Regression Discontinuity Designs: A Guide to Practice

Guido Imbens and Thomas Lemieux

No 13039, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: In Regression Discontinuity (RD) designs for evaluating causal effects of interventions, assignment to a treatment is determined at least partly by the value of an observed covariate lying on either side of a fixed threshold. These designs were first introduced in the evaluation literature by Thistlewaite and Campbell (1960). With the exception of a few unpublished theoretical papers, these methods did not attract much attention in the economics literature until recently. Starting in the late 1990s, there has been a large number of studies in economics applying and extending RD methods. In this paper we review some of the practical and theoretical issues involved in the implementation of RD methods.

JEL-codes: C14 C21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-04
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Published as Imbens, Guido W. & Lemieux, Thomas, 2008. "Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 615-635, February.

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Journal Article: Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice (2008)
Working Paper: Regression Discontinuity Designs: A Guide to Practice (2007)
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