IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/econom/v233y2023i1p184-208.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Treatment effects in interactive fixed effects models with a small number of time periods

Author

Listed:
  • Callaway, Brantly
  • Karami, Sonia

Abstract

This paper considers identifying and estimating the Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT) when untreated potential outcomes are generated by an interactive fixed effects model. That is, in addition to time-period and individual fixed effects, we consider the case where there is an unobserved time invariant variable whose effect on untreated potential outcomes may change over time and which can therefore cause outcomes (in the absence of participating in the treatment) to follow different paths for the treated group relative to the untreated group. The models that we consider in this paper generalize many commonly used models in the treatment effects literature including difference in differences and individual-specific linear trend models. Unlike the majority of the literature on interactive fixed effects models, we do not require the number of time periods to go to infinity to consistently estimate the ATT. Our main identification result relies on having the effect of some time invariant covariate (e.g., race or sex) not vary over time. Using our approach, we show that the ATT can be identified with as few as three time periods and with panel or repeated cross sections data.

Suggested Citation

  • Callaway, Brantly & Karami, Sonia, 2023. "Treatment effects in interactive fixed effects models with a small number of time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(1), pages 184-208.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:econom:v:233:y:2023:i:1:p:184-208
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconom.2022.02.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030440762200029X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeconom.2022.02.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Isaiah Andrews & Timothy B. Armstrong, 2017. "Unbiased instrumental variables estimation under known first‐stage sign," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 8(2), pages 479-503, July.
    2. Eli Ben-Michael & Avi Feller & Jesse Rothstein, 2021. "The Augmented Synthetic Control Method," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 116(536), pages 1789-1803, October.
    3. Laurent Gobillon & Thierry Magnac, 2016. "Regional Policy Evaluation: Interactive Fixed Effects and Synthetic Controls," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(3), pages 535-551, July.
    4. Simon Freyaldenhoven & Christian Hansen & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2019. "Pre-event Trends in the Panel Event-Study Design," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(9), pages 3307-3338, September.
    5. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    6. Kleibergen, Frank & Paap, Richard, 2006. "Generalized reduced rank tests using the singular value decomposition," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 97-126, July.
    7. Jushan Bai & Serena Ng, 2002. "Determining the Number of Factors in Approximate Factor Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(1), pages 191-221, January.
    8. Dmitry Arkhangelsky & Susan Athey & David A. Hirshberg & Guido W. Imbens & Stefan Wager, 2021. "Synthetic Difference-in-Differences," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(12), pages 4088-4118, December.
    9. Pedro Carneiro & Karsten T. Hansen & James J. Heckman, 2003. "Estimating Distributions of Treatment Effects with an Application to the Returns to Schooling and Measurement of the Effects of Uncertainty on College," NBER Working Papers 9546, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Richard Blundell & Monica Costa Dias, 2009. "Alternative Approaches to Evaluation in Empirical Microeconomics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(3).
    11. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September.
    12. Artūras Juodis & Vasilis Sarafidis, 2022. "A Linear Estimator for Factor-Augmented Fixed-T Panels With Endogenous Regressors," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 1-15, January.
    13. Hyungsik Roger Moon & Martin Weidner, 2015. "Linear Regression for Panel With Unknown Number of Factors as Interactive Fixed Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83(4), pages 1543-1579, July.
    14. Sanderson, Eleanor & Windmeijer, Frank, 2016. "A weak instrument F-test in linear IV models with multiple endogenous variables," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 190(2), pages 212-221.
    15. Louis S. Jacobson & Robert J. LaLonde & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1993. "Long-term earnings losses of high-seniority displaced workers," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 17(Nov), pages 2-20.
    16. Hansen, Christian & Kozbur, Damian, 2014. "Instrumental variables estimation with many weak instruments using regularized JIVE," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 182(2), pages 290-308.
    17. Carneiro, Pedro & Hansen, Karsten T. & Heckman, James J., 2003. "Estimating Distributions of Treatment Effects with an Application to the Returns to Schooling and Measurement of the Effects of Uncertainty on College Choice," IZA Discussion Papers 767, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Ricardo Mora & Iliana Reggio, 2019. "Alternative diff-in-diffs estimators with several pretreatment periods," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(5), pages 465-486, May.
