Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/162519 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Paper No. 21
Publisher: 
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München und Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Collaborative Research Center Transregio 190 - Rationality and Competition, München und Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper suggests a causal framework for disentangling individual level treatment effects and interference effects, i.e., general equilibrium, spillover, or interaction effects related to treatment distribution. Thus, the framework allows for a relaxation of the Stable Unit Treatment Value Assumption (SUTVA), which assumes away any form of treatment-dependent interference between study participants. Instead, we permit interference effects within aggregate units, for example, regions or local labor markets, but need to rule out interference effects between these aggregate units. Borrowing notation from the causal mediation literature, we define a range of policy-relevant effects and formally discuss identification based on randomization, selection on observables, and difference-in-differences. We also present an application to a policy intervention extending unemployment benefit durations in selected regions of Austria that arguably affected ineligibles in treated regions through general equilibrium effects in local labor markets.
Subjects: 
treatment effect
general equilibrium effects
spillover effects
interaction effects
interference effects
inverse probability weighting
propensity score
mediation analysis
difference-in-differences
JEL: 
C21
C31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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