Empirical Strategies in Economics: Illuminating the Path from Cause to Effect

Joshua Angrist

No 29726, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The view that empirical strategies in economics should be transparent and credible now goes almost without saying. The local average treatment effects (LATE) framework for causal inference helped make this so. The LATE theorem tells us for whom particular instrumental variables (IV) and regression discontinuity estimates are valid. This lecture uses several empirical examples, mostly involving charter and exam schools, to highlight the value of LATE. A surprising exclusion restriction, an assumption central to the LATE interpretation of IV estimates, is shown to explain why enrollment at Chicago exam schools reduces student achievement. I also make two broader points: IV exclusion restrictions formalize commitment to clear and consistent explanations of reduced-form causal effects; compelling applications demonstrate the power of simple empirical strategies to generate new causal knowledge.

JEL-codes: B23 I21 I28 J13 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cwa, nep-ecm and nep-lma
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Published as Joshua D. Angrist, 2022. "Empirical Strategies in Economics: Illuminating the Path From Cause to Effect," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(6), pages 2509-2539, November.

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Journal Article: Empirical Strategies in Economics: Illuminating the Path From Cause to Effect (2022)
Working Paper: Empirical strategies in economics: Illuminating the path from cause to effect (2021)
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