Teaching undergraduate econometrics: some sensible shifts to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and usefulness, or [Let’s not kid ourselves ... there’s still “con” in Econometrics ... but, it’s fixable with improved undergraduate instruction]
Loading...
Authors
Arkes, Jeremy
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2019-07
Date
2019-07
Publisher
SSRN
Language
en_US
Abstract
Undergraduate econometrics is generally taught as if everyone will become a Ph.D. economist, or even an econometric theorist. In this article, I build off of Angrist and Pischke’s (2017) arguments for how the teaching of undergraduate econometrics could become more effective and efficient, and I propose a further redesign that would better serve the vast majority of students. The rationale for my redesign follows directly from several premises, most notably: (1) few students will become academics; (2) research is rife with errors, which suggests the conventional methods for teaching econometrics do not adequately prepare students to recognize biases; and (3) there is an ethical problem in searching for significance and other matters. Based on these, I recommend large shifts in emphasis, new pedagogy, and adding important components (e.g., on interpretations and simple ethical lessons) that are largely ignored in current textbooks. These include: (A) an increased focus on and new methods for teaching how to recognize biases; (B) increased emphasis on proper interpretations; (C) lessons on ethical considerations; and (D) a shift in focus to the more commonly applicable of the quasi-experimental methods.
Type
Preprint
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Business and Public Policy (GSBPP)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
25 p.
Citation
Arkes, Jeremy. "Teaching undergraduate econometrics: some sensible shifts to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and usefulness." Effectiveness, and Usefulness (July 27, 2019) (2019).
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.