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Leniency Designs: An Operator's Manual

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Listed:
  • Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham
  • Peter Hull
  • Michal Koles'ar

Abstract

We develop a step-by-step guide to leniency (a.k.a. judge or examiner instrument) designs, drawing on recent econometric literatures. The unbiased jackknife instrumental variables estimator (UJIVE) is purpose-built for leveraging exogenous leniency variation, avoiding subtle biases even in the presence of many decision-makers or controls. We show how UJIVE can also be used to assess key assumptions underlying leniency designs, including quasi-random assignment and average first-stage monotonicity, and to probe the external validity of treatment effect estimates. We further discuss statistical inference, arguing that non-clustered standard errors are often appropriate. A reanalysis of Farre-Mensa et al. (2020), using quasi-random examiner assignment to estimate the value of patents to startups, illustrates our checklist.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham & Peter Hull & Michal Koles'ar, 2025. "Leniency Designs: An Operator's Manual," Papers 2511.03572, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2025.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2511.03572
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clément de Chaisemartin, 2017. "Tolerating defiance? Local average treatment effects without monotonicity," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 8(2), pages 367-396, July.
    2. Angrist, Joshua & Kolesár, Michal, 2024. "One instrument to rule them all: The bias and coverage of just-ID IV," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 240(2).
    3. Toru Kitagawa, 2015. "A Test for Instrument Validity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83(5), pages 2043-2063, September.
    4. Mohamed Coulibaly & Yu-Chin Hsu & Ismael Mourifi'e & Yuanyuan Wan, 2024. "A Sharp Test for the Judge Leniency Design," Papers 2405.06156, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2025.
    5. David C Chan & Matthew Gentzkow & Chuan Yu, 2022. "Selection with Variation in Diagnostic Skill: Evidence from Radiologists [The Determinants of Productivity in Medical Testing: Intensity and Allocation of Care]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 137(2), pages 729-783.
    6. Edward Vytlacil, 2002. "Independence, Monotonicity, and Latent Index Models: An Equivalence Result," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(1), pages 331-341, January.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C01 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Econometrics
    • G0 - Financial Economics - - General
    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
    • K0 - Law and Economics - - General

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