The School of Economics invites you to a seminar by Martin Huber (University of Fribourg):

 Direct and Indirect Effects based on Changes-in-Changes 

Co-authors: 

Mark Schelker (University of Fribourg) and Anthony Strittmatter (University of St. Gallen)

Abstract

We propose a novel approach for causal mediation analysis based on changes-in-changes assumptions restricting unobserved heterogeneity over time. This allows disentangling the causal effect of a binary treatment on an outcome into an indirect effect operating through a binary intermediate variable (called mediator) and a direct effect running via other causal mechanisms. We identify average and quantile direct and indirect effects for various subgroups under the condition that the outcome is monotonic in the unobserved heterogeneity and that the distribution of the latter does not change over time conditional on the treatment and the mediator. We also provide a simulation study and an empirical application to the Jobs II program.

Download the paper: Direct and Indirect Effects based on Changes-in-Changes_HSS_20190512