Duke Paging: Fill & Download for Free

This did make me laugh front page of a UK newspaper today.

I worked at the Brattle Group as a research analyst for 2 years and have friends in other economic consulting firms (Analysis Group, NERA, etc.).I am going to break down this answer into two parts:1) Knowledge expected to get an analyst level offer.2) Knowledge needed to perform the job.1) Getting the offerI would say generally, an introductory level econometrics class is enough. Usually the class should cover multiple facets of linear regression: assumptions, inference, and evaluation of the model. Here is a sample syllabus from Duke (Page on duke.edu Page 6/7).This is usually enough to get the offer. Typically, economic consulting firms will have a quantitative/technical aspect to the interviewing process. The technical interview can have many different flavors, depending on the firm. It can be composed of a business case, economics principles (think price elasticity), and econometrics/statistics questions.Most of the econometrics/statistics questions I have seen are usually regression based*. Therefore, knowing the key assumptions for linear regression such as homoscedasticity (equal variance) of error, normalicy, etc. is important. In addition, know how to explain R-squared and consider the potential for omitted variable bias (confounders).As others have mentioned, it is very helpful to do an honors thesis during senior year, since you can talk about the project during the interviews. The project is useful to showcase the ability to data wrangle, run statistical packages, and critically think. Here is my thesis (https://econ.duke.edu/uploads/assets/ShenJeffrey2011.pdf). I ran a simple multivariate linear regression. Note, I want to highlight that I did not look into model assumptions, variable selection, or variable transformations. This was enough for me to get the job.* The interviewer usually has a PhD in Economics. Therefore, terminologies are definitely biased towards econometrics terminologies and the problems are going to be largely motivated by the field.2) Doing well on the jobThe amount of knowledge actually needed to do well on the job is project dependent. I would predict that the more statistics knowledge you have, the more likely you are going to be staffed on a project that needs it.Personally, I worked on projects that involved regression, Monte Carlo simulations, and stochastic calculus. I only took an introductory statistics class and econometrics during undergrad so there was definitely a big learning curve, even with help from experts in the field. That is part of the reason I went back for grad school to fill in my statistics knowledge.To make it as a partner at an economic consulting firm usually means that you are an expert and testify in litigation cases. One of the quickest ways to be recognized as an expert is to hold a PhD. Therefore, there is a ceiling for people with only undergraduate degrees at economic consulting firms.Hence, analysts usually leave economic consulting firms after a 2-4 years stint. People either go to other jobs, MBA, quant master degree (which I did), or PhD. That is another story for another day.Good luck!Jeff

What are your thoughts on baby Archie’s picture for Father’s Day posted on the Instagram page of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex?I think Harry’s having a grand time being a daddy. I’m so happy for him and the Duchess.And I LOVE the way the Duke and Duchess are teasing people with the pictures. They know that no matter what they do, someone will whine, so they might as well enjoy themselves.