We consider inference in regression discontinuity designs when the running variable only takes a moderate number of distinct values. In particular, we study the common practice of using confidence intervals (CIs) based on standard errors that are clustered by the running variable. We derive...

This paper considers the semiparametric identification of endogenous and exogenous peer effects based on group size variation. We show that Lee (2006)'s linear-in-means model is generically identified, even when all members of the group are not observed. While unnecessary in general,...

Currently there is little practical advice on which treatment effect estimator to use when trying to adjust for observable differences. A recent suggestion is to compare the performance of estimators in simulations that somehow mimic the empirical context. Two ways to run such 'empirical Monte...

This paper considers the identification and estimation of an extension of Roy's model (1951) of occupational choice, which includes a non-pecuniary component in the decision equation and allows for uncertainty on the potential outcomes. This framework is well suited to various economic contexts,...

Estimators of average treatment effects under unconfounded treatment assignment are known to become rather imprecise if there is limited overlap in the covariate distributions between the treatment groups. But such limited overlap can also have a detrimental effect on inference, and lead for...

Causal effects of a policy change on hazard rates of a duration outcome variable are not identified from a comparison of spells before and after the policy change, if there is unobserved heterogeneity in the effects and no model structure is imposed. We develop a discontinuity approach that...

In cases of non-compliance with a prescribed treatment, estimates of causal effects typically rely on instrumental variables. However, when participation is also misreported, this approach can be severely biased. We provide an instrumental variable method that researchers can use to identify the...

We consider the identification of and inference on a partially linear model, when the outcome of interest and some of the covariates are observed in two different datasets that cannot be linked. This type of data combination problem arises very frequently in empirical microeconomics. Using...

Different episodes of economic growth display widely varying distributional characteristics, both across countries and over time. Growth is sometimes accompanied by rising and sometimes by falling inequality. Applied economists have come to rely on the Growth Incidence Curve, which gives the...

Atmospheric pollution was an important side effect of coal-fired industrialisation in the nineteenth century. In Britain emissions of black smoke were on the order of fifty times as high as they were a century later. In this paper we examine the effects of these emissions on child development by...