Economics 999 – Directed Research Project

Course Outline Instructor: Stuart Landon Spring 2017 Office: Tory 7-23 e-mail: Stuart.Landon@ualberta.ca Course Purpose: This is the capstone course in the Economics MA program. With the

guidance of the ECON 999 instructor, each student will complete an independent research project on a topic chosen by the student. Each student will present the results of their research in class. The project is intended to incorporate the knowledge the student has acquired during their MA course work.

Course Objectives: i) To give students experience in the identification and

development of a research topic. ii) To provide students with the opportunity to undertake and

complete independently a major research project on a topic in economics.

iii) To provide students with the opportunity to use the theoretical and empirical knowledge they acquired in previous courses, particularly the econometrics courses ECON 598 and 599.

iv) To improve student writing and presentation skills. Prerequisites: Successful completion of ECON 503, 581, 598 and 599. These prerequisites

will be enforced. If you have not taken and passed these four courses, contact me immediately.

Web Access to Course Material: Course material will be placed on the course eClass

site.

1

Class Meeting Times: Spring term comprises the six weeks from 8 May to 16 June 2017. During the first week of Spring term, the class will meet as a whole in

room HC L 2 for three or four lectures (on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and, perhaps, Thursday).

The class will then be split into four sections (A2-A5) and each

section will meet in Tory 8-22 for a 2-3 hour session during weeks 3, 4 and 5. These sessions will consist of student presentations.

I will have 30 minute one-on-one meetings with each student during

week 2. These meetings will be held on the Wednesday, Thursday or Friday of that week (17 - 19 May). A specific meeting time will be assigned to each student and communicated by email during the first week of class.

The class and section meeting times are specified in the detailed

class schedule given below. Attendance: Students enrolled in ECON 999 are expected to attend all the classes and

meetings listed above and to participate in class discussions. A student registered in a particular section must attend the classes in weeks 3, 4 and 5 for that section.

Office Hours: I will have scheduled office hours in weeks 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. For detailed times,

see the week-by-week class schedule given below. In week 2, I will have a 30 minute one-on-one meeting with each student.

In addition to my scheduled office hours, I am willing to meet with a student at

almost any time I do not have another commitment. If you have any questions about the course material or the course requirements, do not hesitate to ask.

You can arrange a time to meet with me outside of my scheduled office hours by

seeing me before or after class or by sending me an e-mail. You can also drop by my office to see if I am in.

While it is possible to email me questions, with this type of course it is often

difficult to both ask and answer questions clearly in emails. While I would prefer to have you ask questions in person, I will attempt to answer emailed questions.

Important e-mail Note: If you send me an e-mail, be sure to include the course

number (ECON 999) in the subject area (so that I will not think your message is spam and delete it).

2

Overview of the Final Paper The principal requirement of ECON 999 is a major research paper (the Final Paper). The

purpose of this paper is to give you the opportunity to independently develop and complete a research project using the knowledge and tools you have learned in previous courses.

In most cases, the Final Paper will be primarily empirical, although all papers should

incorporate a discussion of the theoretical framework and foundation for the empirical analysis. If you would like to pursue a purely theoretical Final Paper, or a paper that takes an approach that differs from that of standard empirical analysis, you should talk to me as soon as possible. Theoretical papers are much more difficult to do well. Reviews of the literature and descriptive discussions of policy issues or institutions are not sufficient topics for a Final Paper, although these subjects should form part of the content of your paper.

Empirical papers can, for example, arise out of policy debates or address shortcomings in the literature. A relatively simple approach is to replicate existing empirical results using different data, such as Canadian data rather than US data. I will discuss choosing a topic more comprehensively in the second lecture.

In general, an empirical paper includes the following components:

i) A statement of the question or hypothesis to be tested and why it is interesting and important.

ii) A discussion that describes the research in the literature and relates the research in your paper to the literature in terms of, for example, topic, theoretical background, method, data, results. Both similarities and differences are identified.

iii) A discussion of the theoretical foundation for the empirical analysis. iv) A description of the empirical methodology, including advantages and

disadvantages, and how this methodology can be used to test the hypothesis. v) A description of the data and the advantages and shortcomings of the data. vi) Estimation. vii) Robustness and statistical tests.

viii) A discussion of the results, what the results mean and their importance, including policy implications.

ix) A conclusion that summarizes the paper and provides brief caveats.

