Welcome to the Research Seminar in Economics. We are excited to have you join us. In this seminar, you will gain valuable insight into cutting-edge economic research through presentations by established researchers (usually external speakers), and potentially through presenting your own work.

Your presentation will give you the opportunity to showcase your research and engage in discussions with both junior and senior members of the Economics Department. In addition, you will develop critical evaluation skills by writing referee reports on selected research papers.

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). This is our "regular" research seminar that you should attend.
• Our internal presentations take place during the summer term as part of our Department retreat.
  
  • This year, the retreat is scheduled from May 22 to May 25 at Hotel Marienhof (Reichenau an der Rax).
    • The program is still in the making, but for orientation, you can refer to the 2024 program here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2klj2y2b948leo8h8cbxq/20230507-Department_Seminar_Program.pdf?rlkey=zberse14rkumfkvu0i6ud56ix&dl=0.
    • External doctoral students are welcome to join the retreat, but at their own expense. If you are interested in attending, please contact Martin Halla
  • In the winter term, the internal presentations take place on Tuesdays on campus.

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.

Attendance is mandatory.

Our internal presentations take place during the summer term as part of our Department retreat.
This year, the retreat is scheduled from May 22 to May 25 at Hotel Marienhof (Reichenau an der Rax). External doctoral students are welcome to join the retreat, but at their own expense. If you are interested in attending, please contact Martin Halla. (In the winter term, the internal presentations take place on Tuesdays on campus.)

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 retreat (40%).

PhD Programs:

• Attendance and active participation (20%).
• Referee report on two presentations, one from a Wednesday unit and on from the retret  (40%).
• Research concept or presentation of own work during retreat (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 (= Department retreat in summer term): martin.halla@wu.ac.at