Do labor training programs improve earnings and employability, or are workers who participate in trainings usually better than others? Do private schools provide better education, or are their students more motivated than their peers in public schools? Are veterans adequately compensate for their service in the army, or could they do better in the private labor market? Identifying accurate causal relation in economics requires bright ideas, good data and a perfect empirical strategy. Modern econometrics have revolutionized economics, providing answers for important foundational problems.

During the Fall 2018, “Master” Josh Angrist offered a course of Econometrics at Columbia University, providing a singular opportunity to learn how to estimate causal relations using “harmless” econometrics. In the first half of the course, Professor Simon Lee taught advanced models for microecnomic analysis, such as nonparametric and semiparametrics models, quantile regression and panel data models. In the second half, Professor Josh Angrist (assisted by the PhD candidate Len Goff) taught the topic of randomized trials, regression, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity designs, and the use of market design for empirical research on causal questions.