See below (pp. 14-19) for a more extensive discussion of the Final Paper content, format and submission requirements.

Time Commitment: The writing of the Final Paper for ECON 999 and the completion of the other ECON 999 course requirements should represent at least the same amount of work as a one-term Fall or Winter graduate course. Although not equivalent to the work involved in completing an MA thesis, successful completion of ECON 999 is a major endeavour and should take the majority of your time for the six week duration of the course. If you treat ECON 999 as a full-time job, you should have no difficulty completing the work.

3

Extending a Paper from another Class It is common for students in ECON 999 to submit a Final Paper that is an extension of a

paper they have written for another class, particularly ECON 599. A paper written for a class other than ECON 599, such as a theory paper, policy overview or a review of the literature, may be easier to extend substantially than an ECON 599 paper as long as appropriate data are available. It is not required that your ECON 999 paper be an extension of a paper you have written for another class, but an extension may make completion of the project within the required six weeks more feasible.

If you extend a paper from another class, you must provide me with an electronic copy of that paper. You must also submit, as part of your Research Proposal package, a detailed description of how your ECON 999 research paper differs from the paper you submitted in the other class. See the description of the Research Proposal requirement below (pp. 10-12) for more details. The mark on your ECON 999 paper will depend on the extent to which you have augmented your previous work. This is a 3 credit course without a final exam. The research paper is the major component of the ECON 999 course work. The extent to which your ECON 999 paper augments the work you submitted in a previous course should exceed the work that you would devote to writing a completely new major term paper in a standard course. That is, the extension must be substantial. Extensions generally involve a broader set of hypotheses, a better or more extensive set of data, a better empirical methodology, greater emphasis on testing and robustness, a better theoretical framework, and a better discussion of the literature. That is, all of the components of the paper are generally extended and improved.

Supervision:

I will act as the “supervisor” of all ECON 999 projects. This does not mean that students registered in ECON 999 should not seek the advice of other faculty (particularly if they are extending a paper written for a course taught by another member of faculty), but students should think of me as the first source of advice since I will mark all the required course material. While you can discuss your research with other faculty members, you should not ask other faculty to read your paper or provide significant help with your empirical analysis. Your Final Paper should reflect your own work and ability. Remember that ECON 999 involves independent research, so you should make decisions with respect to your research on your own. The role of the ECON 999 instructor is to provide advice and guidance with respect to your ideas, not to provide you with ideas.

4

Econometric Program: I prefer that all econometric analysis for ECON 999 be carried out using Stata. If you

cannot use Stata, come and talk to me. Warning: Always back up your work. Losing your work without having backed it up is

not an adequate excuse for the late submission of course assignments. An easy way to back up work is to email key files to yourself.

Evaluation: Each student registered in ECON 999 will receive an official grade. This grade will be

based on all the components of the course as describe below in the section “Distribution of Marks”. To receive a graduate pass, a student must earn at least 60 percent overall.

All written material will be marked on the basis of content and the quality of the writing. Distribution of Marks (percentage points):

Research Proposal 10

Presentation 1* 5

Presentation 2* 5

Graphical Assignment 8

Presentation 3* 7

Final Paper 65

* Your marks for the three presentations will depend on your presentation as well as on your attendance at the presentations of the other students in your section and your contribution to the discussion following the presentations of the other students.

