Knowledge of the effect of unearned income on economic behavior of individuals in general, and on labor supply in particular, is of great importance to policy makers. Estimation of income effects, however, is a difficult problem because income is not randomly assigned and exogenous changes in...

This discussion paper resulted in a publication in <I>Econometrica</I> (2001). Volume 69, issue 6, pages 1645-1659.<P> With panel data important issues can be resolved that can not beaddressed with cross--sectional data. A major drawback is that paneldata suffer from more severe missing data problems....</p></i>

This paper provides empirical evidence about the effect of unearned income on earnings, consumption, and savings. Using an original survey of people playing the lottery in Massachusetts in the mid-1980s, we analyze the effects of the magnitude of lottery prizes on economic behavior. The critical...

With panel data important issues can be resolved that can not be addressed with cross--sectional data. A major drawback is that panel data suffer from more severe missing data problems. Adding a sample consisting of new units randomly drawn from the original population as replacements for units...

We formulate performance assessment as a problem of causal analysis and outline an approach based on the missing data principle for its solution. It is particularly relevant in the context of so-called league tables for educational, health-care and other public-service institutions. The proposed...

The problem of drawing causal inferences from retrospective case-control studies is considered. A model for causal inference in prospective studies is reviewed and then applied to retrospective studies. The limitations of case-control studies are formulated in terms of the level of causally...