Syllabus
Instructor:Mengcen Qian(钱梦岑)
Lecture Time: Monday 18:30-20:10
Course Location: H2106A
Contact:qianmengcen@fudan.edu.cn
Handouts and Readings:Handouts for the whole semester will be given out during the third class meeting, which serve as the primary study material. A detailed list of the cases to be discussed in class is attached at the end of the syllabus.
Course Overview
We will introduce classic econometric applications in the field of Health Economics. Health Economics is concerned with issues related to the production and consumption of health and health care. Typical topics in this field are: social economic determinants of health and health behavior, demand and utilization of health services, impacts of polices or regulations on the behavior of hospitals and physicians, and etc. To empirically explore the above issues, econometric tools are widely used, which stems from economics theory and use models to measure the causal relationship between two economic variables.
The course consists of the following three modules: an introduction to basic econometrics, discussions on health economics related issues, and interpretations of empirical results. We will cover basic econometric topics on multiple regression, instrumental variable technique, difference-in-difference method, and panel data approach. During the course, excerpt of well-designed and published health economics research will be used as case study materials for in-class discussions. An emphasis will be placed on results interpretation.
Course Objectives
By the end of this semester, student should 1) have a firm understanding on how econometric tools help to empirically address health economic questions; 2) be able to interpret results from various econometric models; 3) be able to evaluate critically the results and conclusions from other research related to health economics issues that use basic econometric tools; 4) have a good foundation for further study of health economics and econometrics.
Course Requirements and the in-class presentation
Students are expected to attend all lectures and go through assigned readings. There will be 8 problem sets (PS). Feel free to work cooperatively. However, each student must turn in his or her own problem set using his or her own words. Late problem set will not be accepted.
Students are also expected to form a group and choose an empirical health-oriented article from the Journal of Health Economics for an oral presentation at the end of the semester. Students are encouraged to browse through all issues and select the paper that interests them most. The purpose of the in-class presentation is twofold: 1) providing students an opportunity to apply what you learned in the lecture to critical evaluation on results; 2) acquainting the students with some of the current literature in the health economics field. During the presentation, students are the instructor and thus have the responsibility to help the class understand the paper as they do. The number of students in each group can be one or two. To ensure the completion of the assignment, students should meet the following important deadlines
Mar. 27 submission of the chosen article and a list of group members (5%)
May 08 preliminary presentation slides (5%)
May 15 critics and comments on the article, final draft of the slides (5%)
May 29, Jun. 05 student presentation and discussion (5%)
Course Grading: Homework---80%; Presentation---20%
Academic Integrity: Any work that you present as your own must be your own. If you use the work of others you must give them full credit. It is very important to provide appropriate reference to the sources you consult, whether they are paraphrased or quoted directly.
Course Schedule
Meaning of colors: PS related; presentation related; discussion cases
Date | Topics | Cases & Readings | Assignments |
Week 1: 02/27 | Course overview Classical assumptions & OLS estimator | Handouts | Choice of presen articles due in W5 |
Week 2: 03/06 | Classical assumptions & OLS estimator (cont.) Sampling distribution of the OLS estimator | Handouts | |
Week 3: 03/13 | Sampling distribution of the OLS estimator (cont.) Hypothesis testing | Handouts | PS #1 due in W4 |
Week 4: 03/20 | Hypothesis testing (cont.) | Handouts | PS #2 due in W5 |
Week 5: 03/27 | Multiple regression model Alternative nonlinear functional form | Handouts | |
Week 6: 04/01 | Alternative nonlinear functional form (cont.) Student presentation discussion | Handouts | PS #3 due in W7 |
Week 7: 04/10 | Heteroskedasticity & serial correlation Difference-in-difference: method | Handouts | PS #4 due in W8 Slides due in W10 |
Week 8: 04/17 | Difference-in-difference: case study | Handouts Dranove_JPE_2003 | PS #5 due in W10 |
Week 9: 04/24 | Presentation discussion with the instructor | Final slides due | |
Week 10: 05/01 | School Break---Labor Day | ||
Week 11: 05/08 | Linear panel models: method Linear panel models: case study | Handouts Royer_AEJ_2009 | PS #6 due in W12 |
Week 12: 05/15 | Linear panel models: case study (cont.) Instrumental variable techniques: method | Royer_AEJ_2009 Handouts | PS #7 due in W13 |
Week 13: 05/22 | Instrumental variable techniques: case study Presentation tips | Cawley_JHE_2012 Jess Shapiro | PS #8 due in W14 |
Week 14 &15: 05/29, 06/05 | Student presentation | evaluation rubrics | |
Week 16: 06/12 | Course wrap-up and survey (no class meeting) |
Reading list
Dranove_JPE_2003
Dranove, D., D. Kessler, M. McClellan, and M. Satterthwaite, 2003. “Is more information better? The effects of “Report cards” on health care providers,” Journal of Political Economy, 111(3), 555-588.Royer_AEJ_2009
Royer, H., 2009. “Separated at Girth: US Twin Estimates of the Effects of Birth Weight,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1 (1), 49–85.Cawley_JHE_2012
Cawley, J. and C. Meyerhoefer, 2012. “The medical care costs of obesity: An instrumental variables approach,” Journal of Health Economics, 31(1): 219-230.Jess Shapiro
Jess Shapiro “How to give an applied micro talk”