Optimal Bandwidth Choice for the Regression Discontinuity Estimator

Guido Imbens and Karthik Kalyanaraman

No 3995, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We investigate the problem of optimal choice of the smoothing parameter (bandwidth) for the regression discontinuity estimator. We focus on estimation by local linear regression, which was shown to be rate optimal (Porter, 2003). Investigation of an expected-squared-error-loss criterion reveals the need for regularization. We propose an optimal, data dependent, bandwidth choice rule. We illustrate the proposed bandwidth choice using data previously analyzed by Lee (2008), as well as in a simulation study based on this data set. The simulations suggest that the proposed rule performs well.

Keywords: regression discontinuity designs; local linear regression; optimal bandwidth selection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2009-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ecm
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (122)

Published - published in: Review of Economic Studies, 2012, 79 (3), 933-959

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Related works:
Journal Article: Optimal Bandwidth Choice for the Regression Discontinuity Estimator (2012)
Working Paper: Optimal bandwidth choice for the regression discontinuity estimator (2010)
Working Paper: Optimal Bandwidth Choice for the Regression Discontinuity Estimator (2009)
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