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Specific Topics in Applied Economics B

Code: 43793
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Applied Research in Economics and Business OP 0

Contact lecturer

Name :
Riccardo Turati
Email :
riccardo.turati@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Riccardo Turati
Jordi Perdiguero Garcia
Héctor Sala Lorda
Alessio Ferdinando Federico Romarri

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of Econometrics and Statistics

Objectives

To provide a wider understanding in advanced techniques and topics for empirical research in economics.

Learning outcomes

  1. Possess and understand knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity for originality in the development and/or application of ideas, often in a research context
  2. Student should possess an ability to learn that enables them to continue studying in a manner which is largely self-supervised or independent
  3. Understand the mathematical, statistical and econometric fundaments and instruments required for statistical inference.
  4. Work in international and inter-disciplinary teams.
  5. Produce and draft projects, technical reports and academic articles in English, making use of the appropriate terminology, argumentation, communication skills and analytical tools for each context, and rigorously evaluate those produced by third parties.
  6. Analyse, synthesise and critically evaluate a certain matter of scientific interest and/or real problem case, considering its different perspectives and supporting the results and conclusions obtained.
  7. Recognise and distinguish the theoretical and empirical knowledge associated to questions of efficiency and equity in economics, and how they can contribute to the economic development of societies.
  8. Resolve global socio-economic problems and challenges in a context of the increasing integration of the global economy by applying economic analysis.
  9. Recognise and discern theoretical and empirical knowledge regarding territory-wide economic dynamics, together with the links to related disciplines.
  10. Recognise and discern theoretical and empirical knowledge related to the study of market competitiveness, including the design and application of policies to defend competition and regulate markets.

Contents

Applied Industrial Organization for Competition Policy

1. Collusion and horizontal agreements

2. Horizontal Mergers

3. How quantifying antitrust damages actions

4. Forms of price regulation


Labour Market Macroeconomics

1. The Labour Market, and its fundamental variables: labour supply, labour demand, wage setting, unemployment

2. Labour Market policies: reasons and effects

3. The Philipps curve and Okun's law

4. Empirical data and analysis of the macroeconomic issues of the labor market


Economics of Migration

1. International Migration - Facts, Determinants and Migrants Selection.

2. Identification Issues in Economics of Migration.

3. Labor Market Impact of Immigration.

4. Political Economy of Immigration.

5. Immigration and Crime.

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Type: Autonomous
Autonomous 82.8 3.312 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Type: Guided
Directed 37.5 1.5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Type: Supervised
Supervised 22.5 0.9 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Classes, essay writing, tutorials, study and research activities.


Labour Market Macroeconomics: Attendance is mandatory. Unjustified absences will result in a failing final grade.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Class attendance 5% 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Exams 70% 3.2 0.128 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Presentation and discussion of essays and problems 15% 2 0.08 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Presentation and discussion of readings 10% 2 0.08 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Continuous evaluation

Class attendance, presentation and discussion of essays and problems, presentation and discussion of readings, exams.


Calendar of evaluation activities

The dates of the evaluation activities of the module (final exams, exercises in the classroom, assignments,...) will be announced well in advance during the semester.\"The dates of evaluation activities cannot be modified, unless there is an exceptional and duly justified reason why an evaluation activity cannot be carried out. In this case, the degree coordinator will contact both the teaching staff and the affected student, and a new date will be scheduled within the same academic period to make up for the missed evaluation activity.\" Section 1 of Article 115. Calendar of evaluation activities (Academic Regulations UAB). Students of the Faculty of Economics and Business, who in accordance with the previous paragraph need to change an evaluation activity (mainly final exam/s) date must process the request by filling out an Application for exams' reschedulehttps://eformularis.uab.cat/group/deganat_feie/application-for-exams-reschedule


Module grade and retake

The overall grade for the module will be determined as the average of the final grades obtained for the individual units of the module, weighted by their ECTS, under the condition that:

  • None of the final grades for the individual units is less than 3.5;
  • Not more than one of the final grades for the individual units is less than 5.0.