5

Determination of Letter Grades:

Each student will receive a numerical mark on each element of the course work. Consistent with the “Evaluation Procedures and Grading System” section of the University Calendar, “Grades reflect judgements of student achievement made by instructors and . . . are based on a combination of absolute achievement and relative performance in a class.” Thus, your marks on all course components will reflect the judgement of the absolute and relative quality of your work by the instructor. The Final Paper will be read by the instructor and another member of faculty (the “second reader”). The instructor will seek input from the second reader on the appropriate mark for the Final Paper, but the instructor will make the final determination of the Final Paper mark. The marks for all the components of the course will be used to create a final mark for the course out of 100 using the weights listed above. Given this final mark, the letter grade for each student will be determined from the following table:

90-100 A+ 85-89 A 80-84 A- 75-79 B+ 70-74 B 65-69 B- 60-64 C+ 55-59 C 50-54 C- 45-49 D+ 40-44 D 0-39 F

I do not use a curve or a particular distribution. It is possible to fail ECON 999. ECON 999 is a 3 credit course and the grade you receive in ECON 999 contributes to your grade point average.

Re-Evaluation of the Final Paper

After your Final Paper has been marked and final grades for the term have been assigned, each student will be given the option to submit a revised Final Paper for re-marking. Only one revision is permitted and the revised paper must be received electronically at least two weeks prior to the end of summer term. That is, by 4pm on 4 August 2017. Along with their revised paper, a student must submit a document outlining clearly what changes have been made to the paper (i.e., how each comment of the instructor and the second reader has been addressed). The instructor and second reader will examine the revision and, after garnering input from the second reader, the instructor will assign the revised paper a mark. If the mark for the revision raises the student's grade in the course, the student will receive the higher grade. Submission of a revised final paper is purely optional and is not required.

6

Important Dates:

Research Proposal Due 15 May 2017 by 12pm (noon) Presentation 1 Either 23 or 24 May depending on the class section.

Presentation 2 Either 30 or 31 May depending on the class section. Graphical Assignment Due 1 June 2017 by 4pm

Presentation 3 Either 6 or 7 June depending on the class section.

Final Paper Due 16 June 2017 by 4pm

Detailed Class Schedule

Although I do not foresee any changes, this schedule may be modified as the course progresses. All changes to the schedule will be announced in class and posted on the course eClass site. The Spring term begins on 8 May and ends on 16 June 2017. Week 1: 8-12 May 8 May 2017: 10:30-11:40am Location: HC L 2

Lecture 1: Course outline and overview; the Research Proposal (all students together)

9 May 2017: 10:30-11:40am Location: HC L 2

Lecture 2: How to choose a research topic; the research process (literature search, data); how to organize an economics paper(all students together).

10 May 2017: 10:30-11:40am Location: HC L 2

Lecture 3: A guide to writing; plagiarism; oral presentations (all students together).

11 May 2017: 10:30-11:40am Location: HC L 2

We will only meet on this day if I have not completed all the material scheduled for the other three lectures. If we do not meet, I will have office hours during this time period.

7

Overheads from lectures 2 and 3 will be posted on the course eClass site following the lecture.

Week 1 Office Hours:

Monday 8 May 3-4pm Tuesday 9 May 3-5pm

Wednesday 10 May 3-4pm Thursday 11 May 3-5pm These office hours are intended to provide students with the

opportunity to discuss their Research Proposal with the instructor prior to submission.

Week 2: 15-19 May 15 May 2017 - Monday

Research Proposal package due via email by 12pm (noon) on 15 May.

17-19 May 2017 – Wednesday through Friday

Scheduled one-on-one meetings with each student for 30 minutes to discuss their Research Proposal, including possible improvements and what needs to be accomplished to successfully complete the research. A specific meeting time will be assigned to each student and distributed by email during the first week of classes.

Week 3: 22-26 May Presentation 1: Section A2 23 May 9:00am – noon Section A3 23 May 1:00pm – 4:00pm Section A4 24 May 9:00am – noon Section A5 24 May 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Week 3 Office Hours:

Thursday 25 May 4-6pm I will also hold office hours during the times scheduled for the presentations that are not taken up by presentations.

8

Week 4: 29 May – 2 June Presentation 2: Section A2 30 May 9:00am – noon Section A3 30 May 1:00pm – 4:00pm Section A4 31 May 9:00am – noon Section A5 31 May 1:00pm – 4:00pm

1 June 2017 - Thursday

Graphical Assignment due on 1 June 2017 by 4pm.

Week 4 Office Hours:

Thursday 1 June 3-5pm I will also hold office hours during the times scheduled for the presentations that are not taken up by presentations.

