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Doubly Robust Difference-in-Differences Estimators

Pedro H. C. Sant'Anna, Jun B. Zhao

arXiv 29 Nov 2018 · Econometrics · publishedJournal of Econometrics (2020) · 976 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:1812.01723 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

This article proposes doubly robust estimators for the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) in difference-in-differences (DID) research designs. In contrast to alternative DID estimators, the proposed estimators are consistent if either (but not necessarily both) a propensity score or outcome regression working models are correctly specified. We also derive the semiparametric efficiency bound for the ATT in DID designs when either panel or repeated cross-section data are available, and show that our proposed estimators attain the semiparametric efficiency bound when the working models are correctly specified. Furthermore, we quantify the potential efficiency gains of having access to panel data instead of repeated cross-section data. Finally, by paying articular attention to the estimation method used to estimate the nuisance parameters, we show that one can sometimes construct doubly robust DID estimators for the ATT that are also doubly robust for inference. Simulation studies and an empirical application illustrate the desirable finite-sample performance of the proposed estimators. Open-source software for implementing the proposed policy evaluation tools is available.

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appendix boundary found by appendix_titled_section at “Appendix A: Asymptotic Properties of the DR DID estimators based on generic first-step estimators\label{App:conditions}” · 83% 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
1Heckman, Ichimura \ Todd (1997) Matching as an econometric evaluation estimator: Evidence from evaluating a job training programme1.00064100%
2Horvitz \ Thompson (1952) A Generalization of Sampling Without Replacement From a Finite Universe1.00053100%
3Abadie (2005) Semiparametric difference-in-difference estimators0.92810580%
4Zimmert (2019) Efficient Difference-in-Differences Estimation with High-Dimensional Common Trend Confounding0.92843100%
5Graham, Pinto \ Egel (2012) Inverse Probability Tilting for Moment Condition Models with Missing Data0.8746367%
6Chen, Hong \ Tarozzi (2008) Semiparametric efficiency in GMM models with auxiliary data0.87452100%
Hajek1971unmatched citation key Hajek19710.81142100%
8Vermeulen \ Vansteelandt (2015) Bias-Reduced Doubly Robust Estimation0.81142100%
Belloni2017unmatched citation key Belloni20170.64422100%
10Chernozhukov, Chetverikov, Demirer, Duflo, Hansen, Newey \ Robins (2017) Double/debiased machine learning for treatment and structural parameters0.64422100%

Showing the top 10 of 50 scored citations. 2 of these could not be matched to a bibliography entry, so only the citation key is shown.

Cited by, within the corpus

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

Citing paperIntensityMentionsSections
1Covariate Balancing and the Equivalence of Weighting and Doubly Robust Estimators of Average Treatment Effects1.000244
2Conditional Triple Difference-in-Differences1.00073
3Difference-in-Differences when Parallel Trends Holds Conditional on Covariates1.00064
4A difference-in-differences estimator by covariate balancing propensity score1.00064
51809.016431.00053
6Sensitivity Analysis for Treatment Effects in Difference-in-Differences Models using Riesz Representation0.946266
7Difference in Differences with Time-Varying Covariates0.94165
8Design-Based Variance Estimation for Modern Heterogeneity-Robust Difference-in-Differences Estimators0.94164
9Difference-in-Differences with Multiple Time Periods0.916135
10Better Understanding Triple Differences Estimators0.909125