SS 2026 — Econometrics Seminar

Course information

WISO300578, 2 SS

Required prior knowledge: econometrics (e.g. through attending the Econometrics lecture at BOKU, WISO300582, or very good knowledge of regression analysis from the statistics lecture), basic knowledge of the programming language R, and sufficient English to understand the articles we discuss.

Note: the Econometrics lecture WISO300582 takes place in the first half of the semester, the seminar WISO300578 takes place in the second half. It makes sense to attend both in the same semester.

Grading: in this seminar, participants give presentations on econometric articles. These are discussed with respect to their structure, econometric content, and implementation in R. The grade for the presentation makes up 1/3 of the total grade (what matters is whether the presentation answers the questions in the assignment).

At the beginning of each session you may hand in a note with a question about the method of the presented article (e.g. something that was not clear to you while reading). Oral questions should be asked during the presentation. The notes (1/3) and oral questions (2/3) together make up 1/3 of the total grade.

After each topic area (OLS, Panel, IV) there is a short exam before the presentations. The points from the exams make up 1/3 of the total grade. At the end of the semester, the three exams (or a selection of them) can be retaken if needed.

Anyone who does not collect enough points will be graded negatively (unless no points at all were collected, in which case only a withdrawal is possible).

Current point status

Details

Please learn the basics of the software R independently. I recommend using R in combination with RStudio. There are many introductions available online. A good one is e.g. "A (very) short introduction to R" by Torfs & Brauer (2014). Details on what you should cover in your presentation can be found in the assignment. The articles listed below are available for selection and should be presented on the dates given. Please sign up for a topic on learn.boku.ac.at. Maximum 2–4 people per topic (depending on how many people attend the seminar). Between March 10 and March 24 you can choose your article. Each article can only be presented once, and to be graded you must be present at the presentation.

• March 9, 9:00–10:30: discussion and short introduction to R. Please bring your computer if possible. R code and data
• March 10, 8:00–9:30: Smith and Urpelainen (2014) "The Effect of Feed-in Tariffs on Renewable Electricity Generation: An Instrument Variable Approach", Environmental and Resource Economics, 57, 367–392. Slides
• May 18, 9:00–10:30: presentation on identification strategies: OLS, Panel, IV, PSM. Slides
• May 19, 8:00–9:30: exercises on OLS and IV: R code 1 (simulations) and R code 2 (examples), data for R code 2 ("males.dat" and "IV_example...csv")

Ordinary Least Squares (OLS)

• June 1, 9:00–10:30: Schöniger and Morawetz (2022) "What comes down must go up: Why fluctuating renewable energy does not necessarily increase electricity spot price variance in Europe", Energy Economics. [OLS model for Germany and Austria only] (König)
• June 2, 8:00–9:30: [cancelled] Fleming, Alber and Goetz (2010) "Agricultural trade and poverty in Chile: a spatial analysis of product tradability", Agricultural Economics, 41, 545–553.

Panel Data Methods

• June 8, 9:00–10:30: [cancelled] Petrick and Zier (2010) "Regional employment impacts of Common Agricultural Policy measures in Eastern Germany: a difference-in-difference approach", Agricultural Economics, 42, 183–193.
• June 9, 8:00–9:30: exam on OLS and background reading first (Angrist & Pischke chapter 1 & Bellemare section 2.1), then: Barrett, Bellemare and Hou (2010) "Reconsidering Conventional Explanations of the Inverse Productivity-Size Relationship", World Development, 38, 88–97. (Morawetz)
• June 15, 9:00–10:30: [cancelled] Broussard (2012) "Food aid and adult nutrition in rural Ethiopia", Agricultural Economics, 43, 45–59.
• June 16, 8:00–9:30: Morawetz, Klaiber, Zhao (2024) "The impact of traffic noise on the capitalization of public walking area: A hedonic analysis of Vienna, Austria", Journal of Environmental Management, 353. (Ibl)

Instrumental Variable Regression (IV)

• June 22, 9:00–10:30: [cancelled] Davis (2016) "Individual Responsibility and Economic Development: Evidence from Rainfall Data", Kyklos, 69(3), 426–470.
• June 23, 8:00–9:30: exam on Panel methods first, then: Bellemare (2010) "Agricultural extension and imperfect supervision in contract farming: evidence from Madagascar", Agricultural Economics, 2010, 507–517. (Morawetz)
• June 29, 9:00–10:30: Bellemare (2015) "Rising Food Prices, Food Price Volatility, and Social Unrest", American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 97(1), 1–21. (Beil). Exam on IV afterwards.
• June 30, 8:00–9:30: [cancelled] Luchansky and Monks (2009) "Supply and demand elasticities in the U.S. ethanol fuel market", Energy Economics, 31, 403–410.

• Early July: makeup exams for partial exams. Please register via online.boku.ac.at once the date is posted.

Download papers, data and R code

Note: material links above point to a password-protected folder on this site (course materials are restricted to enrolled students, in part because of publisher copyright on assigned readings). Access is via your BOKU credentials.