Methods to Estimate Causal Effects

Abstract

"The identification of causal effects has gained increasing attention in social sciences over the last years and this trend also has found its way into sociology, albeit on a relatively small scale. This article provides an overview of three methods to identify causal effects that are rarely used in sociology: instrumentalvariable (IV) regression, difference-in-differences (DiD), and regression discontinuity design (RDD). I provide intuitive introductions to these methods, discuss identifying assumptions, limitations of the methods, promising extension, and present an exemplary study for each estimation method that can serve as a benchmark when applying these estimation techniques. Furthermore, the supplemental material to this article contains Stata and R syntax that shows with simulated data how to apply these techniques in practice." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Nomos) ((en))

Cite article

Collischon, M. (2022): Methods to Estimate Causal Effects. An Overview on IV, DiD and RDD and a Guide on How to Apply them in Practice. In: Soziale Welt, Vol. 73, No. 4, p. 713 -735., accepted on December 08, 2021. DOI:10.5771/0038-6073-2022-4-713