We examine the relationship between child quantity and quality. Motivated by the theoretical ambiguity regarding the sign of the marginal effects of additional siblings on children’s outcomes, our empirical model allows for an unrestricted relationship between family size and child outcomes....

"Statistical adequacy" is an important prerequisite for securing reliable inference in empirical modelling. This paper argues for more emphasis on replication that specifically assesses whether the results reported in empirical studies are based on statistically adequate models, i.e., models...

This paper uses cross-country and panel data set to test the significance of microfinance on income inequality reduction at the macro level for a sample of 57 developing countries for the periods 2000-2006 and 2007-2013. This study adopts panel data methodologies, such as ordinary least square...

This paper uses cross-country and panel data set to test the significance of microfinance on income inequality reduction at the macro level for a sample of 57 developing countries for the periods 2000-2006 and 2007-2013. This study adopts panel data methodologies, such as ordinary least square...

Using a rich Italian cross-sectional dataset, we estimate the effect of a neighborhood problems aggregate (including pollution, crime, and noise) on self-assessed health, presence of chronic conditions and limitations in daily activities. We address the self-selection of the residents in their...

This paper gives a test of overidentifying restrictions that is robust to many instruments and heteroskedasticity. It is based on a jackknife version of the overidentifying test statistic. Correct asymptotic critical values are derived for this statistic when the number of instruments grows...

This paper shows that instrumental variables estimators currently in use, require strong but neglected auxiliary assumptions to be consistent in situations with partially missing instruments. We introduce an alternative instrumental variables estimator that does not require auxiliary assumptions.

We study the scope of local indirect least squares (LILS) methods for nonparametrically estimating average marginal effects of an endogenous cause X on a response Y in triangular structural systems that need not exhibit linearity, separability, or monotonicity in scalar unobservables. One main...

Structural economic models allow one to analyze counterfactuals when economic systems change and to evaluate the well-being of economic agents. A key element in such analysis is the ability to identify the primitive functions and distributions of the economic models that are employed to describe...

This paper develops shrinkage methods for addressing the “many instruments” problem in the context of instrumental variable estimation. It has been observed that instrumental variable estimators may behave poorly if the number of instruments is large. This problem can be addressed by...