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2017/2018  BA-BHAAV1016U  Quantitative Methods

English Title
Quantitative Methods

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 160
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Morten Lau - Department of Economics (ECON)
Main academic disciplines
  • Methodology and philosophy of science
  • Statistics and quantitative methods
  • Economics
Last updated on 22-08-2017

Relevant links
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • Demonstrate knowledge of concepts, models, methods and tools in econometrics, corresponding to the course syllabus
  • Evaluate an empirical study which another has produced
  • Implement a reasonably simple econometric analysis in practice
Examination
Quantitative Methods:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Written sit-in exam on CBS' computers
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Aids Limited aids, see the list below:
The student is allowed to bring
  • USB key for uploading of notes, books and compendiums in a non-executable format (no applications, application fragments, IT tools etc.)
  • Any calculator
  • Books (including translation dictionaries), compendiums and notes in paper format
The student will have access to
  • Access to CBSLearn
  • Access to the personal drive (S-drive) on CBS´ network
At all written sit-in exams the student has access to the basic IT application package (Microsoft Office (minus Excel), digital pen and paper, 7-zip file manager, Adobe Acrobat, Texlive, VLC player, Windows Media Player). PLEASE NOTE: Students are not allowed to communicate with others during the exam : Read more about exam aids and IT application packages here
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination warrants that it may most appropriately be held as an oral examination, the programme office will inform the students that the make-up examination/re-take examination will be held as an oral examination instead.
Description of the exam procedure

Part of the test is based on a previous data analysis (48-hour take home). Results from the previous data analysis can only be brought to the exam on USB key or placed on the S-drive before the exam

 

It is the student’s own responsibility to submit and incorporate the results from the previous data analysis along with answers to the exam paper.
Course content and structure

How do you measure and elicit individual attitudes to financial risk and time delay of income? Are women more patient and more averse to taking risk in financial matters than men? Are men more likely to become pathological gamblers than women? Are women more likely to smoke cigarettes than men, and if so do they smoke more per day than men? How do you elicit and estimate predictions about the likelihood of future events?

The main objective of the course is to provide students with the necessary statistical tools to answer such questions by introducing a range of statistical models and methods. The course will focus on applied aspects of econometrics, as opposed to theoretical aspects. We will use data from surveys and experiments that are designed to answer the questions above. The course is designed to target students who intend to conduct empirical analysis during their undergraduate and graduate study programs.

The course will focus on various applications of basic regression models. Throughout the course emphasis will be placed on the qualitative and quantitative understanding of statistical models. That is, how can you translate a qualitative research question into a quantitative model and make inferences? A recurring theme during the course is the distinction between correlation and causation. Despite this simple distinction much of the difficulty in econometrics stems from the desire to make causal inferences from observational data. 

 

 

 
Teaching methods
A combination of PC-based lectures and exercise classes are used. The course is split evenly between lecture and exercises, meaning 12x2 hours of lectures and 12x2 hours of exercises.The statistical models and methods are presented and discussed in class, as well as survey and experimental data to illustrate the quantitative methods. We will use the statistical software program Stata to estimate the statistical models. Guest lecturers may be invited to discuss empirical examples of their own work that are relevant to the topics that we discuss in class.
Feedback during the teaching period
The course seeks to offer feedback whenever possible. Lectures and exercise classes provide opportunities for questions and discussions and students are also encouraged to make use of staff office hours for further feedback
Student workload
Preparation / exam 170 hours
Lectures 24 hours
Exercises 24 hours
Expected literature

Stock, J. H. and Watson, M., Introduction to Econometrics (Pearson Education, 2014).

 

 The textbook is supplemented with a few scientific articles that are relevant to some of the course examples.
Last updated on 22-08-2017