79195 - Statistics for Economics

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, the students will have a good knowledge of the issues related to the measurement and modelling of economic behaviours, and more specifically: - the ability to provide a critical assessment on the quality and reliability of data from the main types of economic survey; - a good understanding of the specification and estimation techniques for a selection of statistical models grounded in economic theory; - a basic knowledge on the statistical models employed in the evaluation of economic policies with non-experimental data.

Course contents

This course introduces the application of statistical methods to real-world economic problems, with a particular focus on the measurement and analysis of consumer behavior using consumer panel and scanner data. A key component of the course is the empirical evaluation of public policies using modern econometric techniques.

Students will gain both theoretical insight and practical experience in building and estimating economic models, interpreting results, and addressing common statistical challenges in applied microeconomics and policy research.

Course topics include:

• Statistics in economics: research questions, model formulation, data structures, and measurement issues

• Consumer panel and scanner data: sources, structure, and methodological challenges

• Economic theory foundations: utility, prices, inflation, demand and supply, elasticities, and labor market concepts

• Estimation challenges in economics: identification, causality, endogeneity, censoring and corner solutions, sample selection, and panel data models

• Introduction to empirical modelling using Stata

• Applications in economics and business statistics:

  • Estimating consumer demand models

  • Evaluating public policy interventions

• Quasi-experimental policy evaluation methods:

  • Difference-in-Differences (DiD)

  • Regression Discontinuity Designs (RDD)

  • Instrumental Variables (IV)

  • Propensity Score Matching (PSM)

Throughout the course, students will engage with applied datasets and work on empirical exercises, developing the analytical and coding skills needed for modern empirical research in economics and public policy.

Readings/Bibliography

The course will be mainly based on lecture notes and chapters/papers provided through the e-learning platform

Some very useful reference books are:

Cameron, A. C. & Trivedi, P. K. (2022). Microeconometrics Using Stata. Volumes I and II. Second Edition. Stata Press.

Wooldridge, J.M. (2015). Introductory econometrics: A modern approach. South-Western Pub.

Angrist, J.D & Pischke, J-S. (2015). Mastering 'Metrics: The Path from Cause to Effect. Princeton University Press.

Teaching methods

Each topic will be covered from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. Applications will be based on real data using the software STATA ®.

STATA is freely available to registered students, who can download the software and the license at this link using their student credentials.

This course aims to provide advanced empirical modelling and programming skills through a series of lab tutorials where students will be able to develop and run STATA codes under the lecturer direction and supervision. Furthermore data and codes will be provided on the e-learning platform Virtuale.

Assessment methods

Written exam.

The exam will be based on theoretical and empirical questions on topics and applications discussed during the course. The written exam is structured in two parts:

- A theoretical section, with multiple choice and/or open ended questions on topics covered during the course;

- An empirical question, where the student is presented with Stata codes and outputs produced during the course lab sessions, and is asked to interpret them and answer a set of questions

The two parts will equally weigh on the final mark.

Teaching tools

The Virtuale e-learning platform will provide students with:

- Lecture slides and notes

- Useful readings (articles, book chapters, etc.)

- Data, codes, short videos and materials for the Stata tutorials

- Exam-type questions

These materials will be provided and integrated throughout the course.

Office hours

See the website of Mario Mazzocchi