AØKK08429U Seminar: Advanced Empirical Macroeconomic Analysis (F)

Volume 2024/2025
Education

MSc programme in Economics

The course is a part of the financial line, signified by (F)

 

The seminar is primarily for students at the MSc of Economics.

Content

The objective of the seminar is for students to work on independent research projects using any econometric method but with a focus on macroeconomics topics. Students choose their topic in consultation with the seminar organizer, prepare and submit a first outline of the project, prepare and submit a first draft of the complete paper, present own paper and provide critical evaluation and feedback to other student’s paper, and hand-in a revised and final version of the seminar paper for assessment.

The following list provides possible topics but students are free to choose other topics as well. The topics listed below can be analyzed using panel data regressions, Vector Autoregressive Models (VAR), cross-sectional methods or other empirical approaches.

  • Are supply or demand shocks driving business cycles?
  • What are the effects of monetary policy?
  • What are the effects of fiscal policy?
  • How do energy shocks propagate throughout the economy?
  • Determinants of exchange rate pass-through?
  • Is there a causal relation between financial development and economic growth in developing countries and/or emerging markets?
  • What are the determinants of capital flows to developing countries?
  • Is economic growth affected by uncertainty?
  • Fiscal councils and government solvency.
  • Evaluating the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure.
  • Economic growth and inequality.

Inflation dynamics and output-inflation trade-offs.

Learning Outcome

After completing the seminar the student is expected to be able to fulfill the learning outcome specified in the Master curriculum and to be able to

Knowledge:

  • Define relevant research purpose and structure a seminar paper.
  • Account for key economic theories/approaches relevant for the seminar paper.
  • Account for alternative theories/approaches relevant for the seminar paper.
  • Reflect and criticize existing theories/empirical work on the chosen topic.

 

Skills:

  • Assess previous literature and chose, with a motivation, an approach to be used in the seminar paper.
  • Analyze the chosen topic using reduced form and/or structural vector autoregressive analysis.
  • Analyze own results and evaluate those results given the existing literature on the topic.
  • Communicate own results in a scientific and professional manner.
  • Present own work and discuss other seminar papers in a scientific and professional manner.

 

Competences:

  • Plan a research project.
  • Implement econometric methods used in the literature.
  • Initiate, be responsible for and carry out an independent empirical analysis.
  • Initiate collaborations

 

Supplemented by an overall intended learning outcome outlined in the programme-specific curriculum

Students must find relevant literature themselves but will get some initial papers to start with depending on the topic. Main background literature: Articles published in journals such as American Economic Review, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of International Money and Finance, Journal of Development Economics, Energy Economics are useful when finding topics and background material.

BSc in Economics or similar
It is recommended that the student has followed introductory and intermediate econometrics courses at least at the BSc level at the University of Copenhagen or has similar knowledge.
At the seminar the student is trained independently to
- identify and clarify a problem,
- seek and select relevant literatur,
- write a academic paper,
- present and discuss own paper with the other students at the seminar.

The aim of the presentations is, that the student uses the presentation as an opportunity to practice oral skills and to receive feedback. The presentations is not a part of the exam and will not be assessed.

Mandatory activities in the seminar:
- Kick-off meeting
- Finding literatur and defining the project
- Writing process of the seminar paper
- Presentation of own project and paper
- Giving constructive feedback to another student´s paper
- Actively participating in discussions at the presentations and other meetings.

There is no weekly teaching/lecturing and the student cannot expect guidance from the teacher. If the teacher gives a few introduction lectures or gives the opportunity for guidance, this as well as other expectations are clarified at the kickoff meeting.

Process:
It is strongly recommended that you think about and search for a topic before the semester begins, as there is only a few weeks from the kick-off meeting to the submission of the project description/ agreement paper.

The seminar project paper must be uploaded in Absalon before the presentations, as the opponents and the other seminar participants have to read and comment on the paper. It is important that you upload a paper that is so finalized as possible due to the fact that the value of feedback and comments at the presentation is strongly associated with the skill level of the seminar paper.

After the presentations, you can with a few corrections improve the seminar paper by including the feedback and comments emerged during the presentations. It is NOT intended that you rewrite or begin the writing of the full project AFTER the presentation has taken place.
Spring 2025

- Kick-off meeting: Week 6

- Deadline for submission of commitment paper / project description: No later than 1 March

- Deadline for uploading a seminar assignment paper in the Digital Exam portal: No later than one week before the presentations.

- Presentations: 1-23 May

- Submission date: 1 June at 10.00 AM - latest uploading of Seminar paper to the Digital Exam portal for assessment.


All information regarding the seminar is communicated through Absalon including venue. It is very important that you by yourself log on to Absalon and read the information already when you are registered at the seminar.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Project work
  • 186
  • Seminar
  • 20
  • Total
  • 206
Oral
Individual
Collective
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Peer feedback (Students give each other feedback)
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment
Type of assessment details
Individual or in groups of up to 3.
A seminar paper of 15 standard pages for one person, 22.5 standard pages for 2 and 30 standard pages for 3 students.
See further exam information in the Masters Programme Curriculum.
Exam registration requirements

Attendance in all seminar activities as stated in the Master curriculum.

Reexam: Hand in and have approved a synopsis.

Aid
All aids allowed

Use of AI tools is permitted. You must explain how you have used the tools. When text is solely or mainly generated by an AI tool, the tool used must be quoted as a source.

Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
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Exam period

Exam information:

The seminar paper must be uploaded in Digital Exam.

Common submission date for all seminars: December 20 at 10:00 for the autumn semester and June 1 at 10:00 for the spring semester.

For enrolled students more information about examination, rules, aids etc. is available at the intranet for  Master (UK) and  Master (DK ).

Re-exam

Reexam information:

Individual seminar paper of 15 standard pages. See further exam information in the Masters Programme Curriculum.

Deadline and more information is available at  MSc in Economics - KUnet

More information about reexam etc. is available at  Master(UK) and  Master(DK).

Criteria for exam assesment

Students are assessed on the extent to which they master the learning outcome for the seminar and can make use of the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes in the Curriculum of the Master programme.

 

To receive the top grade, the student must with no or only a few minor weaknesses be able to demonstrate an excellent performance displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material.