# Syllabus Addendum: 8-Session Version

This addendum updates the schedule and assessment format for an 8-session version of **Experimental Analysis of Public Policies**. It does not redesign the course from scratch. It preserves the methods and learning objectives of the existing syllabus while spreading the material over more sessions.

## Revised Programme

| Session | Topic | Main content |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Foundations of Policy Evaluation | Causal questions, potential outcomes, estimands, counterfactuals |
| 2 | Selection Bias, Regression, Matching, and Inference | Naive comparisons, omitted-variable bias, regression interpretation, matching, propensity scores, overlap, clustering |
| 3 | Randomised Experiments: Design and Power | Assignment, stratification, cluster randomisation, power, MDE |
| 4 | Compliance, IV, LATE, and External Validity | ITT, first stage, Wald estimator, compliers, scale-up |
| 5 | Difference-in-Differences: 2x2 and TWFE | DiD estimator, fixed effects, parallel trends, serial correlation |
| 6 | Event Studies and Staggered DiD | Dynamic effects, pre-trend diagnostics, anticipation, TWFE problems |
| 7 | Regression Discontinuity | Running variable, cutoff, continuity, bandwidth, sharp/fuzzy RDD |
| 8 | Synthetic Control, Heterogeneity, and Replication | Donor pools, pre-fit, placebo tests, heterogeneity, replication, final synthesis |

## Revised Assessment

The course uses two grades only:

| Component | Weight | Format |
| --- | ---: | --- |
| In-class online QCM quizzes | 40% | Three short in-class online quizzes |
| Final written exam | 60% | In-class exam based on applied empirical-design scenarios |

## Rationale

This format limits take-home assessment and reduces incentives to use AI. It also reduces correction time: QCM quizzes are automatically graded, and the final exam uses a short rubric focused on causal reasoning.

## No Take-Home Project

The revised format intentionally avoids take-home graded projects. The same empirical-design reasoning is practiced through in-class QCM quizzes, supervised exercises, and the final written exam.