Econometric Methods for Causal Evaluation of Education Policies and Practices: A Non-Technical Guide

Martin Schlotter, Guido Schwerdt and Ludger Woessmann

No 4725, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Education policy-makers and practitioners want to know which policies and practices can best achieve their goals. But research that can inform evidence-based policy often requires complex methods to distinguish causation from accidental association. Avoiding econometric jargon and technical detail, this paper explains the main idea and intuition of leading empirical strategies devised to identify causal impacts and illustrates their use with real-world examples. It covers six evaluation methods: controlled experiments, lotteries of oversubscribed programs, instrumental variables, regression discontinuities, differences-in-differences, and panel-data techniques. Illustrating applications include evaluations of early-childhood interventions, voucher lotteries, funding programs for disadvantaged, and compulsory-school and tracking reforms.

Keywords: non-technical guide; causal effects; education; policy evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C01 I20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2010-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ecm, nep-edu and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: Education Economics, 2011, 19 (2), 109-137

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Related works:
Journal Article: Econometric methods for causal evaluation of education policies and practices: a non-technical guide (2011)
Working Paper: Econometric methods for causal evaluation of education policies and practices: A non-technical guide (2011)
Working Paper: Econometric Methods for Causal Evaluation of Education Policies and Practices: A Non-Technical Guide (2009)
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