Week 5: 5 – 9 June Presentation 3: Section A2 6 June 9:00am – noon Section A3 6 June 1:00pm – 4:00pm Section A4 7 June 9:00am – noon Section A5 7 June 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Week 5 Office Hours:

Thursday 8 June 3-5pm I will also hold office hours during the times scheduled for the presentations that are not taken up by presentations.

Week 6: 12-16 June 16 June 2017 - Friday

Final Paper due by 4pm on Friday, 16 June 2017. Week 6 Office Hours:

Tuesday 13 June 10am-Noon Wednesday 14 June 10am-Noon Thursday 15 June 10am-Noon

9

Detailed Description of Course Requirements The Research Proposal The Research Proposal has two parts – Part A and Part B.

Part A of the Research Proposal should address the following (no more than 6 pages):

۰ A clear statement of the topic of your research and why it is interesting and important. What is the question you wish to answer and why might the answer be important and to whom?

۰ Explain how your research topic and approach relate explicitly to the literature. - Identify the most important papers in the literature and the papers most

closely related to your research (which are not always the same). Identify and discuss important similarities and differences between the papers in the literature and between your research and the literature. These similarities and differences can be related to, for example, the research question, motivation, theoretical background, empirical methodology, data, results, policy implications, and conclusions. The literature review should not be a paper-by-paper summary of each paper in the literature. Organize your review around subject areas (ie., topic, data, empirical methodology, results). Be sure to clearly identify the explicit contributions of your research to the literature.

۰ Theoretical background - Discuss the theoretical background for your research. What are the models

and predictions of theory that are relevant to your research? How does theory guide or influence your research? Is there a theoretical model underlying your research?

۰ What is the empirical methodology you propose to employ? How can this

methodology be used to address the topic of your research? Be as explicit as possible. Why is this methodology appropriate?

۰ Describe the data you plan to use and from where these data will be obtained.

What are the advantages of these data? Why are they the best data to answer your research question?

Include a list of the references cited in your proposal. The reference list is not included in the page limit. The reference list should be complete and contain sufficient information to allow me to find all the references.

10

Part B of the Research Proposal should address the following (2 pages max): ۰ Describe how your ECON 999 paper differs from the paper you submitted in another class on which your ECON 999 paper is based. Explain how the two papers differ, at a minimum, in terms of the following:

- the topic and hypotheses to be tested, - literature review, - theoretical background, - empirical methodology, - data.

۰ Important note: The mark you receive on your ECON 999 paper will depend on the extent to which you have augmented your previous work. If you extend a paper you submitted in another course, the extension must be substantial and equivalent to at least a completely new major paper in a one term course. Extensions generally involve a broader set of hypotheses, better data, a better empirical methodology, greater emphasis on testing and robustness, a better theoretical framework, and a better discussion of the literature. That is, all the components of the paper are extended and improved.

۰ If your ECON 999 paper is an extension of a paper you have submitted in another class, you must provide me with a copy of the paper you are extending.

۰ Part B of the Research Proposal will be provided to the second reader of your Final Paper. If you choose, you can send an updated version of your Part B submission when you submit your Final Paper.

Note: If your research is not based on papers you have submitted in other courses, simply indicate this.

Reminder: Submission of work for which you have already received credit in another course without my approval is a violation of the Code of Student Behaviour and is subject to significant penalties.

The Research Proposal will be the topic of discussion during the one-on-one meeting with the instructor during week 2.

11

Submission of the Research Proposal: ۰ All the components of the Research Proposal must be received by noon (12pm) on 15

May 2017. ۰ The components of the Research Proposal should be sent to me in an email with the

following subject line: ECON 999 Research Proposal.

