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A Joint Analysis of Sensitivity to Anticipation and Parallel Trends Violations

Gianna Fenaroli

arXiv 1 Mar 2026 · Econometrics

arXiv:2603.00868 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

Two key identifying assumptions used to justify difference-in-differences are parallel trends and no anticipation, yet both may fail in practice. I propose a class of assumptions on anticipation and derive closed-form, sharp bounds on the average treatment effect on the treated while simultaneously relaxing parallel trends. Deviations from both assumptions are jointly disciplined using observed pre-trends. When some anticipation is imposed, the identified set under joint deviations can be shorter than under parallel trends violations alone. These bounds inform a sensitivity analysis assessing the robustness of qualitative conclusions to anticipation and parallel trends violations. I illustrate with an empirical application.

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31
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91
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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
1Dinerstein, M. and T. D. Smith (2021) Quantifying the Supply Response of Private Schools to Public Policies1.000163100%
2Manski, C. F. and J. V. Pepper (2018) How do Right-to-Carry Laws Affect Crime Rates? Coping with Ambiguity using Bounded-Variation Assumptions1.00083100%
3Rambachan, A. and J. Roth (2023) A More Credible Approach to Parallel Trends1.00083100%
4Masten, M. A. and A. Poirier (2020) Inference on Breakdown Frontiers1.00073100%
5Malani, A. and J. Reif (2015) Interpreting Pre-Trends as Anticipation: Impact on Estimated Treatment Effects from Tort Reform0.87462100%
6Callaway, B. and P. H. Sant’Anna (2021) Difference-in-Differences with Multiple Time Periods0.87452100%
7Roth, J., P. H. Sant’Anna, A. Bilinski, and J. Poe (2023) What’s Trending in Difference-in-Differences? A Synthesis of the Recent Econometrics Literature0.81142100%
8Gong, A (2022) Bounds for Treatment Effects in the Presence of Anticipatory Behavior0.73732100%
9Dinerstein, M. and T. D. Smith (2021) Data and Code for: Quantifying the Supply Response of Private Schools to Public Policies, Inter-University Consortium for Politi…0.69351100%
10Baker, A., B. Callaway, S. Cunningham, A. Goodman-Bacon, and P. H. S… (2025) Difference-in-Differences Designs: A Practitioner's Guide0.58531100%

Showing the top 10 of 31 scored citations.