Econometrics for summative evaluations: an introduction to recent developments

Abstract

There has recently been a rapid expansion of interest in the econometrics of summative program evaluation, both within Australia and around the world. We provide a review of the key issue and recent developments in this field. A central feature of recent developments is the attempt to allow for program impacts that vary across individuals. This contrasts with earlier econometric approaches which implicitly assumed a homogenous treatment effect. We survey alternative non-experimental estimation strategies, and note that they can be characterised by (1) an assumption about how untreated outcomes vary across individuals: this assumption in turn suggests how the counter-factual untreated outcomes of program participants should be estimated, and (2) the way in which the estimator aggregates or weights the program impacts of different individuals in the treatment group. Show more