IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/jhu/papers/540.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Identifying the Returns to Lying When the Truth is Unobserved

Author

Listed:
  • Yingyao Hu
  • Arthur Lewbel

Abstract

Consider an observed binary regressor D and an unobserved binary variable D*, both of which affect some other variable Y. This paper considers nonparametric identification and estimation of the effect of D on Y, conditioning on D* = 0. For example, suppose Y is a person�s wage, the unobserved D* indicates if the person has been to college, and the observed D indicates whether the individual claims to have been to college. This paper then identifies and estimates the difference in average wages between those who falsely claim college experience versus those who tell the truth about not having college. We estimate this average returns to lying to be about 7% to 20%. Nonparametric identification without observing D* is obtained either by observing a variable V that is roughly analogous to an instrument for ordinary measurement error, or by imposing restrictions on model error moments.

Suggested Citation

  • Yingyao Hu & Arthur Lewbel, 2007. "Identifying the Returns to Lying When the Truth is Unobserved," Economics Working Paper Archive 540, The Johns Hopkins University,Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:jhu:papers:540
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econ2.jhu.edu/REPEC/papers/WP540.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard W. Blundell & James L. Powell, 2004. "Endogeneity in Semiparametric Binary Response Models," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(3), pages 655-679.
    2. Xiaohong Chen & Oliver Linton & Ingrid Van Keilegom, 2003. "Estimation of Semiparametric Models when the Criterion Function Is Not Smooth," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(5), pages 1591-1608, September.
    3. Arthur Lewbel, 2007. "Estimation of Average Treatment Effects with Misclassification," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(2), pages 537-551, March.
    4. Thomas J. Kane & Cecilia Elena Rouse & Douglas Staiger, 1999. "Estimating Returns to Schooling When Schooling is Misreported," NBER Working Papers 7235, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. 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.
    6. Chunrong Ai & Xiaohong Chen, 2003. "Efficient Estimation of Models with Conditional Moment Restrictions Containing Unknown Functions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1795-1843, November.
    7. Chen, Xiaohong & Hu, Yingyao & Lewbel, Arthur, 2008. "Nonparametric identification of regression models containing a misclassified dichotomous regressor without instruments," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 381-384, September.
    8. Kane, Thomas J & Rouse, Cecilia Elena, 1995. "Labor-Market Returns to Two- and Four-Year College," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 600-614, June.
    9. Lewbel, Arthur, 2007. "A local generalized method of moments estimator," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 124-128, January.
    10. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    11. Aprajit Mahajan, 2006. "Identification and Estimation of Regression Models with Misclassification," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(3), pages 631-665, May.
    12. Thomas J. Kane & Cecilia Rouse & Douglas Staiger, 1999. "Estimating Returns to Schooling When Schooling is Misreported," Working Papers 798, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    13. Das, M., 2005. "Instrumental variables estimators of nonparametric models with discrete endogenous regressors," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 335-361, February.
    14. Whitney K. Newey & James L. Powell, 2003. "Instrumental Variable Estimation of Nonparametric Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(5), pages 1565-1578, September.
    15. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra Todd, 1998. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(2), pages 261-294.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dong, Yingying & Lewbel, Arthur, 2011. "Nonparametric identification of a binary random factor in cross section data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 163(2), pages 163-171, August.
    2. Fu, Lianyan & Gao, Wei & Shi, Ning-Zhong, 2011. "Estimation of relative average treatment effects with misclassification," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 95-98, April.

    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. Hu, Yingyao, 2017. "The Econometrics of Unobservables -- Latent Variable and Measurement Error Models and Their Applications in Empirical Industrial Organization and Labor Economics [The Econometrics of Unobservables]," Economics Working Paper Archive 64578, The Johns Hopkins University,Department of Economics, revised 2021.
    2. Qi Li & Jeffrey Scott Racine, 2006. "Nonparametric Econometrics: Theory and Practice," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 8355.
    3. Nguimkeu, Pierre & Denteh, Augustine & Tchernis, Rusty, 2019. "On the estimation of treatment effects with endogenous misreporting," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 208(2), pages 487-506.
    4. DiTraglia, Francis J. & García-Jimeno, Camilo, 2019. "Identifying the effect of a mis-classified, binary, endogenous regressor," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 209(2), pages 376-390.
    5. Chen, Xiaohong & Hu, Yingyao & Lewbel, Arthur, 2008. "Nonparametric identification of regression models containing a misclassified dichotomous regressor without instruments," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 381-384, September.
    6. Francis J. DiTraglia & Camilo Garcia-Jimeno, 2020. "Identifying the effect of a mis-classified, binary, endogenous regressor," Papers 2011.07272, arXiv.org.
    7. Francis J. DiTraglia & Camilo García-Jimeno, 2017. "Mis-classified, Binary, Endogenous Regressors: Identification and Inference," NBER Working Papers 23814, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Gayle, George-Levi & Viauroux, Christelle, 2007. "Root-N consistent semiparametric estimators of a dynamic panel-sample-selection model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 141(1), pages 179-212, November.
    9. Yu, Ping & Phillips, Peter C.B., 2018. "Threshold regression with endogeneity," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 203(1), pages 50-68.
    10. Arthur Lewbel, 2007. "Estimation of Average Treatment Effects with Misclassification," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(2), pages 537-551, March.
    11. Takahide Yanagi, 2019. "Inference on local average treatment effects for misclassified treatment," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(8), pages 938-960, September.
    12. Francis DiTraglia & Camilo Garcia-Jimeno, 2015. "On Mis-measured Binary Regressors: New Results And Some Comments on the Literature, Second Version," PIER Working Paper Archive 15-039, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 11 Nov 2015.
    13. Francis DiTraglia & Camilo Garcia-Jimeno, 2015. "On Mis-measured Binary Regressors: New Results And Some Comments on the Literature, Third Version," PIER Working Paper Archive 15-040, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 24 Nov 2015.
    14. Escanciano, Juan Carlos & Jacho-Chávez, David T. & Lewbel, Arthur, 2014. "Uniform convergence of weighted sums of non and semiparametric residuals for estimation and testing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 178(P3), pages 426-443.
    15. Shiu, Ji-Liang, 2016. "Identification and estimation of endogenous selection models in the presence of misclassification errors," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 507-518.
    16. Dong, Yingying & Lewbel, Arthur, 2011. "Nonparametric identification of a binary random factor in cross section data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 163(2), pages 163-171, August.
    17. Mammen, Enno & Rothe, Christoph & Schienle, Melanie, 2016. "Semiparametric Estimation With Generated Covariates," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(5), pages 1140-1177, October.
    18. Battistin, Erich & De Nadai, Michele & Vuri, Daniela, 2017. "Counting rotten apples: Student achievement and score manipulation in Italian elementary Schools," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 200(2), pages 344-362.
    19. Battistin, Erich & De Nadai, Michele & Sianesi, Barbara, 2014. "Misreported schooling, multiple measures and returns to educational qualifications," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 181(2), pages 136-150.
    20. Joshua D. Angrist & Erich Battistin & Daniela Vuri, 2017. "In a Small Moment: Class Size and Moral Hazard in the Italian Mezzogiorno," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 216-249, October.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • C20 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - General
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:jhu:papers:540. 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: Humphrey Muturi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dejhuus.html .

    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.