About the Book
This book articulates the elements of good craftsmanship in applied microeconomic research.
This research combines several elements: theory, econometric modelling, institutional analysis, data handling, estimation, inference, and interpretation. Many books discuss these elements' mechanics--say, how to properly calculate standard errors under different error structures. But they are largely silent on how to employ these elements to best effect. No central resource articulates the essential principles involved and ties them together. In showing how these research elements can be best blended to maximize the credibility and impact of the findings that result, this book presents a basic framework for thinking about craftsmanship.
This framework lays out the proper context within which the researcher should view the analysis, involving institutional factors, complementary policy instruments, and competing hypotheses that can influence or explain the phenomena being studied. It also emphasizes the interconnectedness of theory, econometric modeling, data, estimation, inference, and interpretation, arguing that good craftsmanship requires strong links between each.
Using this framework, the book devotes a chapter to each element of an empirical analysis, articulating the guiding principles involved and illustrating them with numerous, varied applications to the literature. Assuming a working knowledge of econometrics, this text is aimed at graduate students and early-career academic researchers as well as empirical economists looking to improve the quality of their work.
For a brief Table of Contents, see below.
A Flyer with Blurb and Abbreviated Table of Contents