Description: Difference-in-differences (DiD) is one of the most widely used approaches for estimating causal effects in empirical economics. While the properties of the canonical two-period, two-group DiD design are well understood, recent research has shown that standard DiD estimators often lack a clear causal interpretation in more complex settings that are common in applied work. Such settings include staggered treatment adoption (where units receive treatment at different points in time) or variation in treatment intensity across units.

The aim of this seminar is to study recent methodological advances in the DiD literature that propose alternative estimators designed to recover well-defined causal parameters in these more realistic environments. Each topic combines a methodological component with an applied component, in which students implement and evaluate a proposed estimator using real-world data.

Prerequisites: The seminar exposes participants to academic work at the current research frontier. It is particularly suited for students with a strong background and interest in empirical microeconomics.

Organisation: Interested students can register for the seminar until  March 13 by sending an email to tobias.boehm@uni-muenster.de. If the seminar is oversubscribed, preference is given to students with a strong background in empirical microeconomics. An introductory meeting takes place in the beginning of April. To obtain credits, participants have to write a seminar paper (15-20 pages) and give a presentation (presumably around mid June).

In case of any question, please feel free to send an email to me (tobias.boehm@uni-muenster.de).