The Department of Economics is pleased to announce that we are extending the data training for all students admitted to the major beginning in Fall of 2020. A solid foundation of empirical techniques is fundamental in understanding and studying economic phenomena, and increasingly demanded by employers. The new class is entitled Econ 104: Data Science for Economists, and will be accompanied by a lab (Econ 104L). The course will focus on hands-on projects using real world data. It will be offered for the first time in Spring 2021 and will be taught by Professor Rojas.

The new courses will not be required for students who have already been admitted to the major prior to Fall 2020 or who complete Econ 103 by the end of Spring 2021, but going forward will be required for all students majoring in Economics or Business Economics. However, it will be open to all Economics and Business Economics students who wish to take the course.

The new course descriptions for Econ 103 and 104, our two econometrics classes, are as follows:

Econ 103. Introduction to Econometrics
Introduction to theory and practice of univariate regression analysis with emphasis on its use in economics. Introduction to method of least squares, Gauss-Markov theorem, confidence intervals and hypothesis tests in univariate regression context, and standard errors in case of heteroscedasticity and serial correlation. Emphasis on applications with real data and computer software (R programming language) to implement discussed methods.

Econ 104. Data Science for Economists
Introduction to estimation of multivariate regression, and confidence intervals and hypothesis tests in context of multivariate regression. Discussion of instrumental variables and binary choice models. Emphasis on hands-on experience on data analytics and real data applications.