ECX5479 Empirical strategies for policy evaluation
Faculty of Business and Economics
ECX5479 Empirical strategies for policy evaluation is a level 5, 6-credit-point, postgraduate unit from the Faculty of Business and Economics, offered in 2025 in Semester 1 at Clayton. It needs ECF5410 or ECC4650.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2025
- Semester 1
- Clayton
- Assessment
- No exam
- 1 task
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
This is the 2025 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before ECX5479
Prerequisites
Pass these before you enrol.
After ECX5479
No unit lists ECX5479 as a prerequisite in the 2025 handbook.
Enrolment rules
If you are enrolled in course B3701 or B6023 there is no prerequisite.
Overview
Do small classes improve learning? Does the Cashless Welfare Card reduce drug addiction? What are the impacts of Brexit on investment in the UK? These are a few of the questions that you will be equipped to answer when completing this unit. Emphasis is placed on how to design credible evaluation strategies that allow you to provide causal estimates of the impact of a policy. Core topics cover the econometric techniques that should be known by an applied economist, including randomisation, matching, regression discontinuity design, differences-in-differences and synthetic controls. Extensions include quantile regression, mediation analysis, and analysis of distributional impacts. The unit emphasises an intuitive understanding of the validity of each approach, and the use of real data, in the computer lab, as an essential complement to lectures.
Offerings in 2025
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| First semester | Clayton | On campus |
Assessment
- Within semester assessment100%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
understand the central role of the concept of counterfactual in policy analysis
- 2
understand the importance of randomisation as the credibility standard, as well as its limitations and difficulties
- 3
understand the value of different observational designs.
Workload and teaching
- Workshops36 hours
- Teaching approachActive learning
- Teaching approachProblem-based learning
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. You are expected to complete all pre-class activities prior to your scheduled class, and post-class activities should be completed after your scheduled class. Learning activities may include a combination of teacher directed, peer directed and online engagement activities.
This unit engages you in actively applying your knowledge, skills and attributes in interactive, collaborative and reflective activities.
This unit includes problem-based learning approaches, where you engage in research, integrate theory and practice and apply knowledge and skills to develop viable solutions in response to a problem or set of problems.
Where it fits
ECX5479 is part of 2 areas of study in the 2025 handbook.
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Associate Professor Paulo Santos
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for ECX5479?
You need ECF5410 or ECC4650 before you enrol. Enrolment rules also apply.
When is ECX5479 offered?
In 2025, ECX5479 runs in Semester 1 at Clayton.
How much work is ECX5479?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does ECX5479 have an exam?
No. ECX5479 has 1 assessment task and no exam.
Which majors and minors include ECX5479?
ECX5479 is part of Economics and Health economics.