In case any of these conditions are not fulfilled, the student will be given the option to recover the corresponding units. Also in the case that the conditions are fulfilled but the overall, weighted-average grade for the module is less than 5.0, the student will be given the option to recover the individual unit graded with less than 5.0. The format of the recovery of a unit will be determined by its professors and the maximum grade that can be obtained for each recovered subject is 5.0.


Evaluations

Applied Industrial Organization for Competition Policy

35% Applied exercises with Stata

65% Written exam


Labour Market Macroeconomics

10% Exercises

30% Essay

50% Written Exam


Economics of Migration

30% Presentation/Written report of an academic paper

70% Written exam


Grade revision process

After all grading activities of the module have ended, students will be informed of the date and way in which the module grades will be published. Students will be also be informed of the procedure, place, date and time of grade revision following University regulations.


Retake Process

\"To be eligible to participate in the retake process of the module, it is required for students to have been previously evaluated for at least two thirds of the total evaluation activities of the module.\" Section 3 of Article 112 ter. The recovery (UAB Academic Regulations).

The date of the retake exam will be duly announced by the coordination of the program. Students who take this exam and pass, will get a grade of 5 for the module. In the event that, after the completion of the retake exame, the student maintains a grade lower than 3.5 in one of the units that make up the module, or maintaints more than one unit with a grade lower than 5.0 with the module itself, the weighted average of the module will not be calculated, although it may be equal or greater than 5.0. In these cases, the final qualification of the module will be 3.5.


Irregularities in evaluation activities

In spite of other disciplinary measures deemed appropriate, and in accordance with current academic regulations, \"in the case that the student makes any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation inthe grade of an evaluation activity, it will be graded with a 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that can be instructed. In case of various irregularities occur in the evaluation of the same module, the final grade of this module will be 0\" Section 10 of Article 116. Results of the evaluation. (UABAcademic Regulations).


Not Assessed Grade

A student can obtain \"Not Assessed\" grade in the module only when he/she has not participated in any of the evaluation activities within it. Therefore, students who perform even only one evaluation component cannot obtain \"Not Assessed\" grade in the module.


Comprehensive evaluation

This module does not offer the option for comprehensive evaluation.


Artificial Intelligence (AI)

For this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed exclusively in support tasks, such as data analysis or information, text correction, in the Trade Report production. The student will have to clearly identify which parts have been generated with this technology, specify the tools used and include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final result of the activity. The non-transparency of the use of AI in this evaluable activity will be considered lack of academic honesty and may entail a partial or total penalty in the grade of the activity, or greater penalties of seriousness.s seriousness cases.


Bibliography

Applied Industrial Organization for Competition Policy

  • Byrne, D.P., and De Roos, N. (2019) “Learning to coordinate: A study in retail gasoline” American Economic Review, 109(2), 591-619
  • Ivaldi, M., & Verboven, M. (2005) “Quantifying the effects from horizontal mergers in European competition policy” International Journal of Industrial Organization, 23(9-10), 669-691.
  • European Commission (2013) “QUANTIFYING HARM IN ACTIONS FOR DAMAGES BASED ON BREACHES OF ARTICLE 101 OR 102 OF THE TREATY ON THE FUNCTIONING OF THE EUROPEAN UNION”
  • Ai, Ch., Martinez, S., & Sappington, D. (2004) “Incentive regulation and telecommunications service quality” Journal of Regulatory Economics, 26(3), 263-285.
  • Davis, P. y Garcés, E. (2014). Quantitative Techniques for Competition and Antitrust Analysis, Princeton University Press.
  • Decker, Ch. (2015) Modern economic regulation: An introduction to theory and practice. Cambridge University Press
  • Motta, M. (2004) Competition Policy: Theory and Practice. Cambridge University Press
  • Viscusi, W.K., Vernon, J.M., and Harrington, J.E. (2005) Economics of Regulation and Antitrust. MIT University Press.


