Course information and syllabus
Welcome to the course!
We will meet on Mondays from 12:00 to 13:50 in room S301.
Coordinator: Martin Guzi
Lecturers:
Martin Guzi
Office: Room 316
Email: martin.guzi@econ.muni.cz
Office hours: Tuesday 9.00-10.00 am or by appointment
Tommaso Reggiani
Office: Room 426
Email: tommaso.reggiani@econ.muni.cz
Office hours: Tuesday 10:00-11:00 am or by appointment
Course description
Students taking this course will learn from real-life examples to understand the challenges of public policy and its implementation. Topics cover different areas in which the role of government is highly important, but the policy is mostly uneducated. Particular attention is paid to policy challenges in the labor market, global poverty, international migration, well-being, and sharing economy among others. The materials presented in the course are exclusively based on the recently published papers of recognized scholars.
The aim of course
The course will put an emphasis on empirical research and encourage students to elaborate selective case studies into class presentations. Students will learn to analyze, understand and tackle contemporary policy challenges.
The structure of course
The course is organized in 12 sessions. The final exam is organized in the last week of the semester at the class. Classes have seminar format with a strong focus on class discussion and cooperative learning. We expect students to come to the classes. They are expected to participate in the class discussions and introduce the papers that they have read and also, their thoughts about them. If students miss classes not only will they not know the material, but they also deprive their classmates and lecturer of learning from them, and we lose the benefit of their contribution.
Assessment methods
Students are expected to attend class regularly and to prepare for the class by following the suggested readings and related materials. Grading is based on class presentation (20 points), critical summary (2 x 8 points), class participation (24 points) and final exam (40 points).
Class presentation (max 20 points)
Each student will be responsible to elaborate empirical research paper into class presentations. Papers are assigned to students during the first two weeks of the semester. Papers are uploaded in the study materials folder and the schedule of presentations is posted in the interactive syllabus. Presentations are between ten and fifteen minutes long. Students shall send slides 24 hours before the presentation to the lecturer for the review (you may send slides earlier to receive useful feedback from the lecturer on how to improve your presentation). Please do not forget to upload your final presentation to the homework folder.
Presentation is graded accordingly:
• (max 5 points) Explanation of the research question and methods (explain what authors do, why it is important and how they do it). Main findings of the paper are well communicated to students.
• (max 5 points) Delivery and overall impression: language is correct, student highlights the important information during the presentation.
• (max 5 points) Bring your own ideas to presentation. Adopt alternative materials or comment on weak points of paper or propose possible extensions.
• (max 5 points) Formulate two multiple choice questions with exactly four options but only one correct answer to ask students. The originality and creativity of questions are valued. Some students' questions will be adopted for the final examination.
• (max 2 points) Formalities: The presentation fits into the allocated time frame, all sources are described and there are no typos.
Critical summary based on public seminar presentations (2 x 8 points)
During the semester students shall attend (at least) two public seminars and elaborate two written assignments. The list of seminars is available at http://mues.econ.muni.cz/ and you are free to choose seminars to attend. Your task is to summarize and critically assess the main contribution and methods of the presented research. I will grade your own elaboration that may include your personal view on the topic, the potential extension of the research idea or discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of the presented research. The critical summary should be around 1000 words and you should upload it to the homework folder within 2 weeks after participating in the seminar.
Final exam (max 40 points)
The final exam is organized in the last week of the semester at the class. Please make sure that you can attend the class in the final week. The exam will include the set of multiple-choice questions adopted from presentations covered during the semester (approx. 2-3 questions from each class) and one open question. Some questions in the test will be taken from students' presentations. Cheating will not be tolerated and the student will be ordered to leave the exam room on any sign of cheating with zero points awarded from the exam.
Grading is based on the overall score
A more than 91 points, B 81 – 90 points, C 71 – 80 points, D 61 – 70 points, E 55 – 60 points, F less than 55 points
Academic dishonesty
The offense of academic misconduct includes (not exclusively) the representation of the work of others as one’s own, including plagiarizing the ideas or words of another without proper attribution to the source of those ideas or words, whether intentional or not, or submitting work that has been previously submitted elsewhere.
Thank you, and enjoy the semester!
Martin
Please report any error to martin.guzi@econ.muni.cz.
Syllabus
Discriminatory behaviour:
1. Beauty pays: Why attractive people are more successful (Martin, 16/9)
Reading: Does it pay to be beautiful?
2. Ethnic minorities and job discrimination (Martin, 23/9)
* Student presentation: Discrimination against female migrants wearing headscarves (Mariia Halaktionova and Matti Kober)
(other papers available at http://users.ugent.be/~sbaert/research_register.htm)
3. Internet and Collective Behaviour (1): Social Capital and Political Behaviour (Tommaso, 30/09)
Reading: Internet and Politics: Evidence from U.K. Local Elections and Local Government Policies
Reading: The multifaceted effect of broadband internet on political participation
4. Internet and Collective Behaviour (2): Discrimination 2.0 in e-services and markets (Tommaso, 7/10)
Reading: Racial Discrimination in Local Public Services. A Field Experiment in the US
* Student presentation: The Visible Hand. Race and Online Market Outcomes (FREE)
*
Nudging in Public Policy :
5. Economic incentives (Martin, 14/10)
* Student presentation:
6. Practice nudges (Martin, 21/10)
* Student presentation: Nudges at the Dentist (Ľuboš Turis)
* Student presentation: Select study from Nudge Database here or here. See reports by BIT in the UK. (Rebecca Mango and Martina Gasdi)
7. National holiday (28/10)
International migration:
8. International labour migration: Global trends and determinants (Martin, 4/11)
* Student presentation: Using a point system for selecting immigrants (Davide Ferrarese and Pronesti Luca)
9. Benefits and costs of migration (Martin, 11/11)
* Student presentation: Who benefits from return migration to developing countries? (Malo Levrel and Julien Rolland)
* Student presentation: Migration and families left behind (Serena Iglina)
10. Integration of immigrants in the labour market (Martin, 18/11)
* Student presentation: Naturalization and citizenship: Who benefits? (Gabriel Garruth and Esther Buiting)
* Student presentation: What drives the language proficiency of immigrants? (Maroš Kuchar and Jan Hradecký)
How to achieve decent living standards for all:
11. The many dimensions of poverty (Martin, 25/11)
* Student presentation: Self-employment and poverty in developing countries (Naděžda Chytilová and Kristýna Hanáková)
12. Income adequacy and the definition of living wage (Martin, 2/12)
* Student presentation: Employment effects of minimum wages (Adéla Musilová and Helena Mervartová)
* Student presentation: Select one of the 26 regions and explain the calculation of living wage by Global Living Wage Coalition (link). (Orkhan Hashimli)
13. Final exam (Martin, 9/12)