Search Results
Title: Natural "Natural Experiments" in Economics
Resulting in 1 citation.
| 1. |
Rosenzweig, Mark R. Wolpin, Kenneth I. |
|
Natural "Natural Experiments" in Economics Journal of Economic Literature 38,4 (December 2000): 827-874. Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2698663 Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Publisher: American Economic Association Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Earnings; Educational Returns; Fertility; Heterogeneity; Income; Labor Supply; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Savings; Siblings; Work Experience Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. The costliness of and limitations on experiments involving human subjects have long been identified as major constraints on the progress of economic science. Indeed, it has been increasingly recognized that identification of many interesting parameters, such as the effects of schooling or work experience on earnings or of income on savings, requires attention to the fact that the variation in many of the variables whose effects are of interest may not be orthogonal to unobservable factors that jointly affect the outcomes studied. Such unmeasured or unmeasurable factors may include pre-existing or endowed skills ("ability"), preferences, or technologies that vary across individuals or firms in the economy. The possible existence of heterogeneity in these attributes means that almost all estimates are open to alternative interpretations in terms of self-selection by such traits. In determining the returns to schooling, for example, individuals cannot be considered to be randomly sorted among schooling levels. Thus, that more-schooled individuals have higher earnings may reflect the fact that more able individuals prefer schooling or face lower schooling costs. Similarly, that fertility and female labor supply are negatively correlated may reflect variation in preferences for children and work in the population. |
|
|
Bibliography Citation
Rosenzweig, Mark R. and Kenneth I. Wolpin. "Natural "Natural Experiments" in Economics." Journal of Economic Literature 38,4 (December 2000): 827-874.
|