A practical comparison of the bivariate probit and linear IV estimators

Richard C. Chiburis, Jishnu Das and Michael Lokshin

No 5601, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This paper presents asymptotic theory and Monte-Carlo simulations comparing maximum-likelihood bivariate probit and linear instrumental variables estimators of treatment effects in models with a binary endogenous treatment and binary outcome. The three main contributions of the paper are (a) clarifying the relationship between the Average Treatment Effect obtained in the bivariate probit model and the Local Average Treatment Effect estimated through linear IV; (b) comparing the mean-square error and the actual size and power of tests based on these estimators across a wide range of parameter values relative to the existing literature; and (c) assessing the performance of misspecification tests for bivariate probit models. The authors recommend two changes to common practices: bootstrapped confidence intervals for both estimators, and a score test to check goodness of fit for the bivariate probit model.

Keywords: Scientific Research&Science Parks; Science Education; Statistical&Mathematical Sciences; Econometrics; Educational Technology and Distance Education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-03-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ecm and nep-edu
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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Related works:
Journal Article: A practical comparison of the bivariate probit and linear IV estimators (2012)
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