Using Economic Research in Practice

Abstract

A tremendous share of how our societies function is governed by economics. Yet, economic research is rarely unanimous, often challenged and always hard to navigate. Taking a journey through commonly employed methods and their underlying assumptions, students will learn how to critically assess academic knowledge on concrete questions. A large share of the course will be devoted to case studies.

Objective

1. Have a solid understanding of the different methodologies employed in economics, know their strengths and limitations. 2. Select among methodologies employed in economics in function of a specific applied need. 3. Identify core assumptions in economic research papers and assess the scope of their results. 4. Forming an opinion on an applied economic topic based on academic work with the right critical distance.

Content

Economic models rely on assumptions which are wrong. In economics, theoretical but also empirical studies often contradict each other, even among the most celebrated contributions. Behind its methods borrowed to natural sciences, economics rely on strong postulates and on different schools of thought. How should we handle contradictions, idealizing hypotheses or results too good to be true? What do we actually learn about the social world through economic research? In this course, we will face those questions from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. On the theoretical side, our approach will be an epistemological one. We will reflect on the methodological foundations of economics and the type of knowledge it aims to produce. We will dig into some of its most central concepts: the quest for causality, equilibrium reasonings, and the revealed preferences approach. While conceptual, our journey will take us through the formal foundations of econometrics, decision theory, and game theory. On the practical side, the aim is to equip students with the necessary tools to effectively navigate existing economic research to obtain answers to real-world questions. After this course students will be able to form a critical opinion on topical matters, such as “should public debt be canceled in developing countries?” or “are the Paris agreements good news for the climate?”, without being experts on these questions. Overall this course can be seen as an epistemological introduction to economics as well as methodological training for using academic knowledge in real life. It is thus intended for a general audience interested in economics, without specific previous training needed. Lectures will be structured around a theoretical introduction and a paper’s discussion by the teacher, followed by a group discussion on other papers. Students are expected to prepare this discussion in groups and will be graded according to their participation. An additional evaluation will take place through a final exam.

Resources