An Empirical Comparison of Randomized Control Trials and Regression Discontinuity Estimations

Autor/inn/en	Barrera-Osorio, Felipe; Filmer, Deon; McIntyre, Joe
Institution	Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE)
Titel	An Empirical Comparison of Randomized Control Trials and Regression Discontinuity Estimations
Quelle	(2014), (7 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Randomized Controlled Trials; Regression (Statistics); Research Problems; Comparative Analysis; Nonparametric Statistics; Economics; Monte Carlo Methods; Foreign Countries; Grade 4; Elementary School Students; Scholarships; Experimental Groups; Control Groups; Intervention; Statistical Bias; Research Design; Cambodia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Regression; Regressionsanalyse; Forschungskritik; Volkswirtschaftslehre; Monte-Carlo-Methode; Ausland; School year 04; 4. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 04; Scholarship; Stipendium; Forschungsdesign; Kambodscha
Abstract	Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and regression discontinuity (RD) studies both provide estimates of causal effects. A major difference between the two is that RD only estimates local average treatment effects (LATE) near the cutoff point of the forcing variable. This has been cited as a drawback to RD designs (Cook & Wong, 2008). Comparisons of RCT estimates of average treatment effect (ATE) and RD estimates of LATE are rare because few studies have both randomized assignment and a forcing variable. Using a study which is amenable to analysis both as an RCT and an RD, the authors compare the RCT estimate of ATE to the RD estimate of LATE. They also explore how the RD estimate of average treatment effect depends on econometric specifications, including for parametric and non-parametric estimators, and for various bandwidths. Finally, they use Monte Carlo simulation based on observed data to explore the performance of RD estimators with a forcing variable which is standardized within schools by choosing a different cutoff in each school. Findings can be used to inform decisions about which estimators to use in doing regression discontinuity, as well as providing evidence of how well RD estimators approximate RCT estimators. Tables are appended. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness. 2040 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208. Tel: 202-495-0920; Fax: 202-640-4401; e-mail: inquiries@sree.org; Web site: http://www.sree.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01