Public Policy Evaluation

Seminar in Public Policy Evaluation

Syllabus – Summer Semester 2024

Dr. Patrick Schneider – p.schneider@uni-konstanz.de

Course Overview

The Seminar in Public Policy Evaluation aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the evaluation of public policies. In an era marked by growing interest in assessing the impact of various policies, this seminar offers an in-depth exploration of research designs commonly used in policy evaluation. Through individual presentations and term papers, students will delve into specific topics within key policy areas, including Education, Gender Equality, Labor Markets, Infrastructure, Political Economy, and Taxes.

Course Objectives:

  1. Develop a critical understanding of the evaluation of public policies.
  2. Choose and analyze a specific policy topic within the mentioned areas.
  3. Explore the challenges associated with evaluating chosen policies and develop strategies to overcome them.
  4. Gain proficiency in widely used research designs such as difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, and regression discontinuity designs.
  5. Enhance the ability to assess and judge the credibility of research designs.

Topics (Examples):

  • Education
    • Does school segregation, tracking, class size, school spending, home computers, and free choice of schools increase test scores?
    • How does maternity leave, universal child care, and parental job loss affect children’s school performance?
  • Gender Equality
    • Do job protection and cash benefits help or harm mothers’ careers?
    • Why do so few men take paternity leave?
  • Labor Markets
    • What happens to local wages after an inflow of foreign workers?
    • Do subsidies increase employment?
  • Infrastructure
    • What is the effect of internet on labor productivity, wages, and employment?
    • Are railroads growth enhancing?
  • Political Economy
    • Can governments influence political attitudes of children in school?
    • Do political protests matter?
  • Taxes
    • Do higher corporate taxes reduce wages?
    • Are cars to heavy, i.e. is gasoline to cheap?

Prerequisites:

Successful completion of introductory econometrics courses is recommended. Students should be familiar with difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, and regression discontinuity designs.

Assessment:

Students will be evaluated based on a term paper and an accompanying presentation.

Organizational Details:

•    Introduction: Tuesday, 09.04.2024, 15:15 - 16:45

  • Student Presentations: Friday and Saturday, 21.06. and 22.06.2024

Contact Information:

For inquiries and further information, please contact Patrick Schneider at p.schneider@uni-konstanz.de.