A brief introduction to estimating Generalized Method of Moments models in Stata, using the optimize() function in Mata, with applications to nonlinear IV models.

A brief survey of clustered errors, focusing on estimating cluster–robust standard errors: when and why to use the cluster option (nearly always in panel regressions), and implications. Additional topics may include using svyset to specify clustering, multidimensional clustering, clustering in...

The focus on efficiency costs in the empirical literature on Disability Insurance (DI) provides a misleading view of the adequacy of payment levels. In order to evaluate whether workers are over- or under-insured through the social insurance program, we develop a framework that allows us to...

This paper presents the Economic Security Index (ESI), a new, more comprehensive measure of economic insecurity. By combining data from multiple surveys, we create an integrated measure of volatility in available household resources, accounting for fluctuations in income and out-of pocket...

Roughly one half of hospitals in the U.S. are in rural areas, yet researchers have largely studied the effects of hospital ownership in the urban context. We examine differences in the provision of profitable and unprofitable medical services in rural areas across nonprofit, for-profit, and...

Special problems arise when trying to do causal inference for binary regression with observational data; we will examine some of these problems and critically examine several common and not-so-common solutions.

Although cluster–robust standard errors are now recognized as essential in a panel-data context, official Stata only supports clusters that are nested within panels. This rules out the possibility of defining clusters in the time dimension, and modeling contemporaneous dependence of panel...

The focus on efficiency costs in the empirical literature on Disability Insurance (DI) provides a misleading view of the adequacy of payment levels. In order to evaluate whether workers are over- or under-insured through the social insurance program, we develop a framework that allows us to...

Immigration is transforming the U.S. labor force with important consequences for Social Security’s adequacy and finances. Using longitudinal data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation matched to rich administrative data on lifetime earnings and benefit receipt, we measure the...