Economics 322 Econometrics Dean Jens djens@econ.rutgers.

edu New Jersey Hall 408 Monday, December 16 811 PM Oce hours: 4:305:30 PM M/W or by appointment MW 6:107:30 Murray Hall 212

Final:

This class is a core course for the purposes of getting an economics major at Rutgers; it is required that you pass this class (with a grade of C or higher) in order to graduate with an economics major. It is also a prerequisite to many other classes you will take to get your degree. It itself has the following prerequisites: Introduction to Microeconomics Introduction to Macroeconomics Calculus I Statistics (960:211 or 285) It will be assumed that all students have a good command of the material taught in these courses. It is strongly suggested that you review this material at the beginning of this course.

Textbook
The text for this course is: Jeery M. Wooldridge, Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach, 5th Edition ISBN-10: 1111531048 ISBN-13: 9781111531041 This is a popular textbook and should be available in the bookstore; there is a good chance you will be able to sell a used copy after the course, if you desire, though of course that cant be guaranteed.

Learning Goals
Students who successfully complete Econ 322 should be comfortable with basic statistics and probability. They should be able to use a statistical/econometric computer package to estimate an econometric model and be able to report the results of their work in a non-technical and literate manner. In particular a student who successfully completes Econ 322 will be able to estimate and interpret linear regression models and be able to distinguish between economic and statistical importance. They should be able to critique reported regression results in applied academic papers and interpret the results for someone who is not trained as an economist.

Grading
There will be at least 7 short quizzes and at least three computer exercises early in the class, two midterm exams, two major computer projects, and a nal exam. The computer exercises and quizzes will be fairly small, and only your ve best quizzes and two best exercises will count; they are intended as an opportunity for you to practice and explore new material and for me to see what is going well and what isnt before it has a major impact on your grade.

Econ 322

Topics
Introduction/Overview Review of Probability and Statistics Linear Regression with a single independent variable Linear Regression with multiple independent variables Hypothesis Tests and Condence Intervals Binary Dependent Variables Instrumental Variables (other topics as time permits according to class interest) The emphasis in this class is on practical application and conceptual understanding. Theory will be presented where appropriate, especially where it can be an aid to conceptual understanding.

I view the larger computer projects as being practicum/take-home components to the midterm exams; they will be graded together with the exams. If reweighting the exams with one of the midterms dropped raises your grade, I will use the higher score. 10% quizzes 10% 10% computer exercises 10% 30%/0% major computer project 1 and midterm 1 20% 0%/30% major computer project 2 and midterm 2 20% nal exam 40% 50% If a student has a good reason for missing several quizzes, then make-up quizzes may be arranged; similarly, the mid-terms may be made up if absolutely necessary. Whether a reason is good or not will be at the discretion of the instructor. If a student knows (or should know) of an absence well in advance of the quiz or test, the instructor should be informed well in advance; otherwise the instructor should be notied as soon as possible. A reason that is not made known to the instructor in a timely manner will not be deemed to be a good reason. Made-up exams will not be easier than in-class exams. If there are at least ve quizzes for which you are not excused, then those quizzes will not be made up; similarly, if you have an excused absence from a single midterm the other exams will be reweighted as described above. (Note, however, that you should give me timely notice of absences from quizzes and exams that will not be made up.) Computer projects that are not handed in on time will be worth 0. Computers crash, printers run out of toner, and waiting until the last minute to do an assignment is rarely protable. If you miss class, you can use the University absence reporting website https://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra/ to indicate the date and reason for your absence. An email will automatically be sent to me. The computer exercises and projects will require the use of a statistical programming package. It is not expected that you are able to use any particular statistical programming package coming into class; you will be expected to acquire the necessary relevant skills in the course. This is not a programming course, nor is it a class in English, but just as some amount of English comprehension is necessary for the course, some ability to use statistical software will be necessary.