This Github repo contains the data and code necessary to replicate Imbens and Xu (2024): “LaLonde (1986) After Nearly Four Decades: Lessons Learned.” [arXiv]
Tutorial: For a detailed bookdown tutorial, see here. We thank Zihan Xie and Jinwen Wu for their excellent research assistance, which makes this tutorial possible.
The folder structure of this repo is as follows:
| folder | usage |
|---|---|
| code | R scripts |
| data | Data files, include two subfolders “lalonde”, “cs” & “irs” |
| graphs | To store graphics |
| output | To store estimation results |
| tables | To store tables |
Imbens and Xu (2024) uses the following datasets, which are based on LaLonde (1986), Dehejia and Wahba (1999), Calónico and Smith (2017), and Imbens, Rubin, and Sacerdote (2001).
| Data.files | Details | File_Type | Experimental |
|---|---|---|---|
| nsw.dta | NSW experimental data, used in LaLonde (1986) | Stata | Yes |
| nsw_dw.dta | Subset of NSW experimental data, used in Dehejia & Wahba (1999) | Stata | Yes |
| cps_controls.dta | CPS-SSA-1 controls, used in both papers | Stata | No |
| psid_controls.dta | PSID-1 controls, used in both papers | Stata | No |
| lottery.RData | Data of lottery winners, used in Imbens, Rubin & Sacerdote (201) | R | No |
| NSW_AFDC_CS.dta | Reconstructed NSW AFDC female samples | Stata | Both |
To replicate all findings, set the directory to the root folder of the
replications files and execute master.R. Below are explanations for
the usage of each R script:
| Data.files | Usage |
|---|---|
| master.R | Install necessary R packages and excute all R scripts. |
| functions_est.R | Store functions for estimation |
| functions_plot.R | Store functions for making plots |
| lalonde1_prepare.R | Preprocess LaLonde datasets |
| lalonde2_trim.R | Trim datasets to improve overlap |
| lalonde3_overlap.R | Visualize overlap in propensity scores |
| lalonde4_estimate.R | Estimate the ATT |
| lalonde5_catt.R | Estimate and visualize CATT |
| lalonde6_qte.R | Estimate and visualize quantile treatment effects |
| laldone7_sens.R | Conduct sensitivity analyses |
| lalonde8_lcs.R | Analyze the female samples by Calonico & Smith (2017) |
| irs1_est.R | Estimate the ATT using the IRS data |
| irs2_big.R | Additional analyses for winning big prizes |
| irs3_small.R | Additional analyses for winning small prizes |
For successful replication, the following R packages need to be installed:
# required packages
packages <- c("haven", "labelled", "Matching", "grf", "sensemakr", "qte",
"estimatr", "CBPS", "hbal", "DoubleML", "mlr3learners", "fixest", "ggplot2")
# install packages
install_all <- function(packages) {
installed_pkgs <- installed.packages()[, "Package"]
for (pkg in packages) {
if (!pkg %in% installed_pkgs) {
install.packages(pkg)
}
}
}
install_all(packages)To report errors, please contact yiqingxu@stanford.edu. Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Calónico, Sebastian, and Jeffrey Smith. 2017. “The Women of the National Supported Work Demonstration.” Journal of Labor Economics 35 (S1): S65–97.
Dehejia, Rajeev H, and Sadek Wahba. 1999. “Causal Effects in Nonexperimental Studies: Reevaluating the Evaluation of Training Programs.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 94 (448): 1053–62.
Imbens, Guido W, Donald B Rubin, and Bruce I Sacerdote. 2001. “Estimating the Effect of Unearned Income on Labor Earnings, Savings, and Consumption: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery Players.” American Economic Review 91 (4): 778–94.
Imbens, Guido W, and Yiqing Xu. 2024. “LaLonde (1986) After Nearly Four Decades: Lessons Learned.” arXiv:2406.00827.
LaLonde, Robert J. 1986. “Evaluating the Econometric Evaluations of Training Programs with Experimental Data.” The American Economic Review 76 (4): 604–20.