۰ The Research Proposal email should include three attachments with the following file names:

Part A: “Econ999_proposal_firstnamelastname” Part B: “Econ999_paper_extension_note_firstnamelastname” Paper on which your ECON 999 paper is based: “Econ999_oldpaper_firstnamelastname”

The Graphical Assignment

In 1 to 3 figures (such as line graphs or scatter diagrams), use data to motivate the topic of your research and provide illustrative support for your empirical analysis. In no more than two pages of text, describe the information in your figures, the reasons for graphing these data, the questions the figures raise, and the conclusions/hypotheses suggested by the figures. On a separate page, provide the sources of the data used in your figures. Submission of the Graphical Assignment:

۰ The Graphical Assignment must be submitted electronically as a Word document with the text explanation as the first page (after the title page) and each figure appearing on a separate subsequent page. The data sources page should be the final page in the Assignment. The title page should include your full name and id number, the assignment name (“Graphical Assignment”), the course number (“ECON 999”) and the date.

۰ You must also submit an Excel file which includes the data used to generate the figure(s) in one sheet and each figure as a separate sheet.

۰ The Graphical Assignment must be received by 4pm on 1 June 2017. ۰ The components of the Graphical Assignment should be sent to me by email with the

following subject line: ECON 999 Graphical Assignment.

۰ The Graphical Assignment email should include two attachments with the following file names:

Word document: “Econ999_graphical_assignment_firstnamelastname” Excel file: “Econ999_data_graphical_assignment_firstnamelastname”

12

The Presentations Presentations will be evaluated on the quality of your exposition (ie. slides, ability to explain

your research), the content of your research, and your ability to respond to questions.

Presentation 1 – 23 or 24 May (15 minutes max) This presentation should discuss: - Topic of your research (question/hypothesis). - Why the research is interesting/important. - How the topic differs from and contributes to the literature. - The theoretical background for your research.

Presentation 2 – 30 or 31 May (15 minutes max) This presentation should cover: - The empirical methodology to be used in your research. Why is this

methodology appropriate? - The data to be used, including sources, availability and interesting

characteristics. - Simple graphical evidence on the research topic.

- Preliminary estimation results if available.

Presentation 3 – 6 or 7 June (20 minutes max) In this presentation, you will present your complete research results. This

presentation should review briefly some of the material from presentations 1 and 2 (importance of topic, how it fits into and contributes to the literature, theoretical background, empirical methodology, data), but will focus on the empirical results and the meaning and relevance of the results.

Format of the Presentations

1. Each student will give their presentations in the course section in which they are registered.

2. All presentations should incorporate overheads.

3. Each student giving a presentation will not be interrupted while they speak (unless they exceed the time limit).

13

4. Each student should leave a few minutes (approximately 5 minutes in the third presentation) in their allotted time to answer questions from the other students in the section.

5. I will determine the order of the first presentation using a random number

generator. The second presentation will use the reverse order of the first and the third presentation will start with the person who went in the middle of the order during the first presentation, with the students closest to this individual in the first presentation order following sequentially. The presentation orders for the three presentations will be posted on the eClass site during the first week of class.

6. The presentation grade will be based on the content of your presentation and

the quality of your exposition. The latter includes the ability of your slides to convey information, and your ability to explain and defend your research, and answer questions about your research.

Your presentation grade will also depend on your attendance at the

presentations of the other students in your section as well as on my judgment of your contribution to class discussions.

All students are expected to attend the presentations of their section and to

participate in class discussions. By splitting the class into sections, I have minimized the time you are required to spend in class listening to the presentations of your fellow students.

The Final Paper The Final Paper must have no more than 25 pages of text. This limit does not include the

title page, data appendix, references, tables, figures, etc. Your Final Paper will be marked on the basis of content and the quality of the writing. A standard (but not required) way to organize a paper of this type is as follows (where the

headings with Arabic numerals would correspond to the section headings of a research paper):

Title Page The title page should include: - Title of your paper - Your full name - Your student number - The course name “ECON 999” - The date of submission

14

1. Introduction This section should include a clear description of the question or hypothesis to be

tested and why it is interesting and important. Explain why the reader should care. If the question has policy relevance or important meaning to a particular market or group, this should be discussed.

The introduction should provide a summary of the contribution of your paper to the

literature, and a brief description of the empirical methodology and results. If relevant, the industry or institutional context for your analysis may be discussed

briefly in the introduction or in more detail in a separate section. If this context informs your empirical methodology or choice of data, it should be discussed in those sections as well.

