API-114 and API-115 comprise a two-course sequence for first-year doctoral students seeking training in econometric methods at a level that prepares them to conduct professional empirical research. API-115 (spring) begins by reviewing the foundations of causal inference, covering potential outcomes, the selection problem, and randomized evaluations. The course will then cover instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, bunching estimators, and difference-in-differences and synthetic control methods. The course will emphasize a mixture of theory and application, with problem sets focused on the replication or extension of recent papers utilizing these methods.
Also offered by the Economics Department as Economics 2115 and the Business School as 4175.
The two-course sequence is open only to qualified PhD students from HKS, HBS, HGSE, and HSPH, but occasionally others may be admitted at the discretion of the instructor (if the instructor is convinced that such individuals can perform well and would not negatively affect the nature and pace of the course).
