ECO4193 University of Ottawa Inequality and Crime Paper This paper has three parts. It needed to submit a topic proposal and bibliographic search, the inte

ECO4193 University of Ottawa Inequality and Crime Paper This paper has three parts. It needed to submit a topic proposal and bibliographic search, the intermediate report and the final paper in order. I need to get back the work at least two days before the due day which means I hope to get the first work (topic proposal and bibliographic search) done on June 25 or 26 at the latest, and so on. University of Ottawa
Term paper guidelines
ECO 4193 – Economics of Conflict
Louis Hotte
Summer 2019
Term paper guidelines | Literature Review
Table of Contents
1
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
2
Topic proposal and bibliographic search (Due Thursday June 27, 2019) …………………… 3
2.1
Bibliographic search for topic proposal ………………………………………………………….. 4
3
The intermediate report (Due Thursday July 11th, 2019) …………………………………………. 5
4
The final paper (Due Thursday August 1st 2019)……………………………………………………. 5
4.1
The general structure……………………………………………………………………………………. 5
4.2
The general introduction (2-3 pages) ……………………………………………………………… 6
4.3
The reviews (5-7 pages each) ……………………………………………………………………….. 6
4.3.1
The specific question(s) ……………………………………………………………………………. 7
4.3.2
The context ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 7
4.3.3
The theory ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 7
4.3.4
The data ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
4.3.5
The methodology or empirical strategy ………………………………………………………. 7
4.3.6
The main results ………………………………………………………………………………………. 8
4.3.7
Discussions ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
4.4
Discussion and conclusion (2-3 pages) …………………………………………………………… 8
4.5
Additional comments and tips ………………………………………………………………………. 8
4.5.1
Section titles ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 8
4.5.2
A self-contained paper ……………………………………………………………………………… 9
5
List of recommended journals per topic ………………………………………………………………. 10
5.1
General journals in economics …………………………………………………………………….. 10
5.2
Environmental and Resource Economics ……………………………………………………… 10
5.3
Economics of Conflicts ………………………………………………………………………………. 10
5.4
Economics of Development ………………………………………………………………………… 10
6
Topic proposal form for literature review (Due Thursday June 27th, 2019) ……………… 11
7
Checklist (TBC) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 12
A
Style guidelines ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 13
A.1
Table of contents ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 13
A.2
Bibliography style ……………………………………………………………………………………… 13
A.3
Citations …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 13
A.4
Quotations ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14
A.5
Footnotes ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 14
A.6
Tables ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 14
LOUIS HOTTE
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Term paper guidelines | Literature Review
A.7
Figures……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14
A.8
Formatting and visuals ……………………………………………………………………………….. 15
A.9
Title Page …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 15
B
References ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 16
C
Example of table………………………………………………………………………………………………. 17
D
Example of figure …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 18
E
Model for title page ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19
LOUIS HOTTE
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Term paper guidelines | Literature Review
WARNING!!!
Before anything, you must read the document entitled “Academic Integrity: Student’s
Guide” that has been produced by the University of Ottawa.
1
Introduction
For this course, a literature review consists in a detailed summary of three empirical papers.
The papers must be linked by an overarching question of interest. This question is chosen by the
student but must fit clearly within the general theme of the course. Each of the reviewed papers
must contain a regression analysis and have been published in a well-regarded, peer-reviewed
economics journal.
This exercise seeks to introduce the student to many of the critical stages of the research
process. This includes: the choice of a research topic; the search and identification of good
empirical work that is of relevance to the topic; the ability to perform a structured synthesis of
empirical work and express ideas clearly; the challenge of critically, creatively, and
constructively appraising empirical work and its theoretical underpinnings; the discipline of
adhering to a project timeline; and, finally, putting together a well-formatted, interesting paper
that follows the rigour of the scientific method.
The requirements are not overly demanding in terms of original contributions. It is designed
this way as a steppingstone into the world of research for advanced undergraduate students in the
economics major. In return, however, the expected technical level of the presentation, as well as
the short critical discussions, must clearly correspond to that of an advanced undergraduate
student in economics. The evaluation will strongly reflect that.
A word about language quality. This document concerns term papers written in English (or
French) by university students in an English (and French) language university. The quality of the
language must thus meet what is expected of university students at this stage.1
The paper is divided into two parts. The first part (with section first numbers) is mostly
specific to this course. In the second part (with section first letters), most directives are
applicable any term or MA major paper in economics.
2
Topic proposal and bibliographic search (Due Thursday June 27, 2019)2
A topic proposal form is provided in section 6. You will have to provide a topic title, a brief
summary of the question(s) and a list of three papers. The bibliographic search report is
described in the section below. To be submitted in printed form only.
