IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/tsj/stataj/v14y2014i3p580-604.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Stata package for the application of semiparametric estimators of dose–response functions

Author

Listed:
  • Michela Bia

    (CEPS/INSTEAD)

  • Carlos A. Flores

    (California Polytechnic State University)

  • Alfonso Flores-Lagunes

    (State University of New York, Binghamton)

  • Alessandra Mattei

    (University of Florence)

Abstract

In many observational studies, the treatment may not be binary or categorical but rather continuous, so the focus is on estimating a continuous dose– response function. In this article, we propose a set of programs that semiparametrically estimate the dose–response function of a continuous treatment under the unconfoundedness assumption. We focus on kernel methods and penalized spline models and use generalized propensity-score methods under continuous treatment regimes for covariate adjustment. Our programs use generalized linear models to estimate the generalized propensity score, allowing users to choose between alternative parametric assumptions. They also allow users to impose a common support condition and evaluate the balance of the covariates using various approaches. We illustrate our routines by estimating the effect of the prize amount on subsequent labor earnings for Massachusetts lottery winners, using data collected by Imbens, Rubin, and Sacerdote (2001, American Economic Review, 778–794). Copyright 2014 by StataCorp LP.

Suggested Citation

  • Michela Bia & Carlos A. Flores & Alfonso Flores-Lagunes & Alessandra Mattei, 2014. "A Stata package for the application of semiparametric estimators of dose–response functions," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 14(3), pages 580-604, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:tsj:stataj:v:14:y:2014:i:3:p:580-604
    Note: to access software from within Stata, net describe http://www.stata-journal.com/software/sj14-3/st0352/
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.stata-journal.com/article.html?article=st0352
    File Function: link to article purchase
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kluve, Jochen & Schneider, Hilmar & Uhlendorff, Arne & Zhao, Zhong, 2007. "Evaluating Continuous Training Programs Using the Generalized Propensity Score," IZA Discussion Papers 3255, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Michela Bia & Philippe Van Kerm, 2014. "Space-filling location selection," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 14(3), pages 605-622, September.
    3. Newey, Whitney K., 1994. "Kernel Estimation of Partial Means and a General Variance Estimator," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 1-21, June.
    4. Carlos A. Flores & Alfonso Flores-Lagunes & Arturo Gonzalez & Todd C. Neumann, 2012. "Estimating the Effects of Length of Exposure to Instruction in a Training Program: The Case of Job Corps," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(1), pages 153-171, February.
    5. Guido W. Imbens & Donald B. Rubin & Bruce I. Sacerdote, 2001. "Estimating the Effect of Unearned Income on Labor Earnings, Savings, and Consumption: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery Players," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 778-794, September.
    6. Michela Bia & Alessandra Mattei, 2008. "A Stata package for the estimation of the dose–response function through adjustment for the generalized propensity score," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 8(3), pages 354-373, September.
    7. Kosuke Imai & David A. van Dyk, 2004. "Causal Inference With General Treatment Regimes: Generalizing the Propensity Score," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 99, pages 854-866, January.
    8. Michela Bia & Alessandra Mattei, 2012. "Assessing the effect of the amount of financial aids to Piedmont firms using the generalized propensity score," Statistical Methods & Applications, Springer;Società Italiana di Statistica, vol. 21(4), pages 485-516, November.
    9. Maarten L. Buis & Nicholas J. Cox & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2003. "BETAFIT: Stata module to fit a two-parameter beta distribution," Statistical Software Components S435303, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 03 Feb 2012.
    10. Jochen Kluve & Hilmar Schneider & Arne Uhlendorff & Zhong Zhao, 2012. "Evaluating continuous training programmes by using the generalized propensity score," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 175(2), pages 587-617, April.
    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. Tübbicke Stefan, 2022. "Entropy Balancing for Continuous Treatments," Journal of Econometric Methods, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 71-89, January.
