Competencies and objectives

 

Course context for academic year 2025-26

This is a second-year elective course in the Master in Quantitative Economics. It is intended for students interested in applied microeconomic research related to economic development, health, education, poverty, and inequality, with a focus on the design and evaluation of public policies, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The course emphasizes the identification of robust causal effects and the analysis of policy interventions across stages of the life cycle, including early childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

It is particularly relevant for students pursuing thesis projects and for those aiming for careers in policy analysis, impact evaluation, data-driven consulting, or applied research roles in international organizations, NGOs, or the public sector. It also provides a strong foundation for students who may be considering doctoral studies in the future. The course assumes prior knowledge of econometrics and programming and encourages the use of real-world datasets and empirical methods for policy-relevant questions.

 

 

Course competencies (verified by ANECA in official undergraduate and Master’s degrees) for academic year 2025-26

General Competences (CG)

  • CG1 : Capacity to carry out research work.
  • CG2 : Capacity to find data (natural and experimental) and analyse it.
  • CG3 : Capacity to apply economic theory to represent real situations.
  • CG4 : Capacity for teamwork.
  • CG5 : Capacity for self-learning.
  • CG6 : Ethical commitment and social responsibility at work, respecting the environment, being aware of and understanding the importance of respecting Fundamental Rights, Equal Opportunities for Men and Women, Universal Accessibility for the Disabled and respect for the Values of Peaceful Culture and Democratic Values.
  • CG7 : Analyse problems using critical reasoning, without prejudices, precisely and rigorously.
  • CG8 : Capacity to synthesise.

 

Specific Competences (CE)

  • CE1 : Capacity to read Economic research articles in a reasoned fashion and evaluate them critically, understand their essential contributions and weaknesses.
  • CE2 : Capacity to understand how the technical problems faced by authors of research articles have been resolved in each case.
  • CE3 : Capacity to test theorems and propositions.
  • CE4 : Capacity to understand and reproduce empirical analyses and simulation experiments on which the conclusions of research articles written by other authors are based.
  • CE5 : Capacity to present important economic problems precisely and respond adequately to said problems by using the techniques learnt on the different courses, using theoretical and empirical analyses or simulations if necessary.

 

 

 

Learning outcomes (Training objectives)

No data

 

 

Specific objectives stated by the academic staff for academic year 2025-26

The LEARNING OBJECTIVES for this course are:

  1. Apply empirical microeconomic tools to analyze real-world issues in health, education, poverty, and inequality, especially in low- and middle-income contexts.

  2. Understand mechanisms—economic, social, and behavioral—that contribute to disadvantage and shape outcomes across the life cycle.

  3. Evaluate the design and credibility of causal identification strategies used in applied research.

  4. Develop the ability to formulate a research question, explore data, and design or replicate an empirical analysis.

  5. Strengthen skills in academic communication, critical discussion, and working with real-world datasets.

 

 

General

Code: 41228
Lecturer responsible:
Roig Sagel, Nicolas Agustin
Credits ECTS: 5,00
Theoretical credits: 1,20
Practical credits: 0,40
Distance-base hours: 3,40

Departments involved

  • Dept: FOUNDATIONS OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
    Area: FOUNDATIONS OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
    Theoretical credits: 1,2
    Practical credits: 0,4
    This Dept. is responsible for the course.
    This Dept. is responsible for the final mark record.

Study programmes where this course is taught