<p>This paper compares the economic questions addressed by instrumental variables estimators with those addressed by structural approaches. We discuss Marschak's Maxim: estimators should be selected on the basis of their ability to answer well-posed economic problems with minimal assumptions. A key identifying assumption that allows structural methods to be more informative than IV can be tested with data and does not have to be imposed. </p>
Authors
Research Associate University of Chicago
James is a Research Associate of the IFS and the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago.
Sergio Urzua
Working Paper details
- DOI
- 10.1920/wp.cem.2010.0810
- Publisher
- IFS
Suggested citation
Heckman, J and Urzua, S. (2010). Comparing IV with structural models: what simple IV can and cannot identify. London: IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/comparing-iv-structural-models-what-simple-iv-can-and-cannot-identify (accessed: 18 May 2024).
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