William C. Horrace
Professor of Economics, Syracuse University

Text
Ashenfelter, Levine and Zimmerman (2003) Statistics and Econometrics (Wiley).

Overview
The objective of this course is to acquaint the student with methods of statistical estimation and testing of economic models.  The course will have both theoretical and empirical content.

Prerequisites
ECN 521 or equivalent and ECN 301 or 311.  Derivative and integral calculus.

Assignments
Time allowing (but it is highly unlikely), all problems from chapters 9 - 18 of the text will be assigned over the course of the semester.  I will go over solutions to the problems in class that are particularly troublesome for students, and this will eat into lecture time in an unpredictable way.  Therefore, I do not follow a set lecture schedule in this course, so attendance is essential. If you do not come to class you will not know what is due nor when it is due.  Late homework will not be accepted, and I encourage you to work the problems even before they are assigned to avoid falling behind.  It is fine for students to work together to solve the problems.  However, you must write up the solutions on your own and in your own words.  Copying homework is not allowed.  Homework must be neat and legible or it will not be accepted. Some of the problems involve computer analyses of data. A free software package called GRETL is available on the internet and can be used to complete these assignments. However, there are other software packages that have become standards (SAS, Stata, Gauss, SPSS, to name a few) that students may prefer to learn and/or use, but these are typically expensive to own.  Some of these packages are available in the SU computer labs.  Most of the homework assignments could actually be done in Excel with the data analysis tool installed, but I recommend against it.

Lectures
I do not lecture from the text, but I do follow the sequencing of the text and will ultimately cover all the material from chapters 9-18 chapters (time allowing), so read ahead. Often times I will incorporate special topics into the lectures that are not covered in the book.  This is usually something that interests me or that may be of interest to the students. For this reason, attendance is mandatory.

Exams
There will be two midterm exams and a comprehensive final exam. Dates will be announced in class. Any conflicts with the announced dates should be brought to my attention in writing as soon as they arise. There will be no make-up exams. Unexcused absence from an exam will result in an exam score of zero.

Grading
Assignments - 25%
1st Midterm Exam - 25%
2nd Midterm Exam - 25%
Final Exam - 25%

Academic Standards
"Syracuse University students shall exhibit honesty in all academic endeavors. Cheating in any form is not tolerated, nor is assisting another person to cheat. The submission of any work by a student is taken as a guarantee that the thoughts and expressions in it are the student’s own except when properly credited to another. Violations of this principle include giving or receiving aid in an exam or where otherwise prohibited, fraud, plagiarism, the falsification or forgery of any record, or any other deceptive act in connection with academic work. Plagiarism is the representation of another’s words, ideas, programs, formulae, opinions, or other products of work as one’s own, either overtly or by failing to attribute them to their true source. Sanctions for violations will be imposed by the dean, faculty, or Student Standards Committee of the appropriate school or college. Documentation of such academic dishonesty may included in an appropriate student file at the recommendation of the academic dean."

"Public Communications Any piece of work bearing a student’s name is assumed by the school to guarantee that the thoughts, expressions, editorials, and photographic material not credited to another are literally the student’s own."

Syracuse University Bulletin, Academic Rules and Regulations, 2001–2002, Section I.1.0.

Grading Philosophy and Grade Grubbing
Your course grade will be assigned solely on the basis of the assignments, exams and the final project. The trend in your performance does not matter. I believe in horizontal equity and do not look at names when assigning course grades. I assign all persons with the same course average the same course letter grade.

Please do not embarrass yourself by grade grubbing, which is whining to me about why you should get a higher grade because you “need” it for some purpose such as to make your parents happy or to get into a business school. The ONLY reason I would ever adjust a grade is an arithmetic mistake. I will not be a party in any conversations or answer any e-mail message whose subject is grade grubbing.

As a final piece of philosophy, many of you plan careers in business or the law where outcomes depend on slight differences in the bid, wording of a contract, or the judge’s interpretation of the law. Sports championships are decided by one point and baskets, touchdowns, and strokes count the same early in the game as late in the game. The message here is a simple, yet important, one. Get used to performing well from the start and to having small differences in performance matter a lot in life, as can be the case in ECN 522.