Content, progress and pedagogy of the module

General applied economists must frequently analyse economic data that are collected and presented at regular intervals (monthly, quarterly, annually).

Academic and professional economists need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of such data and to be able to evaluate research conducted using them. The module aims at learning the student to understand and apply the methods needed to interpret and work with economic time series, and to critically evaluate research that uses such methods.

The module relies heavily on homework assignments that are structured around the lecture materials and that are discussed in class. It is therefore important that the student participate actively during the whole module.

Learning objectives

Knowledge

The objective is that the student after the module possesses the necessary knowledge on:

• statistical models, estimating their parameters and testing hypotheses using time series data.
• forecasting the future values of important economic variables.
• different econometric models.

Skills

The objective is that the student after the module possesses the necessary skills in:

• analysing time series data and find important patterns.
• testing economic theories.
• building new theories based on empirical investigation.

Competences

The objective is that the student after the module possesses the necessary competences in:

• reading, understanding and critically reviewing an empirical report which uses time series data.
• building models that can address issues related to the real world.
• carrying out a comprehensive empirical investigation as applied economists.

Type of instruction

For information see §17.

Exam

Prerequisite for enrollment for the exam

• A prerequisite for participating in the exam is that the student has participated actively in developing written material during the module.

Exams