HMET4220 – Applied Micro Econometrics
Course description
Course content
The course will provide students with a theoretical background and practical experience in different methods to estimate effects of health interventions or policy interventions. Students will also learn how to design interventions and conduct experiments to measure causal effects. Special emphasis will be placed on the distinction between estimating treatment effects based on experimental data versus observational data, and how to deal with selection and information bias in observational data
Learning outcome
Knowledge
You will gain knowledge of:
- The difference between causation and correlation
- Different concepts of causation Concept of selection bias and its causes
- Advantages and disadvantages of using experiments
- Advantages and disadvantages of different methods that control for selection bias
- The potential outcome framework and instrumental variables
- General approaches to identify causal effects in observational data
- Knowledge of assumptions behind different approaches to the identification of effects
Skills
You will learn:
- How to design a randomized controlled experiment
- How to use propensity score matching methods and synthetic control to analyze observational data
- How to instrumental variables, regression discontinuity and difference-in-difference methods to identify causal effects
- Ability to identify when the different methods for causal analysis are most appropriate
- Draw a directed acyclic graph of causal relationships and discuss how the structure of the graph enables or makes it difficult to identify a causal effect
General competence
You will gain:
- Increased awareness of the possibilities and limits of scientific knowledge
- Increased understanding of ethical problems in experiments
Admission
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Overlapping courses
10 credits overlap with HEVAL5140 (2)
Teaching
Primarily lectures. Some of the lectures will be in a computer lab where we will do excercises
Examination
Individual written assignment
Submit assignments in Inspera
You submit your assignment in the digital examination system Inspera. Read about how to submit your assignment.
Use of sources and citation
You should familiarize yourself with the rules that apply to the use of sources and citations. If you violate the rules, you may be suspected of cheating/attempted cheating.
Examination support material
No examination support material is allowed.
Language of examination
You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Explanations and appeals
Resit an examination
Withdrawal from an examination
It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.
Special examination arrangements
Application form, deadline and requirements for special examination arrangements.