Empirical Monte Carlo Evidence on Estimation of Timing-of-Events Models

Stefano Lombardi, Gerard J. van den Berg () and Johan Vikström ()
Additional contact information
Gerard J. van den Berg: University of Groningen
Johan Vikström: IFAU

No 14015, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper builds on the Empirical Monte Carlo simulation approach developed by Huber et al. (2013) to study the estimation of Timing-of-Events (ToE) models. We exploit rich Swedish data of unemployed job-seekers with information on participation in a training program to simulate placebo treatment durations. We first use these simulations to examine which covariates are key confounders to be included in selection models. The joint inclusion of specific short-term employment history indicators (notably, the share of time spent in employment), together with baseline socio-economic characteristics, regional and inflow timing information, is important to deal with selection bias. Next, we omit subsets of explanatory variables and estimate ToE models with discrete distributions for the ensuing systematic unobserved heterogeneity. In many cases the ToE approach provides accurate effect estimates, especially if time-varying variation in the unemployment rate of the local labor market is taken into account. However, assuming too many or too few support points for unobserved heterogeneity may lead to large biases. Information criteria, in particular those penalizing parameter abundance, are useful to select the number of support points.

Keywords: duration analysis; unemployment; propensity score; matching; training; employment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C14 C15 C41 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2021-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-ore
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: Econometric Reviews, 2027, 44 (1), 90 - 118

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Related works:
Journal Article: Empirical Monte Carlo evidence on estimation of timing-of-events models (2024)
Working Paper: Empirical Monte Carlo evidence on estimation of Timing-of-Events models (2021)
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