• Offered by International and Development Economics Program
  • ANU College ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
  • Course subject International and Developmental Economics
  • Academic career PGRD
  • Course convener
    • Dr Robert Sparrow
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Offered in First Semester 2014
    See Future Offerings

This course is an introduction to rigorous and policy-relevant impact evaluation techniques for postgraduate students in economics and public policy. The course’s main emphasis is on evaluating the effect of a policy or a naturally occurring event on the economic and social well being of individuals who are exposed to the event. The course has a strong focus on applications – although students will be expected to fully understand the conceptual underpinnings of each technique.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

On completion of the course, students will:

1. Understand the reasoning behind and the rationale of major impact evaluation techniques.
2. Understand published empirical research on policy evaluation and critically assess the validity of causal claims in quantitative research.
3. Be able to determine the appropriate technique in order to rigorously evaluate the impact of an event.
4. Be equipped to apply those techniques in a real-world setting.
5. Be able to use statistical software for applying impact evaluation techniques.
6. Conduct empirical research using modern econometric techniques for policy evaluation.

Overall, at the end of the course, a student should have developed the skills needed to conceive, organize, conduct and present empirical research.

Indicative Assessment

Research paper (50%), Stata problem sets (15%), referee report (20%), presentation (15%).


The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

Lecture of 2 hours per week.
Tutorial of 1 hour per week, to train students in using Stata, a popular data analysis software.

Prescribed Texts

Various academic journals, book chapters, and technical papers on relevant issues

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Students continuing in their current program of study will have their tuition fees indexed annually from the year in which you commenced your program. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Student Contribution Band:
2
Unit value:
6 units

If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.  Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee Description
1994-2003 $1338
2014 $3582
2013 $3582
2012 $3582
2011 $3576
2010 $3570
2009 $3570
2008 $3402
2007 $3132
2006 $3084
2005 $3084
2004 $2160
International fee paying students
Year Fee
1994-2003 $3672
2014 $4146
2013 $4140
2012 $4140
2011 $4134
2010 $4134
2009 $4002
2008 $4002
2007 $3864
2006 $3864
2005 $3864
2004 $3864
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

First Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
4155 17 Feb 2014 07 Mar 2014 31 Mar 2014 30 May 2014 In Person N/A

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