Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2026 - ECON 913 G100

Selected Topics in Economics (4)

Structural Microeconomics

Class Number: 2040

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 9 – Dec 6, 2026: Mon, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

    Sep 9 – Dec 6, 2026: TBA, TBA
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Offered by arrangement.

COURSE DETAILS:

Description

This course with focus on Industrial Organization methods and applications. The course
will be empirically focused and will introduce you to empirical models of discrete choice. To
do so, the course will cover a variety of contexts where discrete choice models have been
used, including classic IO applications such as the cement industry and more recent applications
such as in education markets. Themes throughout the course will be identification
(e.g., unobserved heterogeneity) and computational tractability. The two goals of the course
are to (i) familiarize yourself with how to estimate empirical models and (ii) develop your
programming skills.

Programming

Programming should be done in either Matlab, R, or STATA. You may use other programming
languages (e.g., Python or Julia) as well if you wish, although I will be unable to
provide any support for those languages as I have never used them.

Tentative Course Outline

The weekly coverage might change as it depends on the progress of the class. (Week Content)
Week 1
• Course Introduction
• Reading assignment: None

Week 2
• Demand Estimation (Logit)
• Reading assignment: Bayer, Patrick; Ferreira, Fernando; McMillan,
Robert. A Unified Framework for Measuring Preferences for Schools and
Neighborhoods. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 115, No. 4 (August
2007), pp. 588–638.

Week 3
• Demand Estimation (BLP)
• Reading assignment: Gilraine, Michael; Petronijevic, Uros; Singleton,
John D. School Choice, Competition, and Aggregate School Quality.
NBER Working Paper No. w31328, National Bureau of Economic Research,
June 2023.
• Problem Set 1 Assigned (due in two weeks)

Week 4
• Demand Estimation (BLP II)
• Reading assignment: Neilson, Christopher A. Targeted Vouchers, Competition
Among Schools, and the Academic Achievement of Poor Students.
Econometrica (Forthcoming).

Week 5
• Empirical Models of Market Entry
• Reading assignment: Singleton, John D. Incentives and the Supply of
Effective Charter Schools. American Economic Review, 109(7), (2019)
2568–2612.
• Referee Report 1 Assigned (due in two weeks)

Week 6
• Empirical Models of Market Entry II
• Reading assignment: Dinerstein, Michael, and Troy D. Smith. Quantifying
the Supply Response of Private Schools to Public Policies. American
Economic Review, vol. 111, no. 10 (October 2021): 3376–3417.
• Problem Set 2 Assigned (due in two weeks)

Week 7
• Overflow and Presentation Hints
• Reading assignment: None

Week 8
• Dynamic Discrete Choice
• Reading assignment: Rust, J. (1987). Optimal replacement of GMC bus
engines: An empirical model of Harold Zurcher. Econometrica, 55(5),
999–1033.

Week 9
• Dynamic Discrete Choice II
• Reading assignment: Bayer, Patrick; McMillan, Robert; Murphy, Alvin;
Timmins, Christopher. A Dynamic Model of Demand for Houses and
Neighborhoods. Econometrica, vol. 84, no. 3 (May 2016): 893–942.

Week 10
• Dynamic BLP
• Reading assignment: Hendel, Igal and Nevo, Aviv. Measuring the Implications
of Sales and Consumer Inventory Behavior. Econometrica,
74(6), (November 2006): 1637–1673.
• Problem Set III Assigned (due in two weeks)

Week 11
• Horizontal Differentiation
• Reading assignment: Bau, Natalie. 2022. Estimating an Equilibrium
Model of Horizontal Competition in Education. Journal of Political Economy,
130(7): 1717–1764.

Week 12
• Imperfect Information
• Reading assignment: Corradini, Viola. Information and access in school
choice systems: Evidence from New York City. (2023).
• Referee report 2 presentations

Week 13
• Review
• Referee report 2 presentations

Grading

  • Preparation 20%
  • Problem sets (3) 30%
  • Referee Reports (2) 20%
  • Final 30%

NOTES:

Preparation

I will request that you read one paper per week. Please read the paper to the best of your
ability so that you can follow along with the lecture that will be based around that paper.
In general, we will use these papers to see where the literature is. I may get you to briefly
explain the results of a paper to the class (assigned the week before).

Problem Sets (3)

Problem sets are pretty self-explanatory. All problem sets will require the analysis of provided
data to complete.

Referee Reports (2)

There will be two referee report assignments in the class. The first will be a paper assigned
by myself and will require you to submit a written referee report of 2-4 pages long plus a
one-page letter to the editor. I will provide an example of one as a guide. The second referee
report will be a IO job-market paper from the prior year of your choice and will require
a 15 minute presentation that summarizes and gives comments. No written report will be
required for this second report.

Final

The final will be relatively short (I will aim for a 1.5 hour test) and will test what you have
picked up in class.

Materials

RECOMMENDED READING:

Empirical Industrial Organization: Models, Methods, and Applications by Victor Aguirregabiria.
Available at http://aguirregabiria.net/wpapers/book_dynamic_io.pdf.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.