    19. Kline Patrick & Santos Andres, 2012. "A Score Based Approach to Wild Bootstrap Inference," Journal of Econometric Methods, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 23-41, August.
    20. Benjamin Williams, 2020. "Identification of the linear factor model," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 92-109, January.
    21. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas & Newey, Whitney & Rosen, Harvey S, 1988. "Estimating Vector Autoregressions with Panel Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(6), pages 1371-1395, November.
    22. Robertson, Donald & Sarafidis, Vasilis, 2015. "IV estimation of panels with factor residuals," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 185(2), pages 526-541.
    23. Jushan Bai & Serena Ng, 2021. "Matrix Completion, Counterfactuals, and Factor Analysis of Missing Data," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 116(536), pages 1746-1763, October.
    24. Bruno Ferman & Cristine Pinto, 2021. "Synthetic controls with imperfect pretreatment fit," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 12(4), pages 1197-1221, November.
    25. Pedro Carneiro & Karsten T. Hansen & James J. Heckman, 2003. "2001 Lawrence R. Klein Lecture Estimating Distributions of Treatment Effects with an Application to the Returns to Schooling and Measurement of the Effects of Uncertainty on College Choice," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 44(2), pages 361-422, May.
    26. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    27. Cheng Hsiao & H. Steve Ching & Shui Ki Wan, 2012. "A Panel Data Approach For Program Evaluation: Measuring The Benefits Of Political And Economic Integration Of Hong Kong With Mainland China," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(5), pages 705-740, August.
    28. Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Zhao, Jun, 2020. "Doubly robust difference-in-differences estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 219(1), pages 101-122.
    29. James J. Heckman & Jora Stixrud & Sergio Urzua, 2006. "The Effects of Cognitive and Noncognitive Abilities on Labor Market Outcomes and Social Behavior," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 411-482, July.
    30. Stéphane Bonhomme & Ulrich Sauder, 2011. "Recovering Distributions in Difference-in-Differences Models: A Comparison of Selective and Comprehensive Schooling," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 479-494, May.
    31. Susan Athey & Mohsen Bayati & Nikolay Doudchenko & Guido Imbens & Khashayar Khosravi, 2021. "Matrix Completion Methods for Causal Panel Data Models," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 116(536), pages 1716-1730, October.
    32. Xu, Yiqing, 2017. "Generalized Synthetic Control Method: Causal Inference with Interactive Fixed Effects Models," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(1), pages 57-76, January.
    33. Brantly Callaway & Tong Li, 2019. "Quantile treatment effects in difference in differences models with panel data," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 10(4), pages 1579-1618, November.
    34. Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2005. "Fixed-Effects and Related Estimators for Correlated Random-Coefficient and Treatment-Effect Panel Data Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(2), pages 385-390, May.
    35. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    36. A. Colin Cameron & Douglas L. Miller, 2015. "A Practitioner’s Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 317-372.
    37. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    38. Blackwell, Matthew & Glynn, Adam N., 2018. "How to Make Causal Inferences with Time-Series Cross-Sectional Data under Selection on Observables," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 112(4), pages 1067-1082, November.
    39. James Heckman & Jose Scheinkman, 1987. "The Importance of Bundling in a Gorman-Lancaster Model of Earnings," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 54(2), pages 243-255.
    40. Heckman, J.J. & Hotz, V.J., 1988. "Choosing Among Alternative Nonexperimental Methods For Estimating The Impact Of Social Programs: The Case Of Manpower Training," University of Chicago - Economics Research Center 88-12, Chicago - Economics Research Center.
    41. José Luis Montiel Olea & Carolin Pflueger, 2013. "A Robust Test for Weak Instruments," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 358-369, July.
    42. Ahn, Seung C. & Lee, Young H. & Schmidt, Peter, 2013. "Panel data models with multiple time-varying individual effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 174(1), pages 1-14.
    43. Cragg, John G. & Donald, Stephen G., 1997. "Inferring the rank of a matrix," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1-2), pages 223-250.
