Great Course on the Menu!
Research in Econometrics (ECON 497) is a relatively new class that is one of our two
capstone courses for the MTEC major (the other is ECON 496, Research in Economic
Theory). It is taught by Professor Xun Tang, whose research interests include applied
econometrics and industrial organization. Xun explains that ECON 497 offers students
an opportunity to revisit and further develop the theoretical foundations they learned
in their earlier econometrics and applied courses. For example, students will review
maximum likelihood and nonlinear least squares estimation methods, developing a
deeper understanding of how and why these methods work and learning better how to
implement them in a wide variety of empirical settings. The course provides with students
with the opportunity to read and understand at a high level the existing econometrics
literature as well as develop and implement their own econometrics research project.
Professor Tang says that, “I view economics as a fascinating field of science that combines
rigorous quantitative methods with substantial policy questions. I find such a combination
particularly organic in the field of industrial organization, and this is one of the main
concepts I try to get across to the students in the course.”
Menu
Main Course: ECON 497
Research in Econometrics
Appetizers: ECON 203,
ECON 310 & ECON 305
Master Chef: Professor
Xun Tang
Dinner is Served: Spring
2019, Mondays and
Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m. to
9:45 a.m.
Come enjoy a
gastroeconomical delight!
RISE Lecture - Nobel Laureate Edward Prescott
The seventh event in the RISE (Rice Initiative for the Study of Economics) Nobel Laureate Lecture
Series will feature Edward C. Prescott, who is Professor of Economics at Arizona State University
where he is also the W. P. Carey Chair in Economics in the W. P. Carey School of Business. Prescott
and Professor Finn Kydland of UC Santa Barbara were awarded the 2004 Nobel Memorial Prize in
Economic Sciences “for their contributions to dynamic macroeconomics: the time inconsistency of
economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles.” Prescott is an aggregate economist
theorist who develops and applies dynamic economic theory to problems in financial economics,
economic fluctuations, growth and development, international economics, and public finance.
Indeed, students who have taken ECON 483 will no doubt remember that Prescott has written an
important recent paper in which he concludes that the large differences in labor supply between
workers in the US and in the EU are largely attributable to differences in tax structure, especially the
effects on labor supply of the value-added tax that is prevalent throughout Europe.
Prescott will present his RISE Lecture on “Money in the Production Function: Some of the Policy
Implications” on Thursday, November 1, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. The event will be held in the BRC
(BioScience Research Collaborative) Auditorium, with a reception following in the BRC Event Hall. We hope to see you there!
Baker Center for Public Finance to Host Conference on Economic Growth
As part of the Baker Institute’s 25th
anniversary celebration, the Center for
Public Finance is hosting a conference on
the prospects for future economic growth
in the United States, which will be held
at the Institute on December 6-7, 2018.
The keynote speaker will be Professor
Martin Feldstein of Harvard University,
president emeritus of the National Bureau
of Economic Research and former chair
of the Council of Economic Advisers
under President Reagan. The program,
which will include nine original papers
and a concluding panel discussion,
features an impressive slate of renowned
economists, including Robert Barro,
George Borjas, and Jason Furman (all also
from Harvard), Alan Auerbach and Ross
Levine from UC-Berkeley, Michael Boskin
and Timothy Bresnahan of Stanford,
Glenn Hubbard of the Columbia Business
School, Steven Turnovsky of the University
of Washington, Richard Evans from the
University of Chicago, William Gale of the
Brookings Institution, Robert Gordon of
the Northwestern University, Kenneth
Hendricks and Christopher Taber from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Douglas
Holtz-Eakin, President of the American
Action Forum, and Laurence Kotlikoff
from Boston University, as well as our
own Flávio Cunha, John Diamond, Peter
Hartley, and George Zodrow.
The Center for Public Finance, which
was established in 2017, is directed
by John Diamond, the Institute’s Kelly
Fellow in Public Finance, who received
a Rice Economics Ph.D. in 2000. The
members of the Center are George
Zodrow, Cline Professor of Economics,
and Center Fellows Joyce Beebe (also
a Rice Economics Ph.D.), Jorge Barro,
and Thomas Hogan. Thomas is teaching
Financial Markets (ECON 355) and Jorge
will teach Economic Modeling and Public
Policy (ECON 479) in the spring.
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