Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/21213 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2001
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 354
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Causal inference in the empirical sciences is based on counterfactuals. This paper presents the counterfactual account of causation in terms of Lewis's possible-world semantics, and reformulates the statistical potential outcome framework and its underlying assumptions using counterfactual conditionals. I discuss varieties of causally meaningful counterfactuals for the case of a finite number of treatments, and illustrate these using a simple settheoretical framework. The paper proceeds to examine proximity relations between possible worlds, and discusses implications for empirical practice.
Subjects: 
Causation
counterfactuals
possible worlds
treatment effect
JEL: 
B30
C19
Z00
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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