Research methods

This paper examines the case for randomized controlled trials in economics. I revisit my previous paper “Randomization and Social Policy Evaluation” and update its message.

Which housing characteristics are important for understanding homeownership rates?

We compare two groups of the non-student Korean population—native-born South Koreans (SK) and North Korean refugees (NK)—with contrasting institutional and cultural backgrounds. In our experiment, the subjects play dictator games under three different treatments in which the income source varies: first, the income is randomly given to the subject; second, it is earned by the subject; third, it is individually earned by the subject and an anonymous partner and then pooled together.

This article provides a selective review on the recent literature on econometric models of network formation.

This paper introduces measures for how each moment contributes to the precision of parameter estimates in GMM settings.

We study the incidental parameter problem in "three-way" Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood "PPML" gravity models recently recommended for identifying the effects of trade policies.

We propose an optimal-transport-based matching method to nonparametrically estimate linear models with independent latent variables.

Consumption Euler equations are important tools in empirical macroeconomics. When estimated on micro data, they are typically linearized, so standard IV or GMM methods can be employed to deal with the measurement error that is endemic to survey data. However, linearization, in turn, may induce serious approximation bias.

We propose a nonparametric inference method for causal effects of continuous treatment variables, under unconfoundedness and in the presence of high-dimensional or nonparametric nuisance parameters.

Many economic activities are embedded in networks: sets of agents and the (often) rivalrous relationships connecting them to one another.

We show the extent of errors made in the award of disability insurance using matched survey-administrative data. False rejections (Type I errors) are widespread, and there are large gender differences in these type I error rates.

We compare two groups of the non-student Korean population—native-born South Koreans (SK) and North Korean refugees (NK)—with contrasting institutional and cultural backgrounds.

We investigate the consequences of discreteness in the assignment variable in regression-discontinuity designs for cases where the outcome variable is itself discrete.

We set up an econometric model of persuasion and study identification of key parameters under various scenarios of data availability.

This study develops a framework for testing hypotheses on structural parameters in in-complete models.

This paper presents a weighted optimization framework that unifies the binary, multi-valued, continuous, as well as mixture of discrete and continuous treatment, under unconfounded treatment assignment.

Recent research underscores the sensitivity of conclusions drawn from the application of econometric methods devised for quantitative outcome variables to data featuring ordinal outcomes. The issue is particularly acute in the analysis of happiness data, for which no natural cardinal scale exists, and which is thus routinely collected by ordinal response. With ordinal responses, comparisons of means across different populations and the signs of OLS regression coefficients have been shown to be sensitive to monotonic transformations of the cardinal scale onto which ordinal responses are mapped.

We propose a solution to the measurement error problem that plagues the estimation of the relation between the expected return of the stock market and its conditional variance due to the latency of these conditional moments.

We present a general framework for studying regularized estimators; such estimators are pervasive in estimation problems wherein “plug-in” type estimators are either ill-defined or ill-behaved.

In this paper we analyze a discrete choice model for partially ordered alternatives. The alternatives are differentiated along two dimensions, the first an unordered “horizontal” dimension, and the second an ordered “vertical” dimension.