    44. Benjamin Williams, 2018. "Identification of the Linear Factor Model," Working Papers 2018-002, The George Washington University, Department of Economics, H. O. Stekler Research Program on Forecasting.
    45. John Gardner, 2020. "Identification and estimation of average causal effects when treatment status is ignorable within unobserved strata," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(10), pages 1014-1041, November.
    46. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2006. "Estimation and Inference in Large Heterogeneous Panels with a Multifactor Error Structure," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(4), pages 967-1012, July.
    47. Guido Imbens & Nathan Kallus & Xiaojie Mao, 2021. "Controlling for Unmeasured Confounding in Panel Data Using Minimal Bridge Functions: From Two-Way Fixed Effects to Factor Models," Papers 2108.03849, arXiv.org.
    48. Alberto Abadie, 2005. "Semiparametric Difference-in-Differences Estimators," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 72(1), pages 1-19.
    49. Kosuke Imai & Marc Ratkovic, 2015. "Robust Estimation of Inverse Probability Weights for Marginal Structural Models," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 110(511), pages 1013-1023, September.
    50. Joachim Freyberger, 2018. "Non-parametric Panel Data Models with Interactive Fixed Effects," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 85(3), pages 1824-1851.
    51. Li, Kathleen T. & Bell, David R., 2017. "Estimation of average treatment effects with panel data: Asymptotic theory and implementation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 197(1), pages 65-75.
    52. James Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Jeffrey Smith & Petra Todd, 1998. "Characterizing Selection Bias Using Experimental Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(5), pages 1017-1098, September.
    53. Seung‐Hyun Hong, 2013. "Measuring The Effect Of Napster On Recorded Music Sales: Difference‐In‐Differences Estimates Under Compositional Changes," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 297-324, March.
    54. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    55. Lechner, Michael, 2008. "A note on endogenous control variables in causal studies," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 190-195, February.
    56. Ahn, Seung Chan & Hoon Lee, Young & Schmidt, Peter, 2001. "GMM estimation of linear panel data models with time-varying individual effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 219-255, April.
    57. Jushan Bai, 2009. "Panel Data Models With Interactive Fixed Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(4), pages 1229-1279, July.
    58. Dukpa Kim & Tatsushi Oka, 2014. "Divorce Law Reforms And Divorce Rates In The Usa: An Interactive Fixed‐Effects Approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 231-245, March.
    59. Abadie, Alberto & Diamond, Alexis & Hainmueller, Jens, 2010. "Synthetic Control Methods for Comparative Case Studies: Estimating the Effect of California’s Tobacco Control Program," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 105(490), pages 493-505.
    60. Cheng Hsiao & Qiankun Zhou, 2019. "Panel parametric, semiparametric, and nonparametric construction of counterfactuals," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 463-481, June.
    61. Maxwell Kellogg & Magne Mogstad & Guillaume A. Pouliot & Alexander Torgovitsky, 2021. "Combining Matching and Synthetic Control to Tradeoff Biases From Extrapolation and Interpolation," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 116(536), pages 1804-1816, October.
    62. Cheng Hsiao & Qiankun Zhou, 2018. "Panel Parametric, Semi-parametric and Nonparametric Construction of Counterfactuals - California Tobacco Control Revisited," Departmental Working Papers 2018-02, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qi’ang Du & Hongbo Li & Yanyan Fu & Xintian Fu & Rui Wang & Tingting Jia, 2023. "More Green, Better Funding? Exploring the Dynamics between Corporate Bank Loans and Trade Credit," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-20, June.
    2. Timo Schenk, 2023. "Time-Weighted Difference-in-Differences: Accounting for Common Factors in Short T Panels," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 23-004/III, Tinbergen Institute.
    3. Gregory Faletto, 2023. "Fused Extended Two-Way Fixed Effects for Difference-in-Differences with Staggered Adoptions," Papers 2312.05985, arXiv.org.
    4. Albert Chiu & Xingchen Lan & Ziyi Liu & Yiqing Xu, 2023. "What To Do (and Not to Do) with Causal Panel Analysis under Parallel Trends: Lessons from A Large Reanalysis Study," Papers 2309.15983, arXiv.org.
