Econometrica

Journal Of The Econometric Society

An International Society for the Advancement of Economic
Theory in its Relation to Statistics and Mathematics

Edited by: Guido W. Imbens • Print ISSN: 0012-9682 • Online ISSN: 1468-0262

Econometrica: Nov, 2010, Volume 78, Issue 6

Irregular Identification, Support Conditions, and Inverse Weight Estimation

https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA7372
p. 2021-2042

Shakeeb Khan, Elie Tamer

In weighted moment condition models, we show a subtle link between identification and estimability that limits the practical usefulness of estimators based on these models. In particular, if it is for (point) identification that the weights take arbitrarily large values, then the parameter of interest, though point identified, cannot be estimated at the regular (parametric) rate and is said to be This rate depends on relative tail conditions and can be as slow in some examples as . This nonstandard rate of convergence can lead to numerical instability and/or large standard errors. We examine two weighted model examples: (i) the binary response model under mean restriction introduced by Lewbel (1997) and further generalized to cover endogeneity and selection, where the estimator in this class of models is weighted by the density of a special regressor, and (ii) the treatment effect model under exogenous selection (Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983)), where the resulting estimator of the average treatment effect is one that is weighted by a variant of the propensity score. Without strong relative support conditions, these models, similar to well known “identified at infinity” models, lead to estimators that converge at slower than parametric rate, since essentially, to ensure point identification, one requires some variables to take values on sets with arbitrarily small probabilities, or . For the two models above, we derive some rates of convergence and propose that one conducts inference using procedures that are analogous to Andrews and Schafgans (1998) for the sample selection model.


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