Instrument validity for heterogeneous causal effects
Zhenting Sun
Journal of Econometrics, 2023, vol. 237, issue 2
Abstract:
This paper provides a general framework for testing instrument validity in heterogeneous causal effect models. The generalization includes the cases where the treatment can be multivalued ordered or unordered. Based on a series of testable implications, we propose a nonparametric test which is proved to be asymptotically size controlled and consistent. Compared to the tests in the literature, our test can be applied in more general settings and may achieve power improvement. Refutation of instrument validity by the test helps detect invalid instruments that may yield implausible results on causal effects. Evidence that the test performs well on finite samples is provided via simulations. We revisit the empirical study on return to schooling to demonstrate application of the proposed test in practice. An extended continuous mapping theorem and an extended delta method, which may be of independent interest, are provided to establish the asymptotic distribution of the test statistic under null.
Keywords: Instrument validity; Heterogeneous causal effects; Power improvement; Extended continuous mapping theorem; Extended delta method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C10 C12 C14 C26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)
Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304407623002397
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:econom:v:237:y:2023:i:2:s0304407623002397
DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconom.2023.105523
Access Statistics for this article
Journal of Econometrics is currently edited by T. Amemiya, A. R. Gallant, J. F. Geweke, C. Hsiao and P. M. Robinson
More articles in Journal of Econometrics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().