Is Inference Conditional on Not Rejecting a Pre-test Less Reliable than Unconditional Inference?

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: de Chaisemartin, Clément, D'Haultfœuille, Xavier
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author de Chaisemartin, Clément
D'Haultfœuille, Xavier
author_facet de Chaisemartin, Clément
D'Haultfœuille, Xavier
contents Assume that an estimator is asymptotically normal for a target parameter under some conditions. Suppose also that one can test these conditions, and one conducts inference for the target only if the pre-test is not rejected. Does such pre-testing undermine inference? We show that if the tested conditions and mild regularity restrictions hold, conditional inference is still valid, albeit typically conservative. Validity holds regardless of the asymptotic dependence between the estimator and the pre-test. If the tested conditions do not hold, we exhibit conditions under which confidence intervals have larger conditional than unconditional coverage.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_03725
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Is Inference Conditional on Not Rejecting a Pre-test Less Reliable than Unconditional Inference?
de Chaisemartin, Clément
D'Haultfœuille, Xavier
Econometrics
Methodology
Assume that an estimator is asymptotically normal for a target parameter under some conditions. Suppose also that one can test these conditions, and one conducts inference for the target only if the pre-test is not rejected. Does such pre-testing undermine inference? We show that if the tested conditions and mild regularity restrictions hold, conditional inference is still valid, albeit typically conservative. Validity holds regardless of the asymptotic dependence between the estimator and the pre-test. If the tested conditions do not hold, we exhibit conditions under which confidence intervals have larger conditional than unconditional coverage.
title Is Inference Conditional on Not Rejecting a Pre-test Less Reliable than Unconditional Inference?
topic Econometrics
Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.03725