ERIC Number: ED507268
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Nov
Pages: 0
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
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Estimation of Treatment Effects without an Exclusion Restriction: With an Application to the Analysis of the School Breakfast Program. NBER Working Paper No. 15539
Millimet, Daniel L.; Tchernis, Rusty
National Bureau of Economic Research
While the rise in childhood obesity is clear, the policy ramifications are not. School nutrition programs such as the School Breakfast Program (SBP) have come under much scrutiny. However, the lack of experimental evidence, combined with non-random selection into these programs, makes identification of the causal effects of such programs difficult. In the case of the SBP, this difficulty is exacerbated by the apparent lack of exclusion restrictions. Here, we compare via Monte Carlo study several existing estimators that do not rely on exclusion restrictions for identification. In addition, we propose two new estimation strategies. Simulations illustrate the usefulness of our new estimators, as well as provide applied researchers several practical guidelines when analyzing the causal effects of binary treatments. More importantly, we find consistent evidence of a beneficial causal effect of SBP participation on childhood obesity when applying estimators designed to circumvent selection on unobservables.
Descriptors: Federal Programs, Nutrition, Breakfast Programs, Context Effect, Children, Obesity, Public Policy, Monte Carlo Methods, Computation, Simulation, Guidelines, Identification
National Bureau of Economic Research. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-5398. Tel: 617-588-0343; Web site: http://www.nber.org
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Bureau of Economic Research
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Author Affiliations: N/A