The Phantom Menace of Omitted Variables

Colin Vance and Nolan Ritter

Conflict Management and Peace Science, 2012, vol. 29, issue 2, 233-238

Abstract: This note demonstrates that in applied regression analysis, the variance of a coefficient of interest may decrease from the inclusion of a control variable, contrasting with Clarke’s assertion (2005, 2009) that the variance can only increase or stay the same. Practitioners may thus be well advised to include a relevant control variable on this basis alone, particularly when it is weakly correlated with the variable of interest.

Keywords: control variables; model specification; variance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:compsc:v:29:y:2012:i:2:p:233-238

DOI: 10.1177/0738894211433169

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