    2. Ida D'Attoma & Silvia Pacei, 2018. "Evaluating the Effects of Product Innovation on the Performance of European Firms by Using the Generalised Propensity Score," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 19(1), pages 94-112, February.
    3. Martin Huber & Yu‐Chin Hsu & Ying‐Ying Lee & Layal Lettry, 2020. "Direct and indirect effects of continuous treatments based on generalized propensity score weighting," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 814-840, November.
    4. Noémi Kreif & Richard Grieve & Iván Díaz & David Harrison, 2015. "Evaluation of the Effect of a Continuous Treatment: A Machine Learning Approach with an Application to Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(9), pages 1213-1228, September.
    5. Chung Choe & Alfonso Flores-Lagunes & Sang-Jun Lee, 2015. "Do dropouts with longer training exposure benefit from training programs? Korean evidence employing methods for continuous treatments," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 849-881, March.
    6. BIA Michela & FLORES Carlos A. & MATTEI Alessandra, 2011. "Nonparametric Estimators of Dose-Response Functions," LISER Working Paper Series 2011-40, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    7. Michela Bia & Alessandra Mattei, 2012. "Assessing the effect of the amount of financial aids to Piedmont firms using the generalized propensity score," Statistical Methods & Applications, Springer;Società Italiana di Statistica, vol. 21(4), pages 485-516, November.
    8. Finn McGuire & Noemi Kreif & Peter C. Smith, 2021. "The effect of distance on maternal institutional delivery choice: Evidence from Malawi," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(9), pages 2144-2167, September.
    9. Alfonso Flores-Lagunes & Arturo Gonzalez & Todd C. Neumann, 2007. "Estimating the Effects of Length of Exposure to a Training Program: The Case of Job Corps," Working Papers 1042, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    10. Serrano-Domingo, Guadalupe & Requena-Silvente, Francisco, 2013. "Re-examining the migration–trade link using province data: An application of the generalized propensity score," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 247-261.
    11. Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso & Gonzalez, Arturo & Neumann, Todd C., 2007. "Estimating the Effects of Length of Exposure to a Training Program: The Case of Job Corps," IZA Discussion Papers 2846, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Ferrara, Antonella Rita & Dijkstra, Lewis & McCann, Philip & Nisticó, Rosanna, 2022. "The response of regional well-being to place-based policy interventions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    13. Kreif, N. & Grieve, R. & Díaz, I. & Harrison, D., 2014. "Health econometric evaluation of the effects of a continuous treatment: a machine learning approach," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 14/19, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    14. Zachary K. Collier & Walter L. Leite & Allison Karpyn, 2021. "Neural Networks to Estimate Generalized Propensity Scores for Continuous Treatment Doses," Evaluation Review, , vol. 45(1-2), pages 3-33, February.
    15. Kyle Colangelo & Ying-Ying Lee, 2019. "Double debiased machine learning nonparametric inference with continuous treatments," CeMMAP working papers CWP72/19, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    16. Hilal Atasoy & Rajiv D. Banker & Paul A. Pavlou, 2016. "On the Longitudinal Effects of IT Use on Firm-Level Employment," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 6-26, March.
    17. Kyle Colangelo & Ying-Ying Lee, 2019. "Double debiased machine learning nonparametric inference with continuous treatments," CeMMAP working papers CWP54/19, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    18. Carina Steckenleiter & Michael Lechner & Tim Pawlowski & Ute Schüttoff, 2023. "Do local expenditures on sports facilities affect sports participation?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(4), pages 1103-1128, October.
    19. Steckenleiter, Carina & Lechner, Michael & Pawlowski, Tim & Schüttoff, Ute, 2019. "Do local public expenditures on sports facilities affect sports participation in Germany?," Economics Working Paper Series 1905, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    20. Flores, Carlos A. & Mitnik, Oscar A., 2009. "Evaluating Nonexperimental Estimators for Multiple Treatments: Evidence from Experimental Data," IZA Discussion Papers 4451, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    drf; dose–response function; generalized propensity score; kernel estimator; penalized spline estimator; weak unconfoundedness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:tsj:stataj:v:14:y:2014:i:3:p:580-604. 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: Christopher F. Baum or Lisa Gilmore (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.stata-journal.com/ .

    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.