Syllabus

Where to go

If you’re here, then you know where to find our class website. Well done! Hopefully it’s clear by the existence of the site that this is where I plan to host most of our course materials such as notes/slides, assignments, practice problems, etc. I’ll also use Canvas to distribute any papers or specific readings that aren’t available publicly, as well as post information that I don’t want public like virtual meeting passwords (if needed) and grades.

Readings

There are two optional textbooks for this class. One is an intermediate microeconomics textbook that will cover much of the basic economic theory, and another is a health economics textbook. We will supplement these textbooks with other readings listed below in the detailed schedule, as well as online presentations, policy papers, and videos. These books are in now way required, but they may be helpful for some students as an additional resource.

• R. Pindyck and D. Rubinfeld Microeconomics (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2018).
• Frank A Sloan and Chee-Ruey Hsieh Health Economics, vol. 1 (The MIT Press, 2012).

Statistics software

Each assignment will generally include both a theoretical and empirical section. Most of the empirical work involves basic summary statistics. This can be done in just about any spreadsheet or statistics package. I’ll use R for my work, but you are free to use whatever software you’re most comfortable with. I encourage you to use R or Python simply because these are the most common programs used in applied data analysis right now, but you can certainly use Excel or Google Sheets if you’d prefer. This is not a statistics or econometrics class, so I do not expect you to have any statistics programming knowledge.

Accessing data

For all assignments and in-class activities, I will house all of the links to the data on our class website, and I’ll place the relevant datasets in a shared OneDrive folder. For transparency, I will also point you to other GitHub repositories where available. If you’re new to Git or GitHub and want to understand some of that better, take a look at Grant McDermott’s notes on Data Science for Economists as well as Jenny Bryan’s online reference book, Happy Git and GitHub with R. But please note, knowledge of Git or GitHub is not expected or required for this class.

Turning things in

All assignments should be submitted as PDF files on Canvas. Since we’ll be using some math in all of our answers, I encourage everyone to complete your assignments in Overleaf. As an Emory student, everyone has access to an institutional Overleaf account, which provides you with all the nice features of the product. You can use this to easily write PDF documents in a language known as “LaTeX”. For a brief introductory video and links to more info, please see the video here. Overleaf is not a requirement, but I think it will save some you time in the long run. You are also welcome to use Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice, etc., and convert to PDF for your final submission.

The only requirements are that your submission is a PDF and that your answers are legible and organized. Please DO NOT write tiny answers in margins of papers, scan as PDF, and submit. I will not grade these types of submissions, and the assignment will be considered late until a legible submission is available.

Class meetings

All regular class meetings will take place in White Hall, Room 103 on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:30am to 12:45pm.

Office hours

My designated office hours will be on Monday and Wednesday from 1:30 to 2:30pm in R. Rollins, R432. I’m also available outside of these times. I just ask that you schedule an appointment in advance. Make an appointment with me here.

While we call these “office hours” they really should be “student hours”. These are set times dedicated to all of you. This means that I will be in my office waiting for you to come by with whatever questions you have. Take a look at this video for a more interesting presentation of what office hours really are and why you should come!

For any questions that you don’t think need a meeting, you can always reach out to me through email. I do my best to respond within 24 hours to all emails.

TA

Our TA this semester is Rachel Clohan. She’s a PhD student in the economics department, interested in research related to health and health care economics. Rachel is awesome and I’m sure will be a great resource for you throughout the semester. She will attend most (but not all) of the classes and will hold office hours on Thursdays from 3:00pm to 4:00pm in the R. Rollins Building, R400C-25. She has a cubicle just to the right of the entrance into the fourth floor offices. You can also reach Rachel via email at rachel.clohan@emory.edu.

Academic integrity

The Emory University Honor Code is taken seriously and governs all work in this course. Details about the Honor Code are available here. By taking this course, you affirm that it is a violation of the code to cheat on exams, to plagiarize, to deviate from the instructions about collaboration on work that is submitted for grades, to give false information to a faculty member, and to undertake any other form of academic misconduct. You agree that the teacher is entitled to move you to another seat during examinations, without explanation. You also affirm that if you witness others violating the code you have a duty to report them to the honor council.

Accessibility services

If you anticipate issues related to the format or requirements of this course, please meet with me. I would like us to discuss ways to ensure your full participation in the course. If you determine that accommodations are necessary, you may register with Accessibility Services at (404)727-9877 or via e-mail at accessibility@emory.edu. To register with OAS, students must self identify and initiate contact with the OAS office.

Class-wide announcements

I will post regular announcements to the class on Canvas, so please set up your notifications accordingly. I will also use Canvas to post all grades and any other information that needs to stay in the class. All other course materials will be available on our class website, econ372s23.classes.ianmccarthyecon.com.

Lauren’s Promise

I will listen and believe you if someone is threatening you.

Lauren McCluskey, a 21-year-old honors student athlete, was murdered on October 22, 2018 by a man she briefly dated on the University of Utah campus. We must all take action to ensure that this never happens again.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or Emory police (404-727-6111).

Any form of sexual harassment or violence will not be excused or tolerated at Emory. If you are experiencing sexual assault, domestic violence, or stalking, please report it to me or directly to Emory’s Office of Respect (470-270-5360).