used; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(AEP): Chiara Falco and Kristin Göbel (2016), “Does the desire to remit foster integration? Evidence from migrants in Spain”, Economics Letters, 137, pp.131–134.

[Note: In preparing a review of an applied paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) Formulation of the hypothesis(es) or model(s) in the paper; (ii) Independent and dependent variables examined in the research; (iii) Relationship between the variables used in the study and the variables in the hypothesis(es) or model(s); (iv) Econometric methods used in the paper; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(SDP): Miyazaki, K. (2014), “The effects of the raising-the-official-pension-age policy in an overlapping generations economy”, Economics Letters, 123, pp. 329–332.

[Note: In preparing a review of a system design paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The nature and scope of the system design exercise being undertaken; (ii) Theoretical foundations of the system design exercise; (iii) Empirical foundations of the system design exercise; (iv) Main result established in the paper].

Seminar 8

(ETP): R. Povey (2015), “The welfare economics of infectious happiness”, Economics Letters 133, pp. 1–3.

[Note: In preparing a review of a theory paper you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The axioms or assumptions; (ii) Definitions; (iii) Theorems; (iv) Proof techniques used; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(AEP): Chris Heaton, George Milunovich and Anthony Passe-De Silva (2011), “International Commodity Prices and the Australian Stock Market”, Economic Record, March 2011, 87(276), pp. 37 – 44.

[Note: In preparing a review of an applied paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) Formulation of the hypothesis(es) or model(s) in the paper; (ii) Independent and dependent variables examined in the research; (iii) Relationship between the variables used in the study and the variables in the hypothesis(es) or model(s); (iv) Econometric methods used in the paper; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(SDP): Markus Eyting, Arne Hosemann and Magnus Johannesson (2016), “Can monetary incentives increase organ donations?”, Economics Letters, 142, pp. 56–58.

[Note: In preparing a review of a system design paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The nature and scope of the system design exercise being undertaken; (ii) Theoretical foundations of the system design exercise; (iii) Empirical foundations of the system design exercise; (iv) Main result established in the paper].

Seminar 9

(ETP): Janet Currie and Firouz Gahvari (2008), “Transfers in Cash and In-Kind: Theory Meets the Data”, Journal of Economic Literature, 46(2), pp. 333 – 334 and pp. 338 – 341 only.

[Note: In preparing a review of a theory paper you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The axioms or assumptions; (ii) Definitions; (iii) Theorems; (iv) Proof techniques used; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(AEP): Melissa Hidrobo et al. (2014), “Cash, food, or vouchers? Evidence from a randomized experiment in northern Ecuador”, Journal of Development Economics, pp. 144 – 149 only.

[Note: In preparing a review of an applied paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) Formulation of the hypothesis(es) or model(s) in the paper; (ii) Independent and dependent variables examined in the research; (iii) Relationship between the variables used in the study and the variables in the hypothesis(es) or model(s); (iv) Econometric methods used in the paper; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(SDP): Edward Cartwright and Anna Stepanova (2015), “The consequences of a refund in threshold public good games”, Economics Letters,  134, pp. 29–33.

[Note: In preparing a review of a system design paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The nature and scope of the system design exercise being undertaken; (ii) Theoretical foundations of the system design exercise; (iii) Empirical foundations of the system design exercise; (iv) Main result established in the paper].

Seminar 10

(ETP): Edwin Franks and William D.A. Bryant (2017), “The Uncompensated Law of Demand: A ‘Revealed Preference’ Approach”, Economics Letters, 152, pp. 105 – 111.

[Note: In preparing a review of a theory paper you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The axioms or assumptions; (ii) Definitions; (iii) Theorems; (iv) Proof techniques used; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(AEP): Daniel J. Henderson, Junhui Qian and Le Wanga (2015), “The inequality–growth plateau”, Economics Letters, 128, pp. 17 – 20.

[Note: In preparing a review of an applied paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) Formulation of the hypothesis(es) or model(s) in the paper; (ii) Independent and dependent variables examined in the research; (iii) Relationship between the variables used in the study and the variables in the hypothesis(es) or model(s); (iv) Econometric methods used in the paper; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(SDP): David Throsby (2017), “Culturally sustainable development: theoretical concept or practical policy instrument?”, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 23(2), pp. 133 – 147. 

[Note: In preparing a review of a system design paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The nature and scope of the system design exercise being undertaken; (ii) Theoretical foundations of the system design exercise; (iii) Empirical foundations of the system design exercise; (iv) Main result established in the paper].

Seminar 11

(ETP): Juan D. Moreno-Ternero (2013), “A new analysis of a simple model of fair allocation”, Economics Letters, Vol. 118(2), February 2013, pp. 393 – 95.

[Note: In preparing a review of a theory paper you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The axioms or assumptions; (ii) Definitions; (iii) Theorems; (iv) Proof techniques used; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(AEP): Eduardo Zambrano and Timothy Vogeslang (2000), “A simple test of the Law of Demand for the United States”, Econometrica, 68(4), pp. 1011 – 1020.

[Note: In preparing a review of an applied paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) Formulation of the hypothesis(es) or model(s) in the paper; (ii) Independent and dependent variables examined in the research; (iii) Relationship between the variables used in the study and the variables in the hypothesis(es) or model(s); (iv) Econometric methods used in the paper; (v) Main result established in the paper].

(SDP): Julien Sauvagnat (2014),“Are leniency programs too generous?” Economics Letters, 123, pp. 323 – 326.

[Note: In preparing a review of a system design paper, you might like to consider, among other things: (i) The nature and scope of the system design exercise being undertaken; (ii) Theoretical foundations of the system design exercise; (iii) Empirical foundations of the system design exercise; (iv) Main result established in the paper].

Seminar 12

Overall review of: Johannes Haushofer and Jeremy Shapiro (2016), “The short-term impact of unconditional cash transfers to the poor: Experimental evidence from Kenya”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 131(4), pp.1973 – 2042.

Seminar 13 Group discussion and overall review of lessons from the Seminar Program