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A Note on the Topology of the First Stage of 2SLS with Many Instruments

Guy Tchuente

arXiv 28 Jun 2021 · Econometrics

arXiv:2106.15003 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

The finite sample properties of estimators are usually understood or approximated using asymptotic theories. Two main asymptotic constructions have been used to characterize the presence of many instruments. The first assumes that the number of instruments increases with the sample size. I demonstrate that in this case, one of the key assumptions used in the asymptotic construction may imply that the number of “effective" instruments should be finite, resulting in an internal contradiction. The second asymptotic representation considers that the number of instrumental variables (IVs) may be finite, infinite, or even a continuum. The number does not change with the sample size. In this scenario, the regularized estimator obtained depends on the topology imposed on the set of instruments as well as on a regularization parameter. These restrictions may induce a bias or restrict the set of admissible instruments. However, the assumptions are internally coherent. The limitations of many IVs asymptotic assumptions provide support for finite sample distributional studies to better understand the behavior of many IV estimators.

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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
1Harding, Hausman, and Palmer (2016) Finite sample bias corrected IV estimation for weak and many instruments0.92843100%
2Carrasco (2012) A regularization approach to the many instruments problem0.87472100%
3Bekker (1994) Alternative approximations to the distributions of instrumental variable estimators0.51121100%
4Phillips and Moon (1999) Linear regression limit theory for nonstationary panel data0.51121100%
5Staiger and Stock (1997) Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments0.40511100%
6Anatolyev and Gospodinov (2011) Specification testing in models with many instruments0.40511100%
7Andrews and Stock (2007) Testing with many weak instruments0.40511100%
8Belloni, Chen, Chernozhukov, and Hansen (2012) Sparse models and methods for optimal instruments with an application to eminent domain0.40511100%
9Bun and Windmeijer (2011) A comparison of bias approximations for the two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimator0.40511100%
10Carrasco and Tchuente (2016) Efficient estimation with many weak instruments using regularization techniques0.40511100%

Showing the top 10 of 14 scored citations.