Identification-robust Inference for Endogeneity Parameters in Models with an Incomplete Reduced Form

Abstract

The authors propose inference methods for endogeneity parameters in linear simultaneous equation models allowing for weak identification and missing instruments. Endogeneity parameters measure the impact of unobserved variables which may be correlated with observed explanatory variables, and play a central role in determining the “bias” associated with endogeneity and measurement errors in structural equations. These results expand, in several ways, the finite-sample theory in Doko Tchatoka and Dufour (2014) for this problem. The latter theory relies on relatively restrictive assumptions, in particular the hypothesis that the reduced form is complete (e.g., contains all the relevant instruments), which is questionable in many practical situations. While the new proposed inference methods retain identification robustness, they also allow the reduced form to be incomplete, for example, due to missing instruments. The authors propose easily applicable inference methods for endogeneity parameters – in particular, two-stage procedures (similar to those in Dufour, 1990). An application to a model of returns to schooling is presented.

Citation

Dufour, J.-M. and Nguyen, V. (2022), "Identification-robust Inference for Endogeneity Parameters in Models with an Incomplete Reduced Form", Chudik, A., Hsiao, C. and Timmermann, A. (Ed.) Essays in Honor of M. Hashem Pesaran: Panel Modeling, Micro Applications, and Econometric Methodology (Advances in Econometrics, Vol. 43B), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 337-355. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0731-90532021000043B014