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Shift-Share Designs: Theory and Inference

Rodrigo Adão, Michal Kolesár, Eduardo Morales

arXiv 20 Jun 2018 · Econometrics · 80 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:1806.07928 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

We study inference in shift-share regression designs, such as when a regional outcome is regressed on a weighted average of sectoral shocks, using regional sector shares as weights. We conduct a placebo exercise in which we estimate the effect of a shift-share regressor constructed with randomly generated sectoral shocks on actual labor market outcomes across U.S. Commuting Zones. Tests based on commonly used standard errors with 5% nominal significance level reject the null of no effect in up to 55% of the placebo samples. We use a stylized economic model to show that this overrejection problem arises because regression residuals are correlated across regions with similar sectoral shares, independently of their geographic location. We derive novel inference methods that are valid under arbitrary cross-regional correlation in the regression residuals. We show using popular applications of shift-share designs that our methods may lead to substantially wider confidence intervals in practice.

Citation extraction

65
references
112
in-text mentions
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distinct cited
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26,147
main-text words

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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
1Autor, Dorn and Hanson (2013) The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States1.000114100%
2Goldsmith-Pinkham, Sorkin and Swift (2018) Bartik Instruments: What, When, Why, and How1.000113100%
3Borusyak, Hull and Jaravel (2018) Quasi-experimental Shift-share Research Designs1.00084100%
4Bartik (1991)0.87472100%
5Kovak (2013) Regional effects of trade reform: What is the correct measure of liberalization?0.84333100%
6Acemoglu and Restrepo (2019) Robots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor Markets0.64422100%
7Adão, Arkolakis and Esposito (2019) Spatial linkages, Global Shocks, and Local Labor Markets: Theory and Evidence0.64422100%
8Autor and Duggan (2003) The Rise in the Disability Rolls and the Decline in Unemployment0.64422100%
9Conley (1999) GMM Estimation with Cross Sectional Dependence0.64422100%
10Dix-Carneiro and Kovak (2017) Trade Liberalization and Regional Dynamics0.64422100%

Showing the top 10 of 65 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
1Overidentification in Shift-Share Designs1.000499
2On Policy Evaluation With Aggregate Time-Series Instruments1.00063
3ASSESSING INFERENCE METHODS0.916265
4Shift-Share Designs in Political Science0.830145
5Estimating Demand with Recentered Instruments0.81142
6Nonlinear Treatment Effects in Shift-Share Designs0.73732
7Quasi-Experimental Shift-Share Research Designs0.711398
8Using Multiple Outcomes to Adjust Standard Errors for Spatial Correlation0.51121
9Inference with few treated units0.51121
10Microfoundations and the Causal Interpretation of Price-Exposure Designs0.51121