In the Research Seminar in Economics, students gain insight into cutting-edge economic research through presentations by established researchers (usually external speakers) and through their own presentations. Through their own presentations, students have the opportunity to present and discuss their own work with junior and senior members of the Economics Department.  Students also learn to critically discuss research papers by writing referee reports. The seminar has two parts:

On Wednesday meetings we have external speakers, i.e. researchers from other universities or research institutions (Link to programm: https://www.wu.ac.at/en/economics/research/economics-research-seminar)

In this course, students

• gain insights into research from internationally renowned senior economists
• have the opportunity to present and discuss their own research projects/papers with members from the Department of Economics.
• learn to critically discuss research papers by writing referee reports.

Mandatory attendance.

Please note that the units on May 22^nd, 23^rd, and 24^th, 2025 will take place externally. The location will be announced later.

Presentations and discussions (referee reports).

Doctoral Programs:

• Attendance and active participation (20%).
• Referee report on one presentation (40%).
• Research concept or presentation of own work during one of the Tuesday units (40%).

PhD Programs:

• Attendance and active participation (20%).
• Referee report on two presentations, one from a Tuesday unit and the other one from a Wednesday unit (40%).
• Research concept or presentation of own work during one of the Tuesday units (40%).

Instructions for referee report:

Your assignment
Select one (or two) presentations and see if there is a written paper version available. Submit a  referee report. Imagine that you are reviewing this paper for a very good general interest journal (such as EJ or JEEA).

What is a referee report?
A referee report is a critique of an unpublished academic research paper. Please see the Wikipedia entry on 'peer review'.

How do I write a referee report?
If you do not have any experience in writing a referee report, you can refer to Chapter 3 (pp. 103-118) of Thomson, William (2003), A Guide for the Young Economist, M.I.T. Press, Cambridge.

Guidelines:
The referee report should be between 3 and 4 pages (one and a half spaced, 12 point font). You should begin with a brief summary of the paper.Then, in the body of your referee report, comment on the research design, its empirical implementation, and the results.In particular, evaluate the validity of the identifying (or modeling) assumptions, any suggestive evidence provided in the paper, and the robustness of the (main) results.Discuss potential problems and shortcomings in the research design and its implementation, and provide solutions (if possible).Also point out what you like about the paper.In other words, you should provide a very critical assessment of the paper and demonstrate your knowledge of the methodology used.

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Economic Research Seminar (Wednesday units): harald.oberhofer@wu.ac.at

Internal Economic Reserch Seminar (extern units): martin.halla@wu.ac.at