Introduction to Quantitative Economics

A paradigm-shifting textbook that teaches graduate students in economics how to use economic models to interpret data.

Offering a new pedagogical paradigm, this textbook delivers a ready-made economics course covering the general concepts that unify different approaches to bringing economic models to data. Jesse Shapiro presents core ideas in quantitative economics as an abstract, cohesive whole and introduces canonical models that can be used across a wide range of applications. This course-in-a-book exposes students to stylized applications of these models that illuminate their foundations as well as recent research articles demonstrating the models’ broad applicability.

• Provides a coherent, generalized approach to making model-based inferences in empirical economics
• Introduces central concepts and canonical models in quantitative economics
• Features applications of modern research topics
• Suits self-paced learning and classroom use alike

Jesse Shapiro is the George Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration at Harvard University, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and an associate editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics. Shapiro is a 2021 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and a 2025 recipient of the Harvard Graduate Economics Teaching Award for Advising.