ECMT6007/ECON4954: Analysis of Panel Data
School of Economics, University of Sydney
1 Applied project
This assignment assesses your ability to put econometric methods for panel data into practice and your
collaborative skills with fellow classmates (if you complete the project with team members). You may finish
the project by yourself or form a group up to four members.
Find a topic that involves empirical analysis of panel data related to economics, finance, business or other
fields of social science. Propose appropriate models and estimators for the research question and panel data
you obtain. The final product of this applied project is a succinct and articulate report on your topic. The
paper is expected to be 1.5-line spaced and about 15 pages (including references, tables and graphs with
appropriate size). Note: the appendix (for code and estimation output) does not count towards the page
limit. Please attach a group assignment cover sheet with the names of all members.
The project is due in Week 13 via Turnitin on Canvas. An announcement with the submission link will
be posted in Week 12.
2 Assessment criteria
1. (10%) An appropriate title, abstract and key words. The title should capture the key issue of the paper
and, better, the attention of readers. The abstract summarizes the research question, methodology,
and main findings of the paper; and should be less than 200 words. Three to five keywords should be
provided below the abstract.
2. (10%) A well-defined and interesting research question: use your creativity when you choose your topic.
Explain why the topic is interesting or important. A practical concern is whether data are available.
You may either find a new topic, or extend existing empirical results (e.g., estimate a new model with
an old dataset).
3. (10%) Brief literature review: Give a short summary of what other researchers did on a related topic.
Cite existing work in the References section. Note: sometimes, (2) and (3) are included in the intro-
duction.
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4. (10%) Collection of panel data: Explain how and from where you collect the dataset. If applicable,
also explain the steps involved in preparing the data for further analysis (i.e., data-cleaning, ways to
handle missing data, etc.).
5. (20%) A well-defined econometric model for the panel data with well-justified assumptions: explain
carefully each of the assumptions (why they are necessary, whether they are realistic, etc.).
6. (20%) Empirical analysis of data: This typically involves estimation and hypotheses testing. You are
expected to apply econometric techniques to address the underlying research question.
7. (10%) Interpret and summarize the main findings. Interpret the results obtained in (6), and answer
the research question in 1. Tables and graphs are useful for reporting estimation results. Note: (4) -
(7) can be organized into two or three sections with appropriate section titles.
8. (10%) The paper should end with a conclusion, including a recap of main findings, potential issues or
limitations, and possible extensions.
3 Structure of an empirical paper
The paper should be organized as follows:
ˆ Introduction: Clearly state the research question, motivation, literature, and contribution.
ˆ Data and data issues: source of data, summary statistics, data cleansing (if any), panel being short/long,
balanced/unbalanced, missing values, sample selection concerns, etc.
ˆ Empirical models and estimation methods: why and how the model fits the research question and
data, what estimators to use, which estimators are more likely to be consistent, endogeneity concerns,
limitations of the analysis, etc.
ˆ Estimation results: report the estimates in tables, interpretation of results, how the research question
is addressed by the estimation results.
ˆ Conclusion and discussion: summary of research question, methodology, and main results; discuss
potential issues in estimation, mention possible extension.
ˆ References.
ˆ Appendix (e.g. Stata/Python/R codes, estimation outputs).
A detailed guide on how to conduct an empirical project can be found in chapter 19 of Introductory
Econometrics: A Modern Approach, 7 ed, by Jeffrey Wooldridge.