T. Paul Schultz of Yale University led a workshop for researchers from 2-5:30 pm EDT on Jan. 18, 2012.
The goals of the methods workshop were to:
- Introduce workshop participants to some of the limitations of correlation-based analyses in empirical studies.
- Highlight the potential advantages of trying to infer causal relationships through the use of non-experimental techniques (e.g. instrumental variables, control functions, matching, discontinuities) for cross-sectional data.
Topics covered:
Resources:
- T. Paul Schultz, “Population and Health Policies” IZA Discussion Paper, no. 4340 (2009), available at www.iza.org/en/webcontent/publications/papers/viewAbstract? dp_id=4340.
- Germano Mwabu, “The Production of Child Health in Kenya: A Structural Model of Birth Weight,” Economic Growth Center Discussion Paper, no. 963 (2008), available at www.econ.yale.edu/growth_pdf/cdp963.pdf.
- Marshall Burke, Erick Gong, and Kelly Jones, “Income Shocks and HIV,” 2011. (PDF: 453KB)
- Kelly Jones, “Evaluating the Mexico City Policy: How International Aid Affects Fertility Outcomes in Ghana,” 2011. (PDF: 290KB)
- Claus C. Pörtner, Kathleen Beegle, and Luc Christiaensen, “Family Planning and Fertility: Estimating Program Effects Using Cross-Sectional Data,” 2011. (PDF: 220KB)
- Una Okonkwo Osili and Bridget Terry Long, “Does Female Schooling Reduce Fertility? Evidence from Nigeria,” Journal of Development Economics 87, no. 1 (2008): 57–75.
- Petra Todd, “Evaluating Social Programs with Endogenous Program Placement and Selection of the Treated,” in Handbook of Development Economics, ed. T. Paul Schultz and John Strauss (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2008): 3847-94.
- Handout