This early stage of the research process has a tentative flavor attached to it and is meant to be
so. But do not treat it as any less important than the later stages. Whatever corners you cut here
will catch you up later on.
The research process calls for a maturing of ideas. Once you get started with this stage, you
will realise that your mind is at times wandering around the issues while eating corn flakes,
1
If you think that language is an issue to you, you must work on it AND START EARLY. There are resources
at the University to help. You should have the initial versions of your text proofread, as one usually makes the same
small number of mistakes repetitively. This constitutes an invaluable investment in your future.
2
Text in red denotes adaptions for the intended course.
LOUIS HOTTE
3
Term paper guidelines | Literature Review
riding the bus, or during yoga class. (Don’t do it while riding your bike through city streets
though; it’s dangerous and it hurts.) You may find yourself constructing arguments and
deconstructing them the next day. This is how one matures ideas and probably constitutes the
most important part of the research process. If you don’t find yourself doing that, then it may be
that you are not interested or convinced by your chosen topic.3 Try modifying it a little.
In any case, do not panic if you did not find exactly what you were expecting or if you do not
feel entirely compelled by the topic. Things will get better as you move along, provided you start
early and with the right attitude. Important in this respect is the bibliographic search. As you will
see in the topic proposal form, you will be asked to search through a bibliographic database from
the University library.
2.1
Bibliographic search for topic proposal
You must find three scientific articles containing mainly empirical work and published in a
good quality, peer-refereed journal not before year 2000. (More on this below.)
There are various good databases that can be used to search for articles on a specific
subject, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. For this topic proposal, I want you to
begin with either ECONLIT or JSTOR. Both can be accessed through the University library’s list
of databases. (Databases A-Z)
A few remarks are in order here. One may also conduct a search using Google or Google
Scholar. The problem here is that you may end-up collecting many very bad, “pseudo-scientific”,
not seriously peer-reviewed papers. Experienced researchers are able to quickly disentangle the
lot. The inexperienced student ends up spending hours reading papers that in the end will not
help them at all, or worse, will confuse them or send them in the wrong direction.
Keep in mind that papers published in respected journals have (normally) gone through a
rigorous peer-refereeing process before being accepted for publication. This means that others
have done the work of identifying good quality and original contributions for you. This is a boon
for the inexperienced.4 In section 5, I provide a list of well-respected journals in economics that
tend to publish good empirical work, some in any sub-fields of economics, some in specific subfields. Once you find three empirical articles within the list that fit your topic well, your job is
done.
For the above reasons, I want you to use either ECONLIT or JSTOR for the topic proposal.
With JSTOR, use the advanced search option and narrow your search within economics.
(ECONLIT is already limited to economics.) Restrict your search to articles and the date range
after 2000. Begin with a set of two or three keywords contained in the abstract with the AND
operator. If your search returns less than 10 articles, your keywords are too restrictive. Change
them or consider a broader topic. If it returns more than 200 articles, use additional or more
specific keywords, or consider a more restricted topic. Once your search results have narrowed to
between 10 and 200 articles, save them and email them to me.
You must go through the list of articles and find three for your term paper to be listed in your
topic proposal. To this end, you must select papers based on the title, then the abstract, and then
by downloading the paper and leafing through it. Make sure it contains a regression analysis, i.e.,
3
It may also be that you are not really interested in doing research. The consequences are not very serious in the
context of this course. But if you do like it, you may be ripe for graduate studies.
4
Alas, this is not failsafe. Sometimes bad papers get published in top journals while much better papers do not
make it there.
LOUIS HOTTE
4
Term paper guidelines | Literature Review
a regression equation and a table of estimated coefficients for the explanatory variables and their
statistical significance.
Expect to spend a few hours on this article search. It is a critical investment in your time.
You do not just want three articles that fit your topic well; you want them to be good and
interesting. If you cannot seem to find any good articles, consider changing your topic. In fact,
you will probably be naturally led to deviate from your original topic while conducting the
search. You might come across other topics that you did not initially think of, but find more
interesting than your original one. That is a perfectly normal outcome of a search. Be flexible at
this point.
3
The intermediate report (Due Thursday July 11th, 2019)
A document containing the following must be submitted at class break on printed paper (no
emailing please):
a) A final reference list containing three empirical papers with regression analysis that
closely and convincingly fit your topic.
b) A complete review of one paper. This will in fact correspond to the first review of the
three reviews that you are expected to do for the final paper. This first review must
follow closely the sectional structure proposed in section 4.1 below and its associated
explanations and style guidelines with proper referencing etc. Each section must be
written with full sentences in your own words. And of course, no copying/pasting from
the paper; this would be plagiarism.
