Treatment Effect Heterogeneity in Theory and Practice

Joshua Angrist ()

No 851, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Abstract: Instrumental Variables (IV) methods identify internally valid causal effects for individuals whose treatment status is manipulable by the instrument at hand. Inference for other populations requires homogeneity assumptions. This paper outlines a theoretical framework that nests causal homogeneity assumptions. These ideas are illustrated using sibling-sex composition to estimate the effect of child-bearing on economic and marital outcomes. The application is motivated by American welfare reform. The empirical results generally support the notion of reduced labor supply and increased poverty as a consequence of childbearing, but evidence on the impact of childbearing on marital stability and welfare use is more tenuous.

Keywords: instrumental variables; marital stability; welfare; causal effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C31 J12 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-ltv
Date: Written
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Related works:
Working Paper: Treatment Effect Heterogeneity in Theory and Practice (2004)
Working Paper: Treatment Effect Heterogeneity in Theory and Practice (2003)
Journal Article: Treatment effect heterogeneity in theory and practice (2004)
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