2. Literature Review This section should compare the different papers in the literature and relate your

research explicitly to the literature. The focus should be on those aspects of the literature that relate to your research in terms of topic, motivation, importance, theoretical background, methodological approach, data, results, policy implications, and conclusions. Both similarities and differences should be discussed. The principal papers in the literature should be identified as well as the papers that are most similar to your research. The literature review should not be a paper-by-paper summary of each paper in the literature. A topic-centred discussion is generally more informative. This might involve, for example, a discussion of the data sets used in the literature, the different empirical methodologies, the theoretical frameworks, the results, etc. The literature review should include a clear summary of how your paper contributes to the literature.

Remember that, when summarizing the literature, your summaries must be in your

own words.

3. Theoretical Background

The goal of this section is to provide the theoretical background and foundation for your analysis. What economic models relate to the question of your research? How do they relate? What are the basic components of these models? What are the relevant predictions of these models? What implications does theory have for the form of your estimating equation?

Under many circumstances, it is very difficult to derive an equation from theory that can be estimated directly. It is much more common to use theory to guide your selection of the regressors in your estimating equation and to predict the signs of the coefficients.

15

4. Empirical Methodology In this section, describe the derivation and specification of your estimating equation.

How did you arrive at this form? Why include the specified regressors? What are the advantages of this form of estimating equation? Discuss how the estimating equation explicitly relates to the topic of your paper. For example, if you are testing a specific hypothesis, how can the estimates of the parameters of the estimating equation be used explicitly to test this hypothesis?

Discuss estimation issues, such as identification, selection, endogeneity, non-

stationarity, serial correlation and heteroscedasticity. Explain how your estimation technique addresses these issues. Be clear how your approach to these issues compares to approaches in the literature.

Specify how the robustness of your estimates will be verified.

5. Data Briefly describe the data and the sources of the data. Indicate the advantages (as

well as disadvantages) of using these data and discuss any important data manipulations briefly. Why were these data chosen? You should provide summary statistics (i.e., mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum) for your data and note any anomalies in the data. (Be sure to examine your data and think about whether the values seem reasonable. If they do not, investigate what might be causing the odd values.) Are there any characteristics of the data that are important to your analysis?

Details of the definitions of your data, data sources and data manipulation should be

relegated to a data appendix. Enough detail should be provided about the data sources and manipulations in either the text or a data appendix so that another researcher could replicate your results.

6. Results Provide a discussion of the results, what they mean and their importance, including

the policy implications of the results. It is important to provide an economic interpretation of the results and, if relevant (which it usually is), to discuss the magnitude of the results. In your discussion, be explicit. That is, refer to specific results in you tables.

This section should also provide a description of robustness and statistical tests.

Unless the results of these tests are critical to evaluating the results, they should be discussed briefly with just enough detail so that the reader can understand the tests and the results.

16

Focus primarily on the results that relate directly to the hypothesis you are testing. You should indicate whether the other estimated coefficients have the expected signs, but a detailed discussion of parameter estimates not directly related to tests of your hypothesis is not generally useful. A step-by-step description of all your robustness tests and parameter estimates is generally unnecessary and uninformative.

7. Conclusion

The conclusion should briefly summarize your paper, the key results, how the results

differ from those in the literature, and the implications and relevance of the results, particularly for policy. You should also point out limitations of your analysis and ways the analysis could be improved. (If these limitations can be easily addressed, you should have tried to address them.)

Data Appendix (start on a new page)

The data used in your Final Paper must be clearly described in a data appendix. All data sources should be provided as well as the location of the sites from which the data were downloaded, if applicable, and the download date. Enough detail should be provided so that another researcher could easily find the same data.

Any methods used to manipulate the raw data in order to create the variables used in

the empirical analysis should be clearly explained in either an appendix or in the text. Adequate information should be given so that a reader of your paper could access the

same data and replicate your results. Failure to adequately describe the data, the data sources and the manipulation of the

data will result in a significant mark penalty. References (start on a new page)

The reference list included in your Final Paper must be complete and accurate. All the sources you cite should be in the reference list and no sources should be in the reference list that you do not cite in the text. All sources (books, journal articles, newspaper articles, internet sites, etc.) from which you have taken words or ideas must be cited in the text and included in the list of references.

