Income effects on Vehicles owned ACSData

Term Paper:
Students will write an original paper on a question of scholarly interest. After developing a research question, and formulating a hypothesis, the main tasks involved in carrying out an applied econometric study include: identifying and accessing cross-sectional or panel data (no time series), formatting the data for analysis, analyzing the data using appropriate statistical techniques, and producing tables that summarize the data and report the results of the analysis. The term paper will also survey econometric literature and describe economic theory that relates to the research question. All students must read Stock and Watson’s chapter titled, “Conducting a Regression Study Using Economic Data.” Choose a topic, collect data, and write up an outline that contains your project’s title, five sections with section names, a one sentence research question, detailed data references, the regression equation you plan on estimating(indexing variables to make it clear what is the unit of observation)and a citation to a closely related publication.On either May 2nd, 7th or 9th you will make a short presentation, using slides. All papers must have five sections(plus a References section) with the following titles: Introduction, Literature Review &Economic Theory, Description of Data, Empirical Results, Conclusion. Sections will be about five paragraphs in length and each paragraph about five sentences.Papers must have these three tables: Variable Descriptions, Summary Statistics, and Regression Results. Original figures are encouraged; copied figures are prohibited. Tables must be formatted as described in class. All papers must also write out an equation describing the empirical model. Holian (2014)closely follows this format.As a set of minimal standards for regression models, all papers should report more than one model specification in Table 3(the Regression Results table.)One of these specifications should contain at least three distinct variables (e.g.a polynomial specification of one variable does not count as more than one), and one of the variables must be continuous. You should also estimate at least one nonlinear model, i.e. include polynomial, logarithmic, and/or interaction variables.In the Conclusion, all students must critically evaluate the models they present, and discuss ways to improve them in future work.Any attempts at using advanced techniques (sample weighting, panel methods, etc.) are eligible to earn extra credit. Finally, this semester students must use data from the American Community Survey (ACS)in some way. Data can be either micro data at the person or household-level, or aggregate; if aggregate data is used, students can choose the unit of analysis (e.g. city, county, PUMA, etc.) BUT it must contain data from at least two different time periods (i.e. it must be panel data).

CriteriaDescription of Criteriafor PapersOrganization(up to 1.5 pts)Is the Research Question clearly stated? Are there five sections? Are sections given correct titles? Does content of a section match its title? Is there a title and abstract? References?Grammar(up to 1.5 pts)Does each paragraph have a topic sentence? Do all sentences develop one controlling idea? Does paper use appropriate grammar (punctuation, syntax, usage)? Is the paper free of spelling errors? Are citations used appropriately?Style(up to 1.5 pts)Does paper avoid the passive voice? Does paper avoid use of the word “stated”? Does paper avoid split infinitives? Overall, is the writing style and voice appropriate? Does it appear the student read contemporary and seminal studies and is it written in the style of the profession? Does it appear the student read Langlois’ notes on writing? http://web.uconn.edu/langlois/writing/style.htmlContent I(up to 2.5pts)A specific causal research question must relate to a relevant economics literature and good data must be used to shed light on the question. The literature review must be integrated and not merely an annotated bibliography, and it must discuss ways the state-of-the art studies handle well-defined econometric problems (such as OVB and SCB). Content II(up to 3pts)The student must obtain data, estimate econometric models and present the results in an easy to read format, and highlight strengths and limitations of the econometric model, and suggest directions for future research.