IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/somere/v52y2023i4p1632-1680.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Surprising Causes: Propensity-adjusted Treatment Scores for Multimethod Case Selection

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel J. Galvin
  • Jason N. Seawright

Abstract

Scholarship on multimethod case selection in the social sciences has developed rapidly in recent years, but many possibilities remain unexplored. This essay introduces an attractive and advantageous new alternative, involving the selection of extreme cases on the treatment variable, net of the statistical influence of the set of known control variables. Cases that are extreme in this way are those in which the value of the main causal variable is as surprising as possible, and thus, this approach can be referred to as seeking “surprising causes.†There are practical advantages to selecting on surprising causes, and there are also advantages in terms of statistical efficiency in facilitating case-study discovery. We first argue for these advantages in general terms and then demonstrate them in an application regarding the dynamics of U.S. labor legislation.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel J. Galvin & Jason N. Seawright, 2023. "Surprising Causes: Propensity-adjusted Treatment Scores for Multimethod Case Selection," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 52(4), pages 1632-1680, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:52:y:2023:i:4:p:1632-1680
    DOI: 10.1177/00491241211004632
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00491241211004632
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00491241211004632?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard B. Freeman & Casey Ichniowski, 1988. "When Public Sector Workers Unionize," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free88-1.
    2. Freeman, Richard B. & Ichniowski, Casey (ed.), 1988. "When Public Sector Workers Unionize," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226261669, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dhammika Dharmapala & Richard H. McAdams & John Rappaport, 2019. "Collective Bargaining and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida," CESifo Working Paper Series 7718, CESifo.
    2. Terry M. Moe, 2009. "Collective Bargaining and The Performance of the Public Schools," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(1), pages 156-174, January.
    3. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3573-3630 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Rebecca Diamond, 2017. "Housing Supply Elasticity and Rent Extraction by State and Local Governments," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 74-111, February.
    5. Louis J. Pantuosco & Darrell Parker, 2005. "The Determinants of Shirking: Analysis and Evidence on Job Loser Unemployment," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 7-21, Winter.
    6. Eric Brunner & Joshua Hyman & Andrew Ju, 2020. "School Finance Reforms, Teachers' Unions, and the Allocation of School Resources," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(3), pages 473-489, July.
    7. DiNardo, John & Fortin, Nicole M & Lemieux, Thomas, 1996. "Labor Market Institutions and the Distribution of Wages, 1973-1992: A Semiparametric Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(5), pages 1001-1044, September.
    8. Alex Bryson & Richard Freeman & Rafael Gomez & Paul Willman, 2017. "The Twin Track Model of Employee Voice: An Anglo-American Perspective on Union Decline and the Rise of Alternative Forms of Voice," DoQSS Working Papers 17-13, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    9. Willow S. Jacobson & Ellen V. Rubin & Amy K. Donahue, 2008. "Integrating Labor Relations and Human Resource Management: Impacts on State Workforces," International Review of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 13-31, September.
    10. Hosken, D.S. & Margolis, D.N., 1996. "The Efficiency of Collective Bargaining in Public Schools," Cahiers de recherche 9609, Universite de Montreal, Departement de sciences economiques.
    11. Eunice S. Han, 2020. "The Myth of Unions’ Overprotection of Bad Teachers: Evidence from the District–Teacher Matched Data on Teacher Turnover," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 316-352, April.
    12. Jerch, Rhiannon & Kahn, Matthew E. & Li, Shanjun, 2017. "The efficiency of local government: The role of privatization and public sector unions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 95-121.
    13. Rhiannon Jerch & Matthew E. Kahn & Shanjun Li, 2016. "Efficient Local Government Service Provision: The Role of Privatization and Public Sector Unions," NBER Working Papers 22088, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Falch, Torberg & Strom, Bjarne, 2007. "Wage bargaining and monopsony," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 202-207, February.
    15. Kevin M. Murphy & Sam Peltzman, 2004. "School Performance and the Youth Labor Market," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(2), pages 299-328, April.
    16. David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson, 2003. "What Effect do Unions Have on Wages Now and Would 'What Do Unions Do' Be Surprised?," NBER Working Papers 9973, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Duplantis, Malcolm M. & Chandler, Timothy D. & Geske, Terry G., 1995. "The growth and impact of teachers' unions in states without collective bargaining legislation," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 167-178, June.
    18. Moundir, Lassassi & Menna, Khaled, 2016. "La Notion De « Femmes Au Foyer » En Algerie, Une Realite Ou Une Representation Nostalgique [The Notion Of “ Homemaker” In Algeria, A Reality Or A Nostalgic Representation]," MPRA Paper 85740, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Hirsch, Barry, 2013. "An Anatomy of Public Sector Unions," IZA Discussion Papers 7313, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Currie, Janet & McConnell, Sheena, 1994. "The Impact of Collective-Bargaining Legislation on Disputes in the U.S. Public Sector: No Legislation May Be the Worst Legislation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(2), pages 519-547, October.
    21. David Card, 2001. "The Effect of Unions on Wage Inequality in the U.S. Labor Market," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(2), pages 296-315, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:52:y:2023:i:4:p:1632-1680. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.