PhD-course at the NHH Norwegian School of Economics August 3 – 7, 2015 ECS551NFB: Causal Inference without Experiments: Empirical Strategies and Examples Lecturer: Gordon Dahl Content This course will discuss various cutting-edge strategies for obtaining causal estimates without an experiment, with examples from labor, public finance, health, and education. Methods which allow for selection on observables as well as selection on unobservables will be covered. The course will explore the pros and cons of using panel data, social experiments, regression discontinuity, register data, and simulated instrumental variables to arrive at causal estimates. An emphasis will be placed on current best practices, with empirical examples ranging from the evaluation of social safety net programs, to the effect of educational policy reforms, to the identification of peer effects. The course will consist of ten lectures. The students will also be given the opportunity to present their own research. Administration The course is organized by Kjell G. Salvanes and Aline Bütikofer at the Center for Empirical Labor Economics at NHH. If you would like to attend, please register by June 15, 2015. The number of participants is limited. Non-NHH PhD students should send in a completed form to phd@nhh.no where they apply for visiting status for ECS551NFB “Casual Inference without Experiments: Empirical Strategies and Examples”. The form can be found at: http://www.nhh.no/no/studentsider/skjema.aspx. There is no course fee. CELE does not provide accommodation during the course. If you have any questions concerning participation or other administrative issues, please contact Dagny Kristiansen, Department of Economics, NHH, Helleveien 30, N-5045 Bergen, Norway, email: dagny.kristiansen@nhh.no. Participants who would like to present their own research should submit their paper to aline.buetikofer@nhh.no by June 30, 2015. To get credit (5 ECTS) for the course, the participants should present during the course and hand in a take-home-exam by October 30, 2015. Outline of the course The outline of lectures is tentative and may be adjusted as the course proceeds. Each lecture is 90 minutes. Student presentations: Each student presentation is 20 minutes plus 10 minutes discussion. Please make sure that your presentation is ready on the computer when the session starts. Monday August 3 13.00 – 13.30 Registration and coffee 13.30 – 15.00 Lecture 1 15.30 – 17.00 Lecture 2 17.00 Social gathering Tuesday August 4 09.00 – 10.30 Lecture 3 11.00 – 12.30 Lecture 4 14.00 – 15.30 Student presentations: Session 1 Wednesday August 5 09.00 – 10.30 Lecture 5 11.00 – 12.30 Lecture 6 14.00 – 15.30 Student presentations: Session 2 Thursday August 6 09.00 – 10.30 Lecture 7 11.00 – 12.30 Lecture 8 14.00 – 15.30 Student presentations: Session 3 Friday August 7 09.00 – 10.30 Lecture 9 11.00 – 12.30 Lecture 10