Causality and Econometrics

There have been various lectures and discussions on causality here over the last while, the culmination being Professor Heckman's session. Below are some background readings.

The starting point for discussion is a recent paper by Angus Deaton. This paper
was delivered as the Keynes lecture. Deaton argues strongly against the use of RCT and LATE methods on their own as useful tools for development analysis. A similar theme is picked up in the Heckman
Urzua paper below that.

http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/14690.html

http://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp3980.html

Professor Heckman's ideas on causality are expressed in a recent International Statistical Review paper that is available below.


http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/13934.html

His work on Treatment effects with Vytlacil is developed in a number of handbook of econometrics articles available on his IDEAS page. A good paper is below:

http://ideas.repec.org/a/tpr/restat/v88y2006i3p389-432.html

The use of LATE is defended in the paper below by Guido Imbens, who along with Josh Angrist was a key figure in the development of these methods.

http://www.nber.org/papers/w14896

Also, the work of Esther Duflo should be consulted in this regarded as a strong proponent of randomised trials in development analysis.

http://ideas.repec.org/e/pdu166.html