4
The final paper (Due Thursday August 1st 2019)
The term paper consists of a small review of the literature on a topic of direct relevance to
conflict economics. The review is primarily based on three empirical papers that contain
regression analysis. (You may briefly mention and cite additional empirical or theoretical papers
but they cannot be described in details.) The topic and the three reviewed papers must have been
preapproved by the professor. Papers that do not fit clearly within a chosen topic in conflict
economics are not acceptable and will not be corrected.
The term paper must contain 15 to 20 pages of “pure” text (4000 to 5000 words). It is always
a good idea to identify clearly the subject under discussion with section and subsection headings.
A common mistake by students is to jump back and forth between different topics such as data
description, own results, results of others, all within the same paragraph and without clearly
stating so. This not only becomes very confusing for the reader but it usually reflects
disorganization in the student’s thoughts. By adhering to a sectional structure, the student will
view things more clearly. It also makes it easier for both the writer and the reader to move back
and forth between different parts of the paper.
The final paper submission must be accompanied with the checklist found in section 7,
checked out and signed.
4.1
The general structure
For the term paper in this course, the student must adhere closely to the following structure:
LOUIS HOTTE
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Term paper guidelines | Literature Review
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Introduction
Title for review 1
a. The specific question
b. The context
c. The theory
d. The data
e. The methodology
f. The main results
g. Discussion (brief)
Title for review 2
a. …
Title for review 3
a. …
Discussion and conclusion
References
The subsections must appear explicitly in your final text. Here are suggestions on how to
go about each subsection.
4.2
The general introduction (2-3 pages)
Students often tend to neglect the introduction, thinking that all of the hard and novel work
appears in later sections of the paper and the reader will figure things out. This is a mistake.
Think of when you begin to read a new article. The first thing you will do is read the first two
paragraphs in the introduction. If this does not catch your attention, you move on to something
else. This is often simply due to the fact that the introduction was written in haste just before the
submission deadline and not because the paper is not interesting. Why bother reading a paper if
the introduction is badly written, confusing, or full of spelling mistakes?
There is no hard and fast rule on how to write an introduction. The experienced
researcher can use creativity here also. But students often do not have this experience and end up
writing an introduction that lacks focus and clarity and does not do justice to the rest of the
paper. For this reason, I prefer to impose some structure to the introduction with the following
set of rules.
Aim for a two- to three-page introduction. Write one paragraph (about one-half page) for
each of the following topic in the same order:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
The big issues in the larger context of economics and the social sciences
The main specific question(s) that you address in your term paper (five maximum)
The methodology that you use (a literature review here, with three main papers)
A brief description of the different approaches used
The main results (five maximum)
A brief “road map” of your paper
Somewhere in the introduction, you should state clearly what you consider to be the main
lessons that you have learned.
4.3
The reviews (5-7 pages each)
Proceed one paper at a time, a separate section for each, and write one to three paragraphs for
each of the following subjects:
LOUIS HOTTE
6
Term paper guidelines | Literature Review
4.3.1 The specific question(s)
Describe the specific question(s) that the paper addresses. Suppose, for instance, that your
general topic is whether natural resource abundance causes conflict. Then the specific question
of the paper being reviewed here may be something like the link between oil prices and civil war
casualties in Colombia between 1980 and 2000.
4.3.2 The context
Describe the area of application of the analysis. This includes the set of countries, the
periods, the sub-population, etc. Does it involve specific events such as a war period, a major
recession, an agrarian or education reform?
4.3.3 The theory
Explain what phenomena that the paper seeks to analyse. Do this mostly in plain words, i.e.,
as if you were explaining to fellow economics students during class break. The technical level
must correspond to that of students who have completed intermediate courses in economics. You
may add in some variables and mathematical expressions but this is not the point of your review,
so do not overdo it.
4.3.4 The data
Talk mostly about the data of interest. We are not much concerned about data that is widely
used, such as GDP per capita, GDP growth, schooling level, stock prices, etc. Concentrate your
discussion on the data that is somewhat unique and critical to the study. Who collected this data,
where, and how? Were there any specific difficulties or potential biases? For instance, how were
the casualties from the civil war in Colombia collected and by whom? Do they include both
civilians and fighters? How can we be sure that civilian casualties are not caused by crime
instead?
4.3.5 The methodology or empirical strategy
Here you should be quite specific. Your training as an economist must transpire here and
single you out from the untrained, say, CBC journalist. What is the precise relationship being
estimated? What are the dependent variable and explanatory variables of interest? Express the
main equation being estimated on a separate line, using the math editor. If various equations are
being estimated, chose one or two that seem most important; this type of choice constit…
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