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The 2001 Review of Economics and Statistics Lecture
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Journal Articles
Publisher: Journals Gateway
The Review of Economics and Statistics (2006) 88 (3): 389–432.
Published: 01 August 2006
Abstract
View articletitled, Understanding Instrumental Variables in Models with Essential Heterogeneity
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for article titled, Understanding Instrumental Variables in Models with Essential Heterogeneity
This paper examines the properties of instrumental variables (IV) applied to models with essential heterogeneity, that is, models where responses to interventions are heterogeneous and agents adopt treatments (participate in programs) with at least partial knowledge of their idiosyncratic response. We analyze two-outcome and multiple-outcome models, including ordered and unordered choice models. We allow for transition-specific and general instruments. We generalize previous analyses by developing weights for treatment effects for general instruments. We develop a simple test for the presence of essential heterogeneity. We note the asymmetry of the model of essential heterogeneity: outcomes of choices are heterogeneous in a general way; choices are not. When both choices and outcomes are permitted to be symmetrically heterogeneous, the method of IV breaks down for estimating treatment parameters.