Why It's So Important to Write Good Abstracts and Introductions

..oh, and carefully label/describe tables too!

Oh No! I Got the Wrong Sign! What Should I Do?

Graduate students, this paper has a handy dandy checklist of potential explanations for "the wrong sign" in empirical research. A related issue is an estimate which is way too big to be believable. I really like the discussion of data mining. When is it a sin and when is it a way to understand the world using data? I also really like the conclusion that many times a wrong sign is a blessing, not a curse. It forces us to really think hard about our theory, data, identification strategy, etc. Hmm...maybe all of our papers would be better if we always started off by getting the wrong sign. Maybe a good rule of thumb is to look back at this checklist not only when you get the wrong sign, but also when you happen to get the right one of reasonable magnitude.

Stop Trying to Be Clever and Just Be Clear

Writing clearly is such an important part of doing economics. You might have the most brilliant theoretical model or the most dazzling empirical findings, but if readers don't know what you're talking about, these things won't matter at all. Take the time to write well. Here is some advice on how.

Manove's Dissertation Advice

This is some excellent advice for how to complete a dissertation from my friend, Michael Manove, at BU. Some of the names/people are specific to BU, but the general ideas are useful for all econ students. Not only are the suggestions insightful, but he's pretty hilarious!

My favorite lines:

Michelangelo wrote: “Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”  Likewise, after years of coursework, after reading the newspapers, after listening to professors, preachers and politicians, you have a good idea for a dissertation topic somewhere inside your brain. 

If you plan to write an empirical thesis, and most of you should, you will need data.  The most important thing you need to know about data is that the word “data” is plural.  If you accidentally say “this data” instead of “these data” you won’t sound like the pompous scholar that you want to be. 

The main ingredients for success in a PhD program are self-confidence, self-discipline and ambition.  Intelligence has little to do with the process.

Empirical Analysis Dominating Economics

Have a look at this link. I'm intrigued by these machine learning techniques. My undergraduate Econometrics professor told us that when doing empirical work, we should always "let the theory guide the way." I think this was and is very useful advice in general. But I remember thinking way back then, "..but what if the theory is wrong?"