The Promise and Pitfalls of Differences-in-Differences: Reflections on 16 and Pregnant and Other Applications
双重差分的潜力与陷阱:对《16岁怀孕》及其他应用的反思
We use the exchange between Kearney/Levine and Jaeger/Joyce/Kaestner on 16 and Pregnant to reexamine the use of DiD as a response to the failure of nature to properly design an experiment for us. We argue that (1) any DiD paper should address why the original levels of the experimental and control groups differed, and why this would not impact trends, (2) the parallel trends argument requires a justification of the chosen functional form and that the use of the interaction…