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Refined Cluster Robust Inference

Bulat Gafarov, Takuya Ura

arXiv 25 Mar 2026 · Econometrics

arXiv:2603.24786 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

It has become standard for empirical studies to conduct inference robust to cluster dependence and heterogeneity. With a small number of clusters, the normal approximation for the $t$-statistics of regression coefficients may be poor. This paper tackles this problem using a critical value based on the conditional Cramér-Edgeworth expansion for the $t$-statistics. Our approach guarantees third-order refinement, regardless of whether a regressor is discrete or not, and, unlike the cluster pairs bootstrap, avoids resampling data. Simulations show that our proposal can make a difference in size control with as few as 10 clusters.

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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
1Cameron, A Colin and Gelbach, Jonah B and Miller, Douglas L (2008) Bootstrap-based improvements for inference with clustered errors1.00063100%
2Bertrand, Marianne and Duflo, Esther and Mullainathan, Sendhil (2004) How much should we trust differences-in-differences estimates?1.00053100%
3Bhattacharya, Rabi N and Rao, R Ranga (1976) Normal Approximation and Asymptotic Expansions0.8434475%
4Hall, Peter (1983) Inverting an Edgeworth expansion0.8434375%
5Hall, Peter (2013) The Bootstrap and Edgeworth Expansion0.8434375%
6Djogbenou, Antoine A and MacKinnon, James G and Nielsen, Morten Ørre… (2019) Asymptotic Theory and Wild Bootstrap Inference with Clustered Errors0.81413454%
7Cameron, A Colin and Miller, Douglas L (2015) A practitioner's guide to cluster-robust inference0.64422100%
8Cameron, A Colin and Miller, Douglas L (2025) Inference for Regression with Clustered or Spatially Correlated Data0.64422100%
9Bhattacharya, Rabi N and Ghosh, Jayanta K (1978) On the validity of the formal Edgeworth expansion0.5115220%
10Angst, Jürgen and Poly, Guillaume (2017) A weak Cramér condition and application to Edgeworth expansions0.5112250%

Showing the top 10 of 25 scored citations.