Blundell, R.;
Costa Dias, M.;
(2008)
Alternative approaches to evaluation in empirical microeconomics.
(cemmap Working Papers
CWP26/).
Institute for Fiscal Studies: London, UK.
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Abstract
This paper reviews a range of the most popular policy evaluation methods in empirical microeconomics: social experiments, natural experiments, matching methods, instrumental variables, discontinuity design and control functions. It discusses the identification of both the traditionally used average parameters and more complex distributional parameters. In each case, the necessary assumptions and the data requirements are considered. The adequacy of each approach is discussed drawing on the empirical evidence from the education and labor market policy evaluation literature. We also develop an education evaluation model which we use to carry through the discussion of each alternative approach. A full set of STATA datasets are provided free online which contain Monte-Carlo replications of the various specifications of the education evaluation model. There are also a full set of STATA .do files for each of the estimation approaches described in the paper. The .do-files can be used together with the datasets to reproduce all the results in the paper.
| Type: | Working / discussion paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | Alternative approaches to evaluation in empirical microeconomics |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | http://www.cemmap.ac.uk/publications.php?publicati... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Also see http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/14705/ for an alternative version of this paper |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Economics |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/14666 |
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