Rutgers University-Newark                                                                  Fall 2003

Economics Department                                                            MW2  Conklin 348

 

21:220:406:66 Seminar in Economics

 

Professor John W. Graham

801 Hill Hall    

Telephone:  973.353.5259

Office Hours:  By appointment

Email:  jwgraham@andromeda.rutgers.edu

Internet:  http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jwgraham

 

Prerequisites:  You must have completed both Econometrics and Intermediate Microeconomics before taking this course.

 

Readings:  One paperback about writing economics is available for purchase at New Jersey Books.  It is also important to have a good econometrics textbook for reference—several are suggested below.  Most journal articles can be downloaded from the internet.

 

Requirements:  A completed research paper (around 12 pages) due at the end of the semester counts for one-half of your grade.  The other half is based on class participation, attendance, quizzes and first drafts of key sections of your paper.

 

Writing-Intensive:  This course satisfies the College's writing requirement.  As such, there will be "multiple and substantial writing assignments, critical feedback provided along with opportunities for revision."  In practice, this means that students will be asked to submit first drafts of key sections of their papers throughout the semester, as indicated in the schedule below.  Each part will receive critical feedback and revisions should be incorporated into the final paper, due on or before Friday December 19th.

 

Attendance:  You will be penalized for missing more than 3 classes.  Please arrive to class on time and make sure cell phones are turned off.

 

Classroom Activities:  The first five to six weeks of the semester will be devoted to reading journal articles (from the list below) and to practicing econometrics methods using the dataset CPS78 (which can be downloaded from the course website).  The rest of the semester will be devoted to student presentations of their own topics.  Each student will be expected to give 3 presentations:  the first introducing their topic and data; the second analyzing some econometric results; the third giving a final presentation. 

 

Paper topics:  It is anticipated that most students will select paper topics within the area of labor economics, but within limits, students are free to select any other topic.  Students may work in groups of two on their research (i.e., the data collection and

econometric analysis), although each student must write his or her own paper. 

 

 

Required (and Recommended) Reading List

 

1.  Deirdre N. McCloskey, Economical Writing, Waveland Press, 2nd Edition. (This is a required paperback available for purchase at New Jersey Books.)

 

2.  Ronald G. Ehrenberg and Robert S. Smith, Modern Labor Economics, Addison-Wesley, 8th Edition, 2003.  (Recommended.  Try abebooks.com for an inexpensive copy of an earlier edition.)

 

3.  Robert S. Pindyck and Daniel L. Rubinfeld, Econometric Models and Economic Forecasts. McGraw-Hill, 4th Edition, 1998.  (Excellent econometric reference book.)

 

4.  Ernst R. Berndt, The Practice of Econometrics, Addison-Wesley, 1991.  (Another good econometrics book and the source of our practice CPS dataset.) 

 

Required Journal Articles (Use JSTOR.com to download most articles.)

 

1.  Garey C. Durden and Larry V. Ellis, “The Effects of Attendance on Student Learning in Principles of Economics,” American Economic Review, May 1995, pp. 343-6. 

 

2.  David N. LaBand and Michael J. Piette, “Does Who Teaches Principles of Economics Matter?” American Economic Review, May 1995, pp. 335-8.

 

3.  Anthony P. Carnevale, Richard A. Fry and B. Lindsay Lowell, “Understanding, Speaking, Reading, Writing and Earnings in the Immigrant Labor Market,” American Economic Review, May 2001, pp. 159-162. (To be distributed in class.)

 

4.  James Peoples, Jr. and Wayne K. Talley, “Black-White Earnings Differentials:  Privatization versus Deregulation,” American Economic Review, May 2001, pp. 164-7.  (To be distributed in class.)

 

5.  June A. O’Neill, “A Time Series Analysis of Women’s Labor Force Participation,” American Economic Review, May 1981, pp. 76-80.

 

6.  Francine D. Blau and John W. Graham, “Black-White Differences in Wealth and Asset Composition,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1990, pp. 321-40.

 

7.  Mary Corcoran and Greg J. Duncan, “Work History, Labor Force Attachment and Earnings:  Differences between the Races and Sexes,” Journal of Human Resources, Winter 1979, pp. 3-20. (May or may not be available on JSTOR.)

 

Schedule of Classroom Activities and Research Paper Deadlines

 

Sept 3                          Introduction to the Course

 

Sept 8-10                     Discuss Durden/Ellis and LaBand/Piette articles

 

Sept 15-17                   Discuss Carnevale/Fry/Lowell and Peoples/Talley articles                         

 

Sept 22-24                   Econometric Analysis Using the CPS78 dataset

 

Sept 29, Oct 1             Discuss O’Neill article and continue with the CPS78 dataset

 

Oct 6-8                        Discuss Blau/Graham and Corcoran/Duncan articles

 

Oct 13-15                    Discuss McCloskey paperback and use the CPS78 dataset

 

Oct 20-22                    First Round Presentations

 

Oct 27-29                    First Round Presentations

 

                        First draft of first section of paper is due October 29th

 

Nov 3-5                       Discuss McCloskey and Begin Second Round Presentations

 

Nov 10-12                   Second Round Presentations

 

Nov 17-20                   Second Round Presentations

 

                        First draft of second section of paper is due November 20th

 

Nov 24                                    Second Round Presentations

 

Dec 1-3                       Third Round Presentations

 

Dec 8-10                     Third Round Presentations

 

                        Final Paper Due in Professor Graham’s Office by December 19th