Causal Inference from Hypothetical Evaluations

B. Douglas Bernheim, Daniel Björkegren, Jeffrey Naecker and Michael Pollmann

No 29616, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We develop methods for estimating the effects of treatments on choices by combining data on real choices with hypothetical responses. Our basic method accounts for potential variation of hypothetical bias across treatment states yet is applicable even when treatment variation in real choice data is absent or limited. Under stated conditions, it also yields consistent estimates in applications with endogenous treatments. For applications that do not satisfy those conditions, we offer variants of the approach that do not require the analyst to identify sources of quasi-experimental variation. We provide formal econometric theory and test the methods in two applications.

JEL-codes: C13 D12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ecm, nep-exp and nep-ore
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