The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design Is Taking the Con out of Econometrics

Joshua Angrist and Jorn-Steffen Pischke

No 4800, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This essay reviews progress in empirical economics since Leamer's (1983) critique. Leamer highlighted the benefits of sensitivity analysis, a procedure in which researchers show how their results change with changes in specification or functional form. Sensitivity analysis has had a salutary but not a revolutionary effect on econometric practice. As we see it, the credibility revolution in empirical work can be traced to the rise of a design-based approach that emphasizes the identification of causal effects. Design-based studies typically feature either real or natural experiments and are distinguished by their prima facie credibility and by the attention investigators devote to making the case for a causal interpretation of the findings their designs generate. Design-based studies are most often found in the microeconomic fields of Development, Education, Environment, Labor, Health, and Public Finance, but are still rare in Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics. We explain why IO and Macro would do well to embrace a design-based approach. Finally, we respond to the charge that the design-based revolution has overreached.

Keywords: research design; natural experiments; structural models; quasi-experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2010-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-ecm and nep-exp
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (690)

Published - published in: Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2010, 24 (2), 3-30

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design Is Taking the Con out of Econometrics (2010)
Working Paper: The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design is taking the Con out of Econometrics (2010)
Working Paper: The credibility revolution in empirical economics: how better research design is taking the con out of econometrics (2010)
Working Paper: The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design is Taking the Con out of Econometrics (2010)
Working Paper: The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design is Taking the Con out of Econometrics (2010)
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