UEH PhD

Data analysis for Public Finance

English

PUF704046

2

The course “Data Analysis for Public Finance” aims to provide doctoral students with a theoretical foundation and advanced practical skills in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data for research and public finance policy making. The course focuses on the application of modern data analysis methods, combining statistics, econometrics, and data science, to study key issues in public finance and the public sector. Specifically, the course has the following objectives: 1. To provide fundamental and advanced knowledge of quantitative data analysis, including data exploration, statistical inference, regression analysis, forecasting, and causal analysis, with a focus on public sector datasets such as government budgets, taxation, public expenditure, public debt, and administrative data, and other socioeconomic data. 2. To develop the ability to formulate research questions and select appropriate analytical methods, allowing doctoral students to link real-world issues in public finance and public policy into structured data analysis problems and to formulate and test economic hypotheses in a rigorous manner. 3. To develop skills in handling and analyzing large datasets, including data collection, cleaning, merging, and visualization, as well as effective use of common analytical tools such as R, Python, Stata, and other open-source platforms. 4. To enhance empirical analysis and causal inference skills through the application of modern methods such as (quasi-)experimental designs, observational data analysis, difference-in-differences, panel data models, and techniques to address potential biases, in order to evaluate the impacts of fiscal policies and public finance reforms. 5. To encourage independent and creative research, helping doctoral students to replicate, extend, and critically assess existing empirical studies in public finance and public economics, and to develop data-driven analyses that directly support doctoral dissertations or high-quality academic research. 6. To support students in presenting and communicating data analysis results, including writing research reports, academic papers, and evidence-based policy briefs, thereby enhancing their ability to participate in academic activities. 7. To promote critical thinking and teamwork skills through academic discussions, policy case analysis, presentations, and small-group data analysis projects. Through this course, doctoral students will enhance their capacity for data analysis and evidence-based reasoning, effectively supporting their doctoral research and making practical contributions to the evaluation and design of public finance policies in a modern socio-economic context.