Unit information: Programme Evaluation in 2026/27

Unit name	Programme Evaluation
Unit code	ECONM0040
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Valente
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	None
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	None
Units you may not take alongside this one	None
School/department	School of Economics
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Unit Information

Why is this unit important?

Many important questions ask “What is the causal effect of X on Y?”. For instance:

What is the effect of unemployment benefits on labour supply?

What is the effect of school closures on COVID-19 cases?

What is the effect of female education on fertility?

What is the effect of the death penalty on crime?

What is the effect of a financial regulation on firm performance?

The key challenge in answering these questions is to ensure that estimates of the effect of X on Y can genuinely be interpreted as causal (rather than just a correlation). If not, then public or private decisions based on these estimates will not have the expected results.

This unit covers the methods most commonly used by applied economists to obtain causal estimates, which are often called “treatment” or “programme” evaluation methods.

How does this unit fit into your programme of study?

This unit will equip students to apply the principles taught in the core programme units to real-life situations where causal estimates are needed. To do so, it will provide a formal presentation of the methods covered but will focus on the application of these methods to real-life examples.

Your learning on this unit

An overview of content

This course will look at a number of econometric approaches to programme evaluation, including social experiments and “natural experiments” (difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, propensity score matching and regression discontinuity design). We will look at the usefulness and limitations of alternative methods in the context of a number of applications, including the minimum wage, welfare-to-work policies and estimating returns to education.

How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit

Students will have a rigorous understanding of the intuition, principles, and requirements for the methods covered to be valid in real-life situations. They will be trained to identify which methods can be used to evaluate causal effects in a variety of applications, and to assess their pros and cons. They will be able to select the approach to be used in real-life situations and to assess the reliability of the resulting estimates.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, successful students will be able to:

1. Assess a range of issues in the evaluation of public policies (which also apply to many other situations where one is interested in estimating causal effects)
2. Apply creatively and independently the methods covered to real-life examples
3. Critically assess the reliability of estimates of causal effects obtained using the methods covered

How you will learn

How you will learn

The unit comprises a combination of asynchronous and synchronous lectures, workshops, and exercise classes.

• A set of asynchronous lectures covering each of the evaluation methods (to meet learning outcome 1).
• Workshops to cover targeted aspects of the material covered in the asynchronous lectures (to meet learning outcome 1).
• Exercise classes in which we go through real-world application exercises similar to what is to be expected during the exam and PC labs to get hands-on practice (to meet learning outcomes 2 and 3).
• Student group presentations workshop(s) (to meet learning outcomes 2, and 3).
• Revision Q&A workshop during revision week. This helps students assess how well they have met the unit’s learning outcomes ahead of the examination and what they need to focus on in preparation for this examination.

How you will be assessed

Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):

There are three key components to formative assessment:

• Multiple choice questions inserted in the lecture videos to give you feedback on your understanding in real-time
• Group presentations on your own original coursework topic. You will receive oral and written feedback on this group work to help you when writing-up your individual summative coursework. This typically takes place before the Spring holiday.
• Oral and written feedback on answers to previous exam questions to prepare students for the final examination (around revision week).

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):

• 2,500-word individual coursework (60% of final mark). The assignment is to design, implement, and discuss your own policy evaluation using one of the methods covered in the units (other than randomized controlled trials). The first stage is formative and done in groups (four to five people). Each group chooses a policy or “treatment” and an evaluation approach and then gives a 15-minute presentation to the class to explain what policy they are planning to evaluate, how they will carry out their evaluation and what some of the strengths and limitations are with their approach. Each group receives oral and written feedback to then be used by students to produce an individual 2,500-word piece of coursework.
• Written 1-hour exam (40% of final mark).

Learning objectives 1, 2, and 3 are assessed through both pieces of summative assessment. The coursework focuses on depth and the exam ensures breadth across the evaluation approaches covered in the unit.

When assessment does not go to plan

• Depending on which parts need to be re-assessed, re-assessment will take the form of a 2,500-word coursework and/or a written 1-hour exam.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ECONM0040).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.

The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.