The reference list should take a standard and consistent format. The easiest way to

do this is to copy the format used by papers published in a major journal, such as the American Economic Review or the Canadian Journal of Economics. For on-line publications, web addresses should be provided as well as the date the site was accessed.

17

Tables and Figures Tables and figures should appear at the end of the paper, not in the text, with all the

tables presented first followed by all the figures. You should refer to a table or figure by number in the text when making use of the information in the table or figure. (If a table or figure is not discussed in the text, it should be deleted.) Each table and figure should begin on a new page and, preferably, occupy one page only. All tables and figures should be numbered consecutively (for example, Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, Figure 2) and given descriptive titles. Sufficient information should be provided in both the tables and the figures so that a reader can understand the content without reference to the text. Remember that axes and lines in figures must be labelled.

Submission of the Final Paper: ۰ Your Final Paper submission package must reach me by 4pm on 16 June 2017. ۰ Your Final Paper submission package must include the following components:

1. Your Final Paper. This should be one document (and one electronic file) that includes the title page, the text, the references, the data appendix, the tables and the figures. These should not be sent as separate files

2 A completed Academic Integrity Checklist (download from eClass) in a

separate electronic file. 3. The Stata program (the .do file) used to derive all your empirical results.

Your .do file should have sufficient comments so that I can understand the purpose of each command. (Including informative explanatory comments in a program is good practice as it allows you to remember what you intended to do with each set of commands.)

4. The Stata log file associated with the .do program. 5. The data file that your Stata program uses to generate your empirical results.

If this file does not include the raw data you initially downloaded, I may ask for these data at a later time.

Note: Although it may make your program run somewhat slower, it is often

better to input the raw data and manipulate it in the Stata command file rather than manipulate the data using another file or method. Manipulating the data in the Stata command file allows you to change easily the way you have manipulated the data at a later time.

Important Note: With the files you provide, I must be able to reproduce your results. If I

cannot, your mark will be reduced.

18

۰ All five components of your Final Paper submission should be sent to me in an email with the following subject line: ECON 999 Final Paper.

۰ The Final Paper email should include attachments with the following file names:

Final Paper: “Econ999_final_paper_firstnamelastname” Integrity Checklist: “Econ999_integrity_checklist_firstnamelastname” Stata Program: “Econ999_program_file_firstnamelastname” Stata Log File: “Econ999_log_file_firstnamelastname”

Data File: “Econ999_data_file_firstnamelastname” Required material that must be submitted or your Final Paper will not be marked.

1. A completed Academic Integrity Checklist (download from eClass).

2. If your ECON 999 paper is based on a paper submitted in another course, you must submit a copy of that paper (this should be submitted with your Research Proposal).

3. If your ECON 999 paper is based on a paper submitted in another course, you

must provide a description of the differences between your ECON 999 research and the paper submitted for credit in the other course (this should be submitted with your Research Proposal).

Written Assignments Format

1. All written assignments (Research Proposal, Graphical Assignment, Final Paper) must be submitted electronically in Word format.

2. All written assignments will be graded on the quality of the content as well as the

quality of the writing. Spelling and grammatical errors, poor and unclear exposition, and poor organization

(such that concepts and topics do not flow from one to the other) will be penalized (potentially by a large amount), but no precise percentage will be allocated to readability. If your work is poorly written and includes numerous organizational, spelling and grammatical errors, it will receive a low mark. There is likely to be a significant benefit to taking the time to ensure your work is well written. Economists primarily communicate using the written word. It is key that you take the time to develop this skill.

Ensure that you have the spell checker and grammar checker turned on in Word.

These are not always correct, but they are generally very informative. Do not ignore them.

