Course
descriptions for the summer term 2011
040185/4
UK Introductory Macroeconomics
(Einführung
in die Makroökonomie)
UK, 4
hours per week
Time
and location: Monday
12:00–14:00, Hörsaal 7, BWZ;
Thursday 12:30–14:00 Hörsaal 9, BWZ
Start: March 3, 2011
Course description: The course offers an introduction to
modern macroeconomics. Most of it is based on the textbook by Olivier
Blanchard: Macroeconomics (Prentice-Hall) in its fifth edition
(older
editions can be used, but note that there are some changes in some
formulas and
in notation between editions). For an introduction to national
accounting, see Dudley
Jackson: The New National Accounts
(Edward Elgar).
In this field, the relevant material for all tests is a lecture note by
Ana Ania-Martinez, which will be made
available to
participants. No special preliminary knowledge is required, but some
competence
in mathematical methods is certainly useful.
In line with the
current study plan does this course contain an inseparable mix of
elements of
‘lectures’ and of ‘exercises’. Approximately one fourth of the time
should be
devoted to repetition and to exercises. It is essential that students
participate actively. The final grade is determined from a weighted
average of
exercises (15%), a written midterm test (40%), and a written final test
(45%).
You need 50% of the total achievable score to pass the course. In
particular,
note that a positive midterm test is not a binding constraint. However,
you
cannot pass without participating in the midterm test. In the
‘exercises’
component, points are allotted for regular attendance and for
occasional
written homework, the main emphasis is however on the presentation of
exercises
during the course. Midterm and final tests will be organized jointly
with the
parallel groups.
Course
contents:
1. National accounts
2. The goods market
3. The financial market
4. The IS-LM model (short-run
equilibrium on goods and financial markets)
5. The labor market
6. The AS-AD model (medium-run
equilibrium on three markets)
7. Phillips curve, Okun's
law, medium-run dynamic model
8. The open economy (exchange rates,
Mundell-Fleming model)
The
course contents correspond roughly to chapters 1-9 and 18-20 of
Blanchard’s
book. All economic theories and models are illustrated using Austrian
and
international data.
390039 UK PhD-E:
Econometric Methods for Panel Data
UK, 2
hours per week
Time and location:
Wednesday 12:00–13:30, Seminarraum
2, Hohenstaufengasse 9
Start: March 2, 2011
Course description: The lecture course surveys
econometric techniques that are used on two-dimensional data sets, one
dimension of which is time. Such data sets, generally named panels or
sometimes
longitudinal data, occur in macroeconomics, for example in
inter-country
comparisons, where the time dimension dominates, as well as in labor
economics,
where a short time dimension and a large cross-section dimension is the
rule.
The following topics could
be covered:
Models for panel data (fixed and random
effects, one-way and two-way)
Estimation procedures for panels (LSDV or
within-groups estimator, GLS)
Tests (poolability, Hausman test)
Heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation
Dynamic panels (Nickell
bias, instrumental variable estimation)
Panel tests for unit roots
The methods are explained
using empirical examples that are handled by computer software. As
important
literature related to this course, I would recommend the textbooks by Hsiao:
Analysis of Panel Data (Cambridge University Press, 2003) and by Baltagi: Econometric Analysis of Panel
Data
(Wiley, 2005).