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The State of Applied Econometrics - Causality and Policy Evaluation

Susan Athey, Guido Imbens

arXiv 3 Jul 2016 · Statistics — Methodology · publishedThe Journal of Economic Perspectives (2017) · 201 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:1607.00699 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

In this paper we discuss recent developments in econometrics that we view as important for empirical researchers working on policy evaluation questions. We focus on three main areas, where in each case we highlight recommendations for applied work. First, we discuss new research on identification strategies in program evaluation, with particular focus on synthetic control methods, regression discontinuity, external validity, and the causal interpretation of regression methods. Second, we discuss various forms of supplementary analyses to make the identification strategies more credible. These include placebo analyses as well as sensitivity and robustness analyses. Third, we discuss recent advances in machine learning methods for causal effects. These advances include methods to adjust for differences between treated and control units in high-dimensional settings, and methods for identifying and estimating heterogeneous treatment effects.

Citation extraction

176
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in-text mentions
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distinct cited
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appendix boundary found by appendix_titled_section at “Supplementary Analyses” · 51% of the source is main text. Read the extracted text to check this.

Most heavily cited references

The works this paper leans on most, across its whole bibliography — not restricted to papers in our corpus. Ranked by composite intensity, which combines how often a work is mentioned, how many sections mention it, and how much of that falls in the main text rather than the appendix.

ReferenceIntensityMentionsSectionsMain text
1Guido W Imbens and Donald B Rubin (2015) Causal Inference in Statistics, Social, and Biomedical Sciences self0.8368288%
2S. Calonico, Matias Cattaneo, and Rocio Titiunik (2014) Robust nonparametric confidence intervals for regression-discontinuity designs0.7374275%
3Alberto Abadie, Alexis Diamond, and Jens Hainmueller (2010) Synthetic control methods for comparative case studies: Estimating the effect of california�s tobacco control program0.69371100%
4Paul R Rosenbaum and Donald B Rubin (1983) The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects0.69351100%
5Joshua Angrist and Ivan Fernandez-Val (2010) Extrapolate-ing: External validity and overidentification in the late framework0.64441100%
6Susan Athey, Dean Eckles, and Guido Imbens (2015) Exact p-values for network interference, 2015 self0.64441100%
7Marinho Bertanha and Guido Imbens (2015) External validity in fuzzy regression discontinuity designs self0.64441100%
8Joshua D Angrist (2004) Treatment effect heterogeneity in theory and practice0.58531100%
9Joshua D Angrist and Miikka Rokkanen (2015) Wanna get away? regression discontinuity estimation of exam school effects away from the cutoff0.58531100%
10David Card, David Lee, Z Pei, and Andrea Weber (2015) Inference on causal effects in a generalized regression kink design0.58531100%

Showing the top 10 of 176 scored citations.

Cited by, within the corpus

arXiv econ.EM papers that cite this one, ranked by how heavily they lean on it.

Citing paperIntensityMentionsSections
1Synthetic Control Methods and Big Data1.00063
2Econometric vs. Causal Structure-Learning for Time-Series Policy Decisions: Evidence from the UK COVID-19 Policies0.58531
3Causal Inference on Networks under Continuous Treatment Interference0.51121
4Assessing Sensitivity to Unconfoundedness: Estimation and Inference0.51121
5Estimating Average Treatment Effects: Supplementary Analyses and Remaining Challenges0.40511
6On monitoring development indicators using high resolution satellite images0.40511
71805.050670.40511
81809.016430.40511
9The Augmented Synthetic Control Method0.40511
10Non-Parametric Inference Adaptive to Intrinsic Dimension0.40511