Evaluating Social Policy by Experimental and Nonexperimental Methods

B-Tier
Journal: Scandanavian Journal of Economics
Year: 2002
Volume: 104
Issue: 1
Pages: 147-171

Authors (3)

Espen Bratberg (Universitetet i Bergen) Astrid Grasdal (not in RePEc) Alf Erling Risa (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Although it is important to establish causal relationships in social policy evaluation, the effects are difficult to observe due to sample selection. To evaluate the performance of estimators designed to handle sample selection bias, we analyse data from a Norwegian rehabilitation project with a randomised experimental design. The data permit us to compare the performance of different nonexperimental estimators with the experimental results. In our case study we find that nonexperimental evaluation based on sample selection estimators with selection terms that fail to meet conventional levels of statistical significance is highly unreliable. The difference in difference estimator and propensity score matching estimators perform better in our context. JEL classification: C51; J24; H43; I12

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:scandj:v:104:y:2002:i:1:p:147-171
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-24