This course is available on the MSc in Economics (2 Year Programme). This course is not available as an outside option to students on other programmes. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

New course for the 2027/28 academic session.

How to apply: These courses are intended for MSc Economics, MSc Economics (2 Year Programme), and MSc EME Students. Any external student must have successfully completed EC400 or EC451 in September and have approval of the Department of Economics.

Deadline for application: Please apply as soon as possible after the opening of course selection for all courses.

For queries contact: Econ.msc@lse.ac.uk

Co-requisites:

Students must complete EC400 or EC451 either before taking this course or in the same year as this course.

Assumed prior knowledge:

Knowledge of econometric theory and applied econometrics is expected. Students must be prepared to read journal articles with difficult mathematical and statistical content.

The course focuses on modern quantitative papers which demonstrate the application of econometric techniques to modelling the behaviour of individual economic agents (households and firms) and economies.

The course focuses on macroeconomic questions using data and tools from applied microeconomics. We cover four styles of empirical work: (1) “reduced-form” approaches (including difference-in-differences, event studies, instrumental variables, and Bartik research designs); (2) structural models; (3) “sufficient statistics” research designs, at the intersection of structural and reduced-form methods; and (4) machine learning techniques. Topics covered include the effectiveness of fiscal stimulus, the measurement of inflation, directed technical change, the welfare effects of trade, the macroeconomic impact of financial frictions over the business cycle, the macroeconomic impact of unemployment insurance, and the effect of Artificial Intelligence on the labour market.

20 hours of lectures and 9 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.
1 hour of seminars in the Spring Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Formative assignments will be presentations of research papers in seminars and providing feedback to peers.

Articles in economic journals will be assigned at the start of Winter term.

The course will also draw on methodological topics covered in:

• Wooldridge, Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data (2nd edition, 2010),
• Greene, Econometric Analysis (7th edition, 2012), and
• Angrist and Pischke, Mostly Harmless Econometrics (2009).

Exam (100%), duration: 120 minutes, reading time: 15 minutes in the Spring exam period.

This course is IRDAP-enabled, meaning that resit and deferred assessments will take place in August at the end of the academic year.