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Causal Duration Analysis with Diff-in-Diff

Ben Deaner, Hyejin Ku

arXiv 8 May 2024 · Econometrics · 1 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2405.05220 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

In economic program evaluation, it is common to obtain panel data in which outcomes are indicators that an individual has reached an absorbing state. For example, they may indicate whether an individual has exited a period of unemployment, passed an exam, left a marriage, or had their parole revoked. The parallel trends assumption that underpins difference-in-differences generally fails in such settings. We suggest identifying conditions that are analogous to those of difference-in-differences but apply to hazard rates rather than mean outcomes. These alternative assumptions motivate estimators that retain the simplicity and transparency of standard diff-in-diff, and we suggest analogous specification tests. Our approach can be adapted to general linear restrictions between the hazard rates of different groups, motivating duration analogues of the triple differences and synthetic control methods. We apply our procedures to examine the impact of a policy that increased the generosity of unemployment benefits, using a cross-cohort comparison.

Citation extraction

42
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68
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distinct cited
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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
1Lalive, Rafael, Ours, Jan Van, & Zwimuller, Josef (2006) How Changes in Financial Incentives Affect the Duration of Unemployment1.00063100%
2Wu, Lawrence L., & Wen, Fangqi (2022) Hazard Versus Linear Probability Difference-in-Differences Estimators for Demographic Processes1.00063100%
3Hunt, Jennifer (1995) The effect of unemployment compensation on unemployment duration in Germany1.00053100%
4Wooldridge, Jeffrey M (2023) Simple approaches to nonlinear difference-in-differences with panel data0.87452100%
5Abbring, Jaap H., & Van Den Berg, Gerard J (2003) The Nonparametric Identification of Treatment Effects in Duration Models0.73732100%
6Bertrand, M., Duflo, E., & Mullainathan, S (2004) How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?0.64422100%
7Doudchenko, Nikolay, & Imbens, Guido (2016) Balancing, Regression, Difference-In-Differences and Synthetic Control Methods: A Synthesis0.64422100%
8Lichter, Andreas, & Schiprowski, Amelie (2021) Benefit duration, job search behavior and re-employment0.64422100%
9Abadie, Alberto, & Gardeazabal, Javier (2003) The Economic Costs of Conflict: A Case Study of the Basque Country0.58531100%
10Blundell, Richard W., Dias, Monica Costa, Meghir, Costas, & Van Reen… (2004) Evaluating the employment impact of a mandatory job search program0.51121100%

Showing the top 10 of 42 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
1Synthetic Survival Control: Extending Synthetic Controls for “When-If” Decision0.40511