This course introduces students to the research frontiers in economics. Each week, a researcher from the laboratory CREST would present a central topic of his/her research. Students are expected to see how researchers tackle problems using the tools and concepts developed in economics. Topics include traditional microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics, as well as recent interdisciplinary developments such as blockchain technology, and machine learning.
Together the courses A & B will consist of 8 two-hour lectures by Polytechnique economists presenting their own recent research work.
For each course students should choose one of the presentations and submit a report on it. They should submit 2 reports if they take both courses.
Here are some guidelines on the report. Each student should submit an individual report containing their own original ideas, i.e. copy-pasting or paraphrasing the presentation’s material will be penalized. The report should have 4 pages or fewer, and include (a) a summary of the presentation and (b) a discussion. The student may discuss how important the research question is and/or the contribution with respect to existing knowledge. They may criticize the methodology or the interpretation of the results. They may explain which recommendations for economic policy, if any, are supported by the findings. They may suggest some modifications or extensions of the research work. In some cases they might find connections with other presentations. (Students will be expected to do some but not all of this, and some presentations will lend themselves more naturally to one type of discussion than another).
- Teaching coordinator: Tamura Yuki