Spotlight on researcher decisions: Infrastructure evaluation, instrumental variables, and specification screening

Arbeitspapier

This paper revisits the instrumental variable (IV) approach in Lipscomb et al. (2013, 2021, LMB) to study the impacts of electrification. We first make corrections to the construction of the dataset, including the modelled IV. Revised estimates on main outcomes and mechanisms are statistically insignificant, with substantially lower effect sizes. We second develop a framework that accounts for weak IVs and discourages specification screening. Applying it to LMB, we find that most theoretically justified specifications yield insignificant results. The proposed framework is transferable to other IV applications to reduce potential bias stemming from researcher's or replicator's discretion.

Object Details

• ISBN: 978-3-96973-157-4
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Ruhr Economic Papers ; No. 991

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products ; Model Evaluation, Validation, and Selection ; Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
• Subject: Replication ; instrumental variables ; electrification ; infrastructure ; specification curveanalysis ; robust inference

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Ankel-Peters, Jörg ; Bensch, Gunther ; Vance, Colin
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung
• (where): Essen
• (when): 2023

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.4419/96973157
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/269225
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET