Covariate benchmarking is an important part of sensitivity analysis about omitted variable bias and can be used to bound the strength of the unobserved confounder using information and judgments about observed covariates. It is common to carry out formal covariate benchmarking after...

In this paper, I discuss three aspects of the Frisch-Waugh-Lovell theorem. First, I show that the theorem holds for linear instrumental variables estimation of a multiple regression model that is either exactly or overidentified. I show that with linear instrumental variables estimation: (a)...

Omitted variable bias (OVB) of OLS estimators is a serious and ubiquitous problem in social science research. Often researchers use the direction of the bias in substantive arguments or to motivate estimation methods to deal with the bias. This paper offers a geometric interpretation of OVB that...

In this paper I discuss three issues related to bias of OLS estimators in a general multivariate setting. First, I discuss the bias that arises from omitting relevant variables. I offer a geometric interpretation of such bias and derive sufficient conditions in terms of sign restrictions that...

Kalyal Sanayal's work on postcolonial capitalism has been influential in many strands of critical social theory. In this brief note, I investigate three key components of his argument and find them wanting. In particular, I show that the evolution of land ownership in India does not support the...

An economic crisis in capitalism is a deep and prolonged interruption of the economy-wide circuit of capital. Crises emerge from within the logic of capitalism's operation, and are manifestations of the inherently contradictory process of capital accumulation. The Marxist tradition...

The Marxian labour theory of value considers labour as the only substance of value. The generalized commodity exploitation theorem (GCET) purports to demonstrate that many other commodities can be substances of value. This note argues that the GCET is based on two conceptual aws: (a) failure to...

In linear econometric models with proportional selection on unobservables, omitted variable bias in estimated treatment effects are roots of a cubic equation involving estimated parameters from a short and intermediate regression, the former excluding and the latter including all observable...

In a recent contribution, Oster (2019) has proposed a method to generate bounds on treatment effects in the presence of unobservable confounders. The method can only be implemented if a crucial problem of non-uniqueness is addressed. In this paper I demonstrate that one of the proposed methods...

Using a state-level panel data set on the incidence of hate crimes in India, this paper implements difference in difference (DID) and triple difference in difference (DDD) research designs to estimate the causal impact of the right-wing BJP's win in the 2014 parliamentary elections on hate...