    5. Zhenhao Gong & Min Seong Kim, 2024. "Improved Inference for Interactive Fixed Effects Model under Cross-Sectional Dependence," Working papers 2024-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    6. Brantly Callaway, 2022. "Difference-in-Differences for Policy Evaluation," Papers 2203.15646, arXiv.org.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dmitry Arkhangelsky & Guido Imbens, 2023. "Causal Models for Longitudinal and Panel Data: A Survey," Papers 2311.15458, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    2. Xingyu Li & Yan Shen & Qiankun Zhou, 2022. "Confidence Intervals of Treatment Effects in Panel Data Models with Interactive Fixed Effects," Papers 2202.12078, arXiv.org.
    3. Laurent Gobillon & Thierry Magnac, 2016. "Regional Policy Evaluation: Interactive Fixed Effects and Synthetic Controls," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(3), pages 535-551, July.
    4. Roth, Jonathan & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Bilinski, Alyssa & Poe, John, 2023. "What’s trending in difference-in-differences? A synthesis of the recent econometrics literature," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 2218-2244.
    5. Callaway, Brantly, 2021. "Bounds on distributional treatment effect parameters using panel data with an application on job displacement," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 222(2), pages 861-881.
    6. Bruno Ferman & Cristine Pinto, 2021. "Synthetic controls with imperfect pretreatment fit," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 12(4), pages 1197-1221, November.
    7. David Gilchrist & Thomas Emery & Nuno Garoupa & Rok Spruk, 2023. "Synthetic Control Method: A tool for comparative case studies in economic history," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 409-445, April.
    8. Rafaty, Ryan & Dolphin, Geoffroy & Pretis, Felix, 2021. "Carbon Pricing and the Elasticity of CO2 Emissions," RFF Working Paper Series 21-33, Resources for the Future.
    9. Norkutė, Milda & Sarafidis, Vasilis & Yamagata, Takashi & Cui, Guowei, 2021. "Instrumental variable estimation of dynamic linear panel data models with defactored regressors and a multifactor error structure," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 220(2), pages 416-446.
    10. Guido W. Imbens & Davide Viviano, 2023. "Identification and Inference for Synthetic Controls with Confounding," Papers 2312.00955, arXiv.org.
    11. Simon Freyaldenhoven & Christian Hansen & Jorge Perez Perez & Jesse Shapiro, 2021. "Visualization, Identification, and stimation in the Linear Panel Event-Study Design," Working Papers 21-44, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    12. Hugo Freeman & Martin Weidner, 2021. "Linear Panel Regressions with Two-Way Unobserved Heterogeneity," Papers 2109.11911, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2022.
    13. Milda Norkuté & Vasilis Sarafidis & Takashi Yamagata, 2018. "Instrumental Variable Estimation of Dynamic Linear Panel Data Models with Defactored Regressors and a Multifactor Error Structure," ISER Discussion Paper 1019, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    14. Susan Athey & Mohsen Bayati & Nikolay Doudchenko & Guido Imbens & Khashayar Khosravi, 2021. "Matrix Completion Methods for Causal Panel Data Models," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 116(536), pages 1716-1730, October.
    15. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    16. Hugo Freeman & Martin Weidner, 2021. "Linear panel regressions with two-way unobserved heterogeneity," CeMMAP working papers CWP39/21, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    17. Ruofan Xu & Jiti Gao & Tatsushi Oka & Yoon-Jae Whang, 2022. "Estimation of Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Using Quantile Regression with Interactive Fixed Effects," Monash Econometrics and Business Statistics Working Papers 13/22, Monash University, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.
    18. Viviano, Davide & Bradic, Jelena, 2023. "Synthetic Learner: Model-free inference on treatments over time," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 234(2), pages 691-713.
    19. Sarafidis, Vasilis & Yamagata, Takashi, 2010. "Instrumental Variable Estimation of Dynamic Linear Panel Data Models with Defactored Regressors under Cross-sectional Dependence," MPRA Paper 25182, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Interactive fixed effects; Treatment effects; Panel data; Repeated cross sections; Treatment effect heterogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:econom:v:233:y:2023:i:1:p:184-208. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jeconom .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.