Fabrizia Mealli, Javier Viviens
arXiv 24 Dec 2025 · Econometrics
arXiv:2512.21176 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text
The stable unit treatment value (SUTVA) is a crucial assumption in the Difference-in-Differences (DiD) research design. It rules out hidden versions of treatment and any sort of interference and spillover effects across units. Even if this is a strong assumption, it has not received much attention from DiD practitioners and, in many cases, it is not even explicitly stated as an assumption, especially the no-interference assumption. In this technical note, we investigate what the DiD estimand identifies in the presence of unknown interference. We show that the DiD estimand identifies a contrast of causal effects, but it is not informative on any of these causal effects separately, without invoking further assumptions. Then, we explore different sets of assumptions under which the DiD estimand becomes informative about specific causal effects. We illustrate these results by revisiting the seminal paper on minimum wages and employment by Card and Krueger (1994).
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| Reference | Intensity | Mentions | Sections | Main text | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Card, D. and Krueger, A. B (1994) Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania | 1.000 | 11 | 3 | 100% |
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