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Identification and Counterfactual Analysis in Incomplete Models with Support and Moment Restrictions

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  • Lixiong Li

Abstract

This paper develops a unified identification framework for counterfactual analysis in incomplete models characterized by support and moment restrictions. I demonstrate that identifying structural parameters and conducting counterfactual analyses are isomorphic tasks. By embedding counterfactual restrictions within an augmented structural model specification, this approach bypasses the conventional "estimate-then-simulate" workflow and the need to simulate outcomes from models with set predictions. To make this approach operational, I extend sharp identification results for the support-function approach beyond the integrable boundedness condition that is imposed in sharp random-set characterizations but may be violated in economically relevant counterfactual analyses. Under minimal regularity conditions, I prove that the support-function approach remains sharp for the $moment$ $closure$ of the identified set. Furthermore, I introduce an irreducibility condition requiring all support implications to be made explicit. I show that for irreducible models, the identified set and its moment closure are statistically indistinguishable in finite samples. Together, these results justify using support-function methods in counterfactual settings where traditional sharpness fails and clarify the distinct roles of support and moment restrictions in empirical practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Lixiong Li, 2026. "Identification and Counterfactual Analysis in Incomplete Models with Support and Moment Restrictions," Papers 2603.07722, arXiv.org.
  • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2603.07722
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    File URL: http://arxiv.org/pdf/2603.07722
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