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Pairwise Valid Instruments

Zhenting Sun, Kaspar Wüthrich

arXiv 15 Mar 2022 · Econometrics · publishedJournal of Econometrics (2025)

arXiv:2203.08050 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

Finding valid instruments is difficult. We propose Validity Set Instrumental Variable (VSIV) estimation, a method for estimating local average treatment effects (LATEs) in heterogeneous causal effect models when the instruments are partially invalid. We consider settings with pairwise valid instruments, that is, instruments that are valid for a subset of instrument value pairs. VSIV estimation exploits testable implications of instrument validity to remove invalid pairs and provides estimates of the LATEs for all remaining pairs, which can be aggregated into a single parameter of interest using researcher-specified weights. We show that the proposed VSIV estimators are asymptotically normal under weak conditions and remove or reduce the asymptotic bias relative to standard LATE estimators (that is, LATE estimators that do not use testable implications to remove invalid variation). We evaluate the finite sample properties of VSIV estimation in application-based simulations and apply our method to estimate the returns to college education using parental education as an instrument.

Citation extraction

61
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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
1Noack, C (2021) Sensitivity of LATE estimates to violations of the monotonicity assumption0.9416483%
2Li, L., Kédagni, D., and Mourifié, I (2024) Discordant relaxations of misspecified models0.92815580%
3Imbens, G. W. and Angrist, J. D (1994) Identification and estimation of local average treatment effects0.88513569%
4Mourifié, I. and Wan, Y (2017) Testing local average treatment effect assumptions0.87412667%
5Mogstad, M., Torgovitsky, A., and Walters, C. R (2021) The causal interpretation of two-stage least squares with multiple instrumental variables0.874112100%
6Frandsen, B., Lefgren, L., and Leslie, E (2023) Judging judge fixed effects0.87452100%
7Kitagawa, T (2015) A test for instrument validity0.862251064%
8Kédagni, D (2023) Identifying treatment effects in the presence of confounded types0.8435460%
9Huber, M (2014) Sensitivity checks for the local average treatment effect0.84333100%
10Cui, Y., Kédagni, D., and Wu, H (2024) Robust identification in randomized experiments with noncompliance0.7946450%

Showing the top 10 of 69 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
1Detecting Grouped Local Average Treatment Effects and Selecting True Instruments With an Application to Estimating the Effect of Prison on Recidivism0.73732
2When does IV identification not restrict outcomes?0.51122
3Robust Identification in Randomized Experiments with Noncompliance0.40511