PhD Course in Experimental Economics UMB School of Economics and Business will host a PhD course in Experimental Economic, with professor Erwin Bulte, Wageningen University & Tilburg University (the Netherlands), 25. February 1. March 2013. The course will be taught at the UMB campus in Ås, Norway. The course is financed jointly through the national research schools in economics and in business economics and administration. Course objective Experiments are increasingly recognised as part of the standard toolbox within economics, and have a role to play in the testing of theory as well as in the design of institutions and policies. Increasingly the experimental method is also used to evaluate the impact of policies or project interventions (so-called randomised controlled trials, RCTs). In this one-week course we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of lab and field experiments, review key issues in randomisation and the design of experiments, and consider several examples of experimental work in the domains of development and natural resource economics. The course will discuss state-of-the-art insights in experimental economics, and students are offered the necessary tools to design their own experiments. Couse description ECN404 Course responsible Experiments in economics, with applications in development and environmental research Arild Angelsen Number of credits allocated 5.0 Language,English Limits for class size A minimum of 5 students is required for the course to be given Semester/trimester Spring parallel Teachers Prof. Erwin Bulte, Wageningen University & Tilburg University, the Netherlands. http://www.dec.wur.nl/uk/staff/bulte/ Type of course 25. February 1. March, 2013. 15-20 hours of lectures. Normalized effort is 150 hours. Application deadline for
guest students: 1. February 2013 Compulsory educational Course participation activities Prerequisites Master Exam L Assessment methods Term paper, submitted within 15. June Grading Pass/Fail Course frequency Other Comment on frequency Irregular, will be announced when given. Teaching methods Lectures, class discussions and self study Teaching support Course material will be provided at the start of the course (see reading list below). Examiner An external examiner will assess the course assignments. Entrance requirements Knowledge of economics or similar subjects at the master level for PhD (and advanced Preferential Master) right students, particularly those focusing in development or environmental economics, ts in their research. The course is offered first 2013 Spring time Course contents Monday February 25: Introduction to field and lab experiments in economics, and on the miracle of randomisation List, J., 2011. Why Economists Should Conduct Field Experiments and 14 Tips for Pulling One Off, Journal of Economic Perspectives 25: pp. 3-15. Levitt, S. and J. List, 2009. Field Experiments in Economics: The Past, The Present, and The Future," European Economic Review 53: pp. 1-18. Bulte, E., M. Voors, A. Kontoleon, and J. List, 2012. Testing Competitive Market Theory in Africa: Experimental Evidence from the Forest Edge in Sierra Leone, Working Paper. Tuesday February 26: Endogenous variables everywhere Cecchi, F. and E. Bulte, 2012. Does Market Experience Promote Rational Choice? Experimental Evidence from Rural Ethiopia, Economic Development and Cultural Change, In Press Voors, M.J., E.E.M. Nillesen, E.H. Bulte, B.W. Lensink, P. Verwimp and D.P. van Soest, 2012. Violent Conflict and Behavior: a Field Experiment in Burundi, American Economic Review 102: 941-964
Tabellini, G. 2008. The Scope of Cooperation: Values and Incentives, Quarterly Journal of Economics 123: 905-950 Siziba, S. and E.H. Bulte, 2012. Does Market Participation Promote Generalized Trust? Experimental Evidence from Southern Africa. Economics Letters 117: 156-160 Wednesday February 27: Institutions rule! Rodrik, D., A. Subramanian and F. Trebbi, 2004. Institutions Rule: The Primacy of Institutions over Geography and Integration in Economic Development, Journal of Economic Growth 9: 131-165 Mokuwa, E,.M. Voors, E. Bulte and P. Richards, 2011. Peasant Grievance and Insurgency in Sierra Leone: Judicial Serfdom as a Driver of Conflict, African Affairs 110: 339-366 Beekman, G., E. Bulte and E. Nillesen, 2012. Corruption, Investments and Contributions to Public Goods: Experimental Evidence from Rural Liberia. Working Paper (Journal of Public Economics, revise and resubmit) Casey, K., R. Glennerster, and E. Miguel, 2012. Reshaping Institutions: Evidence on Aid Impacts Using a Pre-Analysis Plan, Quarterly Journal of Economics, In Press Thursday February 28: Lies, damned lies, experiments Olken, B., 2006. Monitoring corruption : Evidence from a field experiment in Indonesia. Journal of Political Economy 115 : 200-249 Bulte, E., L. Pan, J. Hella, G. Beekman, and S. di Falco, 2012. Effort Responses in Randomized Controlled Trials for Development: Evidence from a Double-Blind Field Experiment in Tanzania, Working paper List, J., 2006. The Behavioralist Meets the Market: Measuring Social Preferences and Reputation Effects in Actual Transactions, Journal of Political Economy 114: 1-37 Camerer, C., 2011. The Promise and Success of Lab-Field Generalizability in Experimental Economics: A Critical Reply to Levitt and List, Working Paper. Friday March 1: Cursed by resources, and loose ends Sachs, J. and A. Warner, 1995. Natural resource abundance and economic Growth. NBER Working Paper # 5398 Mehlum, H., K. Moene and R. Torvik, 2006. Institutions and the resource curse, Economic Journal 116: 1-20 Brunnschweiler, C. and E. Bulte, 2008. The resource curse revisited and revised: A tale of paradoxes and red herrings, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 55: 248-264
Brunnschweiler, C.N. and E.H. Bulte, 2008. Are Resource-Rich Countries Cursed? Linking Natural Resources to Slow Growth and More Conflict, Science 320 (May 2, 2008): 616-617 Financial Support Course participants from outside UMB can apply for financial support to cover travel and housing costs. Application for financial support should be sent to Lise Thoen at UMB School of Economics and Business by e-mail (lise.thoen@umb.no).please attach a scanned copy of your application for being a guest student at UMB for this course. See details below. Application PhD students from UMB can sign up through studweb. PhD students from other Universities must be registered as guest students at UMB. PhD students from other Universities in Norway UMB must send us the following documentation: Full name Gender Date of birth and personal security number Address E-mail address Mobile phone number Name of the institution where you are enrolled as a PhD student. You must also send us University transcripts as certified copies of the original. All documentation must be sent by regular mail, as scanned/faxed copies are not considered valid for admission purposes, to this address: Admission Office Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) P.O.Box 5003 N-1432 ÅS NORWAY International students (without residence permit in Norway) (Contakt: cecile.aubert@umb.no) PhD students from outside Norway can use this application form: http://www.umb.no/statisk/sit/skjemaer/engelske/nondegree.pdf 1- Application form http://www.umb.no/statisk/sit/skjemaer/engelske/nondegree.pdf 2- A copy of the passport (the pages with name, photo and expiry date) 3- University transcripts (with translation in English) 4- Documentation of English proficiency. Please check the requirements for your country on the link below:
http://www.nokut.no/documents/nokut/artikkelbibliotek/utenlandsk_utdanning/gsulista/l anguage_requirements_gsu.pdf Important: High school/university transcripts and documentation of English proficiency must be attested as certified copies of the original by a Norwegian Embassy/Consulate or by Notary Public or by a school/college/university administration and bear the name, signature and stamp of the official. All documentation must be sent by regular mail, as scanned/faxed copies are not considered valid for admission purposes, to this address: Admission Office Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) P.O.Box 5003 N-1432 ÅS NORWAY For general questions, please contact Lise Thoen: lise.thoen@umb.no