IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/popdev/v29y2003i3p448-458.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Causal Analysis in Population Research: An Economist's Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Moffitt

Abstract

The problem of determining cause and effect is one of the oldest questions in the social sciences. This note provides a perspective on the analysis of causal relationships in population research, drawing upon recent discussions in the field of economics. Within economics, thinking about causal estimation has shifted markedly in the last decade toward a more pessimistic reading of what is possible and a retreat in the ambitiousness of claims of causal determination. The framework that underlies this conclusion is presented, methods for isolating causal effects are discussed, and an example from the field of population research is given.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Moffitt, 2003. "Causal Analysis in Population Research: An Economist's Perspective," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 29(3), pages 448-458, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:29:y:2003:i:3:p:448-458
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2003.00448.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2003.00448.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2003.00448.x?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
    ---><---

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Sonia Bhalotra & Arthur van Soest, 2004. "Birth Spacing and Neonatal Mortality in India: Dynamics, Frailty and Fecundity," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 04/567, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    2. Guillaume Wunsch, 2007. "Confounding and control," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 16(4), pages 97-120.
    3. Janna Bergsvik & Agnes Fauske & Rannveig Kaldager Hart, 2021. "Can Policies Stall the Fertility Fall? A Systematic Review of the (Quasi‐) Experimental Literature," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(4), pages 913-964, December.
    4. Bhalotra, Sonia & Soest, Arthur van, 2008. "Birth-spacing, fertility and neonatal mortality in India: Dynamics, frailty, and fecundity," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 143(2), pages 274-290, April.
    5. Santosh, Kumar, 2009. "Fertility and Birth Spacing Consequences of Childhood Immunization Program: Evidence from India," MPRA Paper 27126, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Filiz Garip, 2012. "An Integrated Analysis of Migration and Remittances: Modeling Migration as a Mechanism for Selection," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(5), pages 637-663, October.
    7. Santos, Andreia C. & Roberts, Jennifer A. & Barreto, Mauricio L. & Cairncross, Sandy, 2011. "Demand for sanitation in Salvador, Brazil: A hybrid choice approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(8), pages 1325-1332, April.
    8. Chiara Comolli & Fabrizio Bernardi, 2015. "The causal effect of the great recession on childlessness of white American women," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-24, December.
    9. Sonia Bhalotra & Arthur van Soest, 2004. "Birth Spacing and Neonatal Mortality in India: Dynamics, Frailty and Fecundity," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 04/567, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    10. Bijlsma, Maarten J. & Wilson, Ben, 2020. "Modelling the socio-economic determinants of fertility: a mediation analysis using the parametric g-formula," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102414, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Maarten J. Bijlsma & Ben Wilson, 2020. "Modelling the socio‐economic determinants of fertility: a mediation analysis using the parametric g‐formula," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 183(2), pages 493-513, February.
    12. Robert Mare, 2011. "A Multigenerational View of Inequality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(1), pages 1-23, February.

    More about this item

    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:bla:popdev:v:29:y:2003:i:3:p:448-458. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0098-7921 .

    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.