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Instrument Validity for Heterogeneous Causal Effects

Zhenting Sun

arXiv 4 Sep 2020 · Econometrics · publishedJournal of Econometrics (2023) · 13 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2009.01995 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

This paper provides a general framework for testing instrument validity in heterogeneous causal effect models. The generalization includes the cases where the treatment can be multivalued ordered or unordered. Based on a series of testable implications, we propose a nonparametric test which is proved to be asymptotically size controlled and consistent. Compared to the tests in the literature, our test can be applied in more general settings and may achieve power improvement. Refutation of instrument validity by the test helps detect invalid instruments that may yield implausible results on causal effects. Evidence that the test performs well on finite samples is provided via simulations. We revisit the empirical study on return to schooling to demonstrate application of the proposed test in practice. An extended continuous mapping theorem and an extended delta method, which may be of independent interest, are provided to establish the asymptotic distribution of the test statistic under null.

Citation extraction

78
references
288
in-text mentions
78
distinct cited
1
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15,220
main-text words

appendix boundary found by appendix_command · 31% 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
1Mourifié, I. and Wan, Y (2017) Testing local average treatment effect assumptions1.00063100%
2Chernozhukov, V., Lee, S., and Rosen, A. M (2013) Intersection bounds: Estimation and inference1.00053100%
3Kitagawa, T (2015) A test for instrument validity0.88364769%
4Heckman, J. J. and Pinto, R (2018) Unordered monotonicity0.87462100%
5Angrist, J. D. and Imbens, G. W (1995) Two-stage least squares estimation of average causal effects in models with variable treatment intensity0.87452100%
6Fang, Z. and Santos, A (2019) Inference on directionally differentiable functions0.85819363%
7Card, D (1993) Using geographic variation in college proximity to estimate the return to schooling0.8435360%
8Sun, Z. and Beare, B. K (2021) Improved nonparametric bootstrap tests of Lorenz dominance self0.81142100%
9Andrews, D. W. and Shi, X (2013) Inference based on conditional moment inequalities0.73732100%
10Kédagni, D. and Mourifié, I (2020) Generalized instrumental inequalities: Testing the instrumental variable independence assumption0.693141100%

Showing the top 10 of 78 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
1Testing Partial Instrument Monotonicity0.935113
2On the falsification of instrumental variable models for heterogeneous treatment effects0.92843
3Testing Instrument Validity with Covariates0.87452
4Pairwise Valid Instruments0.7624310
5Testing Mechanisms0.73732
6Sharp Testable Implications of Encouragement Designs0.64422
7A Nonparametric Test of $m$th-degree Inverse Stochastic Dominance0.58531
8Efficient and Robust Estimation of the Generalized LATE Model0.40511
9Treatment Effects with Targeting Instruments0.40511
10Unified Inference on Moment Restrictions with Nuisance Parameters0.40511