Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/97363 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
cemmap working paper No. CWP17/14
Publisher: 
Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice (cemmap), London
Abstract: 
In this paper, we investigate what can be learned about average counterfactual outcomes when it is assumed that treatment response functions are smooth. The smoothness conditions in this paper amount to assuming that the differences in average counterfactual outcomes are bounded under different treatments. We obtain a set of new partial identification results for the average treatment response by imposing smoothness conditions alone, by combining them with monotonicity assumptions, and by adding in- strumental variables assumptions to treatment responses. We give a numerical illustration of our findings by reanalyzing the return to schooling example of Manski and Pepper (2000) and demonstrate how one can conduct sensitivity analysis by varying the degrees of smoothness assumption. In addition, we discuss how to carry out inference based on the existing literature using our identification results and illustrate its usefulness by applying one of our identification results to the Job Corps Study dataset. Our empirical results show that there is strong evidence of the gender and race gaps among the less educated population.
Subjects: 
Bounds
identification regions
instrumental variables
monotonicity
partial identification
sensitivity analysis
treatment responses
treatment selection
JEL: 
C14
C18
C21
C26
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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