Labour Market Macroeconomics

  • Borjas, G.J. Labour Economics, McGraw-Hill, 9th Edition. 2023.
  • McConnell, C.R., S.L. Brue and D.A. Macpherson. Contemporary Labor Economics, McGraw-Hill, 12th Edition. 2021.


Economics of Migration

  • Ozden, C ̧., Parsons, C. R., Schiff, M., and Walmsley, T. L. (2011). Where on earth is everybody? The evolution of global bilateral migration 1960–2000. The World Bank Economic Review, 25(1):12–56
  • Grogger, J. and Hanson, G. H. (2011). Income maximization and the selection and sorting of international migrants. Journal of Development Economics, 95(1):42–57
  • Dao, T. H., Docquier, F., Parsons, C., and Peri, G. (2018). Migration and development: Dissecting the anatomy of the mobility transition. Journal of Development Economics, 132:88–101
  • Card, D. (1990). The impact of the Mariel boatlift on the Miami labor market. Ilr Review, 43(2):245–257.
  • Goldsmith-Pinkham, P., Sorkin, I., and Swift, H. (2020). Bartik instruments: What, when, why, and how. American Economic Review, 110(8):2586–2624
  • Borusyak, K., Hull, P., and Jaravel, X. (2022). Quasi-experimental shift-share research designs. The Review of Economic Studies, 89(1):181–213
  • Beine, M., Bertoli, S., and Fernández-Huertas Moraga, J. (2016). A practitioners’ guide to gravity models of international migration. The World Economy, 39(4):496–512
  • Edo, A. (2019). The impact of immigrationon the labor market. Journal of Economic Surveys, 33(3):922–948
  • Borjas, G. J. (2003). The labor demand curve is downward sloping: Reexamining the impact of immigration on the labor market. The quarterly journal of economics, 118(4):1335–1374.
  • Peri, G. and Sparber, C. (2009). Task specialization, immigration, and wages. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1(3):135–169
  • Hainmueller, J., & Hopkins, D. J. (2014). Public Attitudes Toward Immigration. Annual Review of Political Science, 17, 225–249.
  • Barone, G., D'Ignazio, A., de Blasio, G., & Naticchioni, P. (2016). Mr. Rossi, Mr. Hu and Politics: The Role of Immigration in Shaping Natives' Voting Behavior. Journal of Public Economics, 136, 1–13.
  • Dustmann, C., Vasiljeva, K., & Damm, A. P. (2019). Refugee Migration and Electoral Outcomes. Review of Economic Studies, 86(5), 2035–2091.
  • Halla, M., Wagner, A. F., & Zweimüller, J. (2017). Immigration and Voting for the Far Right. Journal of the European Economic Association, 15(6), 1341–1385.
  • Steinmayr, A. (2021). Contact versus Exposure: Refugee Presence and Voting for the Far Right. Review of Economics and Statistics, 103(2), 310–327.
  • Tabellini, M. (2020). Gifts of the Immigrants, Woes of the Natives: Lessons from the Age of Mass Migration. Review of Economic Studies, 87(1), 454–486.
  • Bell, B., Fasani, F., & Machin, S. (2013). Crime and Immigration: Evidence from Large Immigrant Waves. Review of Economics and Statistics, 95(4), 1278–1290.
  • Pinotti, P. (2017). Clicking on Heaven's Door: The Effect of Immigrant Legalization on Crime. American Economic Review, 107(1), 138–168.
  • Mastrobuoni, G., & Pinotti, P. (2015). Legal Status and the Criminal Activity of Immigrants. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(2), 175–206.

Software

  • Text editors (Word, Pages, LaTeX, ...).
  • Spreadsheets (Excel, Numbers, LaTeX, ...).
  • Slide show presentation (PowerPoint, Keynote, LaTeX, ...).
  • Statistical/Econometric software and/or for data management - (Stata, R, Eviews, Python, ...).

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TEm) Theory (master) 30 English second semester morning-mixed