19

Resources for writing:

The Centre for Writers offers free writing assistance from peer-tutors (http://c4w.ualberta.ca/). It is best to schedule an appointment through the website, but you can also simply drop by1-42 Assiniboia Hall. The Student Success Centre offers fee-based writing assistance through writing workshops: (http://www.studentsuccess.ualberta.ca/Workshops/WritingWorkshops.aspx) and editing services: (http://www.studentsuccess.ualberta.ca/CustomizedServices/AcademicEditing.aspx)

3. All written assignments must be double spaced, have standard margins

(approximately 1 inch) and be in either Times New Roman 12 point font or Calibri 11 point font.

4. The text of all written material must not exceed the page limit given. The page limit

applies to the text only. The title page, tables, figures, references, or similar material are not included in the page limit.

Each written assignment has a well-defined page limit. Do not take this to mean that

I do not expect substantial content. An important skill is the ability to convey content with a very small number of words. That is the primary reason for the page limit. Do not incorporate discussion that is poorly written or which does not include relevant content just to reach the page limit. It is better to write less than to include irrelevant material or content that is written poorly.

5. All equations must be numbered consecutively with the equation number located in

parentheses at the right-hand side of the page. 6. Other than the title page, all pages should be numbered.

Plagiarism

Much of the work in this course will involve writing. You must not plagiarize! The University of Alberta considers plagiarism to be a serious academic offence. I am required by University regulations to report all suspected cases of plagiarism to the appropriate authorities. Penalties for plagiarism can range from a grade of zero on an assignment or a failing grade in the course to expulsion from the University (and both the minimum and maximum penalties have been used in recent years). For more information, you should see the Code of Student Behaviour.

20

If you use the words or ideas of another author, you must provide a citation to give credit to that author. Words and ideas include statistics and other facts. For facts and the ideas of other authors, use in-text citations at the end of the sentence containing the fact or idea. Omitting the in-text citation and including the reference in the list of references is not adequate.

If you use the exact words of an author, you must place these words in quotation marks and cite the author. An in-text citation is not sufficient without the quotes. Changing a word or two in a sentence and omitting quotes is plagiarism since the words in the sentence were primarily written by another author and adequate credit has not been given to that author. Do not rely on the common knowledge excuse. If you added an idea or fact to your paper because you read it in a source, it is not common knowledge and you should provide a citation to the source. I will not accept the excuse that you did not understand the concept of plagiarism. This is not credible for a graduate student. If in doubt, ask me. Once written work has been submitted, it is too late. It is better to over-cite than under-cite and risk an allegation of plagiarism.

Information on plagiarism and how to avoid it can be found at the following University of Alberta web site:

http://www.osja.ualberta.ca/en/Students.aspx

I will also post references on plagiarism on the course eClass site and discuss plagiarism in detail in one of the lectures.

Important Course Notes: 1. Although unlikely, it may be necessary to make changes to some of the dates given

in the course schedule. I will inform the class sections affected. None of the changes will involve earlier due dates than those given above.

2. If the Final Paper or Research Proposal are handed in late without a legitimate

reason, such as illness, you will be penalized at a rate of 25% of the total marks available per day or part of a day that the assignment is late.

3. Graphical assignments handed in late will receive a mark of zero. 4. In the absence of a legitimate medical excuse, failure to give a class presentation at

the scheduled time will result in the loss of all the marks assigned to that presentation. Missed presentations will not be re-scheduled.

5. The marks accorded to the presentations, if missed for legitimate medical reasons,

will be allocated proportionally over the other course material.

21

6. Policies on missed term work, which includes all the assignments in ECON 999, can

be found under the Academic Regulations: Attendance section of the University Calendar. As stated there: “Approval for an excused absence from term work . . . is at the discretion of the instructor.” For cases due to illness, you must contact me within two working days of the due date of the course material.

7. All contributions made to class discussions should contribute positively and be

courteous. 8. University policy requires that course outlines contain the following statements:

“Policy about course outlines can be found in the Evaluation Procedures and Grading

System section of the University Calendar.” “Audio or video recording of lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching

environment by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as a part of an approved accommodation plan. Recorded material is to be used solely for personal study, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without prior written consent from the content author(s).”

“The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic

integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Codes of Student Behaviour and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.”

22