Comparing IV with structural models : what simple IV can and cannot identify

This paper compares the economic questions addressed by instrumental variables estimators with those addressed by structural approaches. We discuss Marschak's Maxim: estimators should be selected on the basis of their ability to answer well-posed economic problems with minimal assumptions. A key identifying assumption that allows structural methods to be more informative than IV can be tested with data and does not have to be imposed. -- Instrumental Variables ; Structural Approaches ; Marschak's Maxim