Table of Contents

List of Figures vii List of Tables ix Introduction xi 1 Randomized Trials 1 1.1 In Sickness and in Health (Insurance) 1 1.2 The Oregon Trail 24 Masters of 'Metrics: From Daniel to R. A. Fisher 30 Appendix: Mastering Inference 33 2 Regression 47 2.1 A Tale of Two Colleges 47 2.2 Make Me a Match, Run Me a Regression 55 2.3 Ceteris Paribus? 68 Masters of 'Metrics: Galton and Yule 79 Appendix: Regression Theory 82 3 Instrumental Variables 98 3.1 The Charter Conundrum 99 3.2 Abuse Busters 115 3.3 The Population Bomb 123 Masters of 'Metrics: The Remarkable Wrights 139 Appendix: IV Theory 142 4 Regression Discontinuity Designs 147 4.1 Birthdays and Funerals 148 4.2 The Elite Illusion 164 Masters of 'Metrics: Donald Campbell 175 5 Differences-in-Differences 178 5.1 A Mississippi Experiment 178 5.2 Drink, Drank, ... 191 Masters of 'Metrics: John Snow 204 Appendix: Standard Errors for Regression DD 205 6 The Wages of Schooling 209 6.1 Schooling, Experience, and Earnings 209 6.2 Twins Double the Fun 217 6.3 Econometricians Are Known by Their ... Instruments 223 6.4 Rustling Sheepskin in the Lone Star State 235 Appendix: Bias from Measurement Error 240 Abbreviations and Acronyms 245 Empirical Notes 249 Acknowledgments 269 Index 271

About the Author

Joshua D. Angrist is the Ford Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jorn-Steffen Pischke is professor of economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. They are the authors of Mostly Harmless Econometrics (Princeton).

Reviews

"I would be hard pressed to name another econometrics book that can be read for enjoyment yet provides useful quantitative insights."--M.